The butterfly is a relatively young stroke. The butterfly stems from the breaststroke, because the contramovement of the armsare executed above the waterline. The pull through of the arms was extended in the direction of thehips, while initially the legstroke of the breaststroke was maintained.
The differendes between breaststroke and butterfly became bigger, just as the differences between the times. That is why they decided to seperate these two strokes and the butterfly as a single stroke became a fact. This happened in 1952. The Hungarian swimmer Tumpek was the first one who practised the "dolphin legstroke". Because of this the butterfly became a more continuous stroke.
The butterfly is, after the freestyle, the fastest stroke. The removal is less continuous than the freestyle because of the simultaneous arm-movement. Also the position in the water is less ideal, because the body moves too much in vertical directions.
The function of the head in the butterfly is very important. The relatively extreme head-movement with regard to the trunk is very important. The body needs to follow this head-movement sufficiently to make the changing "hollow-round-position" feel allright. The timing of the head-movement on the arm-movement is decisive. The timing of the supporting legaction has to be suitable for the "hollow-round-position" out of the armstroke and the head-movement. Butterfly is the only stroke at which the back plays an important role in the swim-movement. At the movement opportunities of the shoulders, neck and back are set high requirements. A relatively large physical strength is required; because of this fast the butterfly is unsuitable for long distances.
The Armstroke
The arm-movement contributes in large amounts to the speed you swim:
- There can be brought a lot of power in it, because you pull your arms through at the same time.
- The pull through is a long movement, from far before to close to the hips.
- The damsurfaces can be placed in a favourable position, which is similar to the arm-movement of the freestyle.
- The pull through is completed with both arms at the same time, through which deviations in the straight line are exceptional.
- The pull over is above the waterline, through which the resistance is reduced to a minimum.
The armstroke can be divided in the following phases:
- Put in-phase
- (Short) glide-phase
- Pull-phase
- Push-phase
- The Lash out
- Pull over
A swimmer's below view. The underwater-phases of the butterfly are shown. Put in
The put in takes place on shoulderwidth or something out of there. Just like the freestyle the arms are put in on