Butterfly Pull Drills
In This Article
Setting Up Your Stroke
Learning how to do the butterfly catch can be a challenge. The movement seems counterintuitive, but a proper catch is a simple repositioning of your arms, not an aggressive movement.
Rather than attempting to learn the movement in the water, practice it with your arms out of the water. To do the setting up your stroke drill, stand with your arms straight overhead. Press your elbows out and hands down, so that your forearms are facing your feet. Keep your elbows as high as possible.

Wall Pull
Wall pull helps you feel the key positions for creating propulsion with your butterfly catch and learn how to apply pressure in those positions.
To do this drill, stand in the shallow end facing the wall and place your entire forearm flat on the pool deck or in the gutter. Press down with your whole arm. Experiment with different positions to determine what feels comfortable. This drill can also be done at any point throughout your day on a flat surface.

Power Pulls with Pull Buoy
Power pulls with pull buoy helps you learn to push backward as forcefully as you can against the water.
To do this drill, start by lying face down in the water with your arms in Superman position and your entire body in line at the surface. Use a pull buoy to keep your hips and legs at the surface. Patiently set up your stroke and then apply pressure on the water to move yourself forward. Recover your arms under the water and repeat. The goal is to use as much of your arm as possible to push against the water.

Power Pull-Downs
This exercise helps you learn to move as much water as possible with each stroke in a dynamic way. Push off underwater and perform a pulldown. Set up the stroke by positioning your hands and forearms facing backward. Once in position, build pressure on the water and accelerate your arms backward. Recover your arms forward underwater. To help you create more power, do one butterfly kick when starting the stroke and one when finishing the stroke.

Skate Drill
Skate drill helps you learn how to time your butterfly pull with your kicks and breathing.
To do this drill, lie on the surface with your arms outstretched. Do a quick kick and set-up of your stroke, followed by a powerful pull. As you pull, take a breath, skating your chin along on the surface. As you finish your pull, perform a strong kick.

Sculling
Your ability to feel and manipulate the amount of pressure you produce with your arms determines how effectively you can control the pressure your arms apply to increase propulsion.
Sculling is all about pressure management. To scull, slide your hands out and in, feeling the pressure changes on the insides of your hands and forearms. Practice sculling in positions such as the set-up of your stroke, the middle of your pull, and the finish of your pull.

Straight-Arm Freestyle Pull
Butterfly can be a difficult stroke because it requires a lot of strength. If you’re struggling to swim butterfly or you want to get some extra upper body work in, straight-arm freestyle pulling is an effective drill. It’s a simpler movement than butterfly, but it mimics many of the same mechanics of butterfly, allowing you to build skill and fitness.
To do this drill, simply swim regular freestyle with a pull buoy but focus on recovering your arms straight over the water. Bend them as you normally would under the water.

Closed Fist
Your forearms can provide a lot of surface area to push against the water but many swimmers fail to use them effectively. One of the best ways to learn to use your forearms is the closed fist drill.
To do this drill, close your fists and swim butterfly. When you do so, you still need to push against the water to move forward, so you instinctively begin to use your forearms more effectively. When you open your hands back up and swim butterfly normally, you’ll have a better idea of how to use your forearms properly.

OK Hands
Excessive side-to-side motions during your butterfly pull decreases the effectiveness of your pull.
The OK hands drill is a powerful way to build awareness of these side-to-side motions. Swim butterfly with your hands making an OK sign, so that water streams through the hole made by your thumb and pointer finger. If you make a lot of lateral movements through your pull, that stream will be repeatedly broken, and you’ll feel it. With awareness comes the potential for change.

Stroke-Count Swimming
The technical and physical demands of butterfly can cause you to lose efficiency easily. A simple way to become more aware of your efficiency is to count your strokes.
By being consistent with your stroke count during sets, and by aiming to improve your stroke count over time, you’ll be learning how to maintain and improve the effectiveness of your pull. If your pull is improving, your stroke count will slowly improve as well.
