Butterfly - Short Release

This focal point will be pretty much imperceptible to the naked eye, but the feeling to the swimmers may be a game changer for some swimmers.

Why do it:

When some, especially young, swimmers are swimming butterfly, they may tend to get stuck during the recovery.  This simply trick will help the hands exit, into the recovery more easily, keeping the focus of butterfly out front where it belongs.

How to do it:

1 – Swim butterfly like you normally would, only, as you get near the finish of the pull, allow the hands to release to the sides, rather than push to the back.

2 – For some swimmers, coaches will need to tell the swimmer to go to the recovery when the hands get under the chest.  The overteaching method will make the swimmer feel like they’ve lost their power, by feeling like they’re taking half-strokes, but the recovery will be much easier, and can smooth out the stroke.

How to do it really well (the fine points):

This is really about helping swimmers understand that by trying too hard, by pushing too deep backward in the butterfly pull, they can get stuck in the recovery.  By releasing the hands earlier, or sending them out to the side on the exit of the stroke, the hands will fly low, and over the surface.

This can also help increase tempo for swimmers who are having a tough time, as well as conserve a bit more energy for swimmer who are starting to swim 200s.

Watching our swimmers, it’s tough to tell the difference between a short release, and their standard stroke.  It’s a matter of an inch or two in the back of the stroke, but can make the recovery so much easier, it’s worth experimenting with.