5 Tips to Swim a better Butterfly

There's a unique flamboyance in the butterfly stroke, that's not quite there in any of the other strokes, I think. Watch someone swim a butterfly lap in a regular pool and sure enough most heads will turn to watch. Especially if it's swum really well.

But butterfly is probably one of the hardest strokes to train for and to compete in. Most swimmers fear the 200 fly which was my event at the Beijing Olympics, and many more hate a fly distance set in training. However it's my experience, that training in this stroke will help you work muscles that don't get worked on quite as much in other strokes, strengthen your aerobic and anaerobic capacity, and make you a much tougher swimmer mentally as well. There was a certain arrogance with which I would brag about the huge fly sets that I did in training and it was also this confidence that I took to a race, knowing that being able to complete those sets meant I was supremely fit.

So here are five tips from me to help you swim a more efficient butterfly, which I believe will make both training and racing easier. And hey, even if you're swimming recreationally, why not swim this well and make those heads turn!

CHIN UP:

Your head position in all four strokes is of crucial importance. I've said this before as well; your body will always do what your head dictates!

Many flyers make the mistake of coming up too high to breathe because they feel they are struggling to swim the stroke and in that moment of exhaustion or panic overcompensate by pushing a large part of their upper body out of the water when they surface for a breath. Remember that the less effort you make to come up for air, the smoother will be your stroke.

I always tell swimmers to lift their head just enough for their chin to crest the surface of the water as they inhale, letting the water graze past, without allowing any more of their upper body to surface. This is a powerful stroke and using the right technique will help you conserve energy for where you need it most. When you tire through training or in a race, it's easiest to start making mistakes in your technique and I would use the position of my chin as a checkpoint for accuracy of technique, ensuring it seemingly rested on an imaginary cushion - the water -right through the in-breath.

5 Tips to a Better Breaststroke

Hello! This is the third in my series of blogs on stroke correction and I'm focusing today on breaststroke, a stroke many of us begin with.

Every swimmer is built differently, some have stronger upper bodies and some have stronger legs. Strength distribution through the body dictates how a swimmer swims breaststroke, and thus every breaststroker will swim in a slightly different way from his competitor. However here are a few key tips to swim a better breaststroke ! Hope they help !

High Elbows:

Making sure you pull through with a high elbow is most important. A lot of swimmers end up dropping their elbows through their pull, thus losing out on pulling as much water back as they possibly can. Dropping your elbows in breaststroke has a lot to do with weak rotator cuff muscles and I always encourage breaststrokers to do external rotation rotator cuff exercises as a matter of habit so they can maintain the high elbow pull with ease. Remember the higher your elbow, the more water you push back and the further you move forward on each stroke!

Head Position:

Each swimmer likes to exit the water at an angle he is comfortable with. I always have watched that most good breastrokers exit the water both upward and forward as well. By this I mean,they do not chest the water whilst coming up to breathe, an error that novice swimmers do often make. Your ability to hit the right angle can be improved by using your head and eyes as a checkpoint. One exercise that's helpful is to try exiting the water with your eyes still looking downwards at the pool floor.Through all the time you spend above the water, keep your eyes looking at the pool and time you spend breathing will be spent more efficiently, and helping you find just the right angle.