While visiting the Lake Oswego Swim Club in Oregon, we really enjoyed their age-group butterfliers. They shared some of their drills with us.
Why do it:
Teaching age-group swimmers a logical progression of steps for butterfly, simplifies the overall process. How to do it:
1 - To teach the dolphin movement, they use a snorkel with body dolphins.
2 - By varying the speed of the body dolphins, and the amount of press, the swimmer is best able to find the rate that's correct for them.
3 - Next, the swimmers will move on to skipper drill, which focuses them on sending their energy forward as they progress to the propulsive part of the pull.
4 - In this abbreviated sequence, the swimmers then move to swimming smoothly prior to picking up the pace. How to do it really well (the fine points):
There are many aspects to teaching a great butterfly, but by limiting the focus of each step, and slowing the process down enough for the swimmer to feel and understand each step, you may end up with 9-year olds that look like this. Well done Oswego!
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