Learn to Swim Butterfly: Hand-Lead Body Dolphin Drill

Hand-Lead Body Dolphin is a drill that follows Head-Lead Body Dolphin in our series of drills to learn how to swim butterfly. It lets you practice the body undulation with your arms extended forward instead of resting at your sides. The following video shows this drill:

Being able to do both variants of the body dolphin is required to do later drills of this series. So be patient and don’t skip ahead.

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Swimming Drill Instructions

• Push off the wall and assume a horizontal position with the face turned downward.
• Extend your arms forward, shoulder width apart.
• Push your chest and head down in the water by contracting your abdominal muscles, then release the pressure.
• The buoyancy of your lungs should push your upper body upward when you release the pressure.
• Push your hips down as your chest moves upward, then release your hips.
• Start a new cycle by pushing your chest and head down as your hips move upward.
• Your legs should follow along your hips in their up- and down movements.
• Try to move forward in the water using these undulating movements.
• The body undulation is akin to a wave that travels down your body from your arms to your legs.

Breathing

• At first, try to simply do a few pulses at a time without breathing, then stop and catch your breath. An alternative is to use a swimmer’s snorkel to avoid stopping to breathe.
• Add breathing progressively. For example, you can at first breathe once each five body undulations, then once each four, once each three, and so on.
• Fit in breathing by raising your shoulders and head higher above the water surface. Inhale quickly and deeply as your face clears the water. Look down and slightly forward while breathing.
• Exhale continuously as soon as your face reenters the water.

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Additional Tips

• It should be easier to undulate your body when your arms are extended forward rather than resting at your sides. You should also notice that you don’t need to undulate as quickly as in head-lead body dolphin to move forward.
• Swimming fins can help you get the feel for the wave-like movements. This is especially useful in the beginning if your ankles are stiff and it is difficult for you to extend your feet with toes pointed. Try to progressively get rid of the fins afterward.
• Keep your kick supple and relaxed. When you swim butterfly, it is the body undulation that drives the dolphin kick, and not the other way around.
• Extend your chin forward as you press your head down in the water, then tuck in your chin as your head moves upward.
• Take your time to master these body dolphin drills. Mastering the body undulation is an important prerequisite for an efficient butterfly.
• You can check out this article with additional swimming drills that cover the body undulation and dolphin kick.

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