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Swimming gracefully and efficiently is a skill any swimmer can master and the learning process can be easier than you imagine. In just 4 easy lessons, using the total immersion method, you will swim butterfly and breaststroke, the short axis strokes, with more ease and grace than you ever thought possible. The key movements that allow you to master these strokes are simple enough to learn in just a few hours of practice.
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You will do this by learning a unique set of drills developed by the total immersion workshops that will help you swim better, faster, more relaxed, more fish-like.
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Butterfly and breaststroke have a reputation for being difficult. But you can learn more, faster by working on both strokes together rather than learning each separately.
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The 15 drills presented in this video are so simple that you will master each with ease. Each small success will lead you naturally to the next step. We will provide simple, clean cues, so you will know when you are ready to move on. Before you know it, you will master the two strokes at once without having had to do any thing very difficult at any stage. It is not magic, but it may feel that way. The key is patience. Take all the time you need to master each step before moving to the next.
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Our first step, lesson one, would be to master the short axis rotation that is the essence of both strokes. This rhythmic rotation drives your arms and legs. It generates your power and sets your breathing rhythm. You swim both strokes faster by moving your core faster, not your arms and legs. Our balance and rotation drills will teach you to do this effortlessly and rhythmically.
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Lesson two teaches you the essential movements and the most slippery body position for effortless butterfly. In lesson three, you will learn the same skills for breaststroke. And finally in lesson four you will learn to combine butterfly and breaststroke in ways that will help you flow through the water in either stroke with ease and grace that few simmers ever attained.
03:10
The Skills of Fishlike Butterfly and Breaststroke
The secret to an efficient, effortless butterfly is to stay close to the surface at all times. Keep a low profile, look down slightly throughout the stroke and keep your head in line with your spine while breathing. Stay low on your recovery and channel your energy forward, not up and down. The single, most important thing you can do to improve your breaststroke efficiency is to streamline your entire body at the end of each stroke. Practicing with a long glide can help.
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The second key skill is to keep your head in its most natural position, align with your spine. Breathe with body motion, not by moving your head. Always think forward as you swim. Pull forward, breathe forward, land forward and kick forward. Keep the pull compact and quick, return to your stretch out position as fast as you can.
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Learn Faster with Fins!
Let’s start learning butterfly and breaststroke the total immersion way.
First, I’d like to explain how using fins can help you learn our special drills faster and more easily. Some swimmers feel that fins are cheating. But when it comes to learning breaststroke and butterfly, fins could be your best learning tool. Our early drills call for pulsing with your hands at your sides. Even the best swimmers may have trouble moving forward when they do this. Land[05:03], for example, is a former USA Olympic swimmer. It needs fins to be really fluent on our initial drills.
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Barbara, a runner, has a similar problem. Her lack of ankle flexibility causes her to go backwards on this drill. But once you put on fins, you can forget about your legs and feet and concentrate on using your core body to create propulsion, flow and rhythm. Wearing fins can enormously speed the learning process. So don’t be reluctant to wear fins as you learn. You can always take them off once you have mastered the core body movement that is common to both butterfly and breaststroke. Remember: fins aren’t cheating. They can be your most effective learning tool. |