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Butterfly - Side Breathing

Posted by Glenn Mills on Apr 19, 2011 10:26AM (17,560 views)

Through the history of swimming, there have been individuals who have proven alternative techniques really work.  Mel Stewart and Robert Margalis are two great butterfly swimmers who use side breathing in fly, and you should at least try it too.

Why do it:
Very simply, unless you've tried a technique, do you really know if it's NOT meant for you?  While not all swimmers will be successful doing this, all swimmers should at least try it.

How to do it:
1)  To make it easier as you learn, put on some fins (of course, if you're more comfortable without fins, these are not requried).
2)  Start with single arm fly, breathing low on every stroke, with one goggle in the water, using a straight arm recovery to simulate butterfly.
3)  Alternate 3 right, 3 left, 3 full stroke without breathing on the full stroke.
4)  Next, try full stroke swimming, breathing every 2, but now breathe right, center, left... alternating where your head is looking.
5)  Finally, breathe every stroke to one side.  Switch sides per length to determine which is more comfortable.

How to do it really well (the fine points):
When you breathe, do your best to keep one goggle in the water, just like you would on freestyle.  Turn your head back to center after each breath.  Finally, try to pay close attention to turning your head, and not lifting it.  You'll ultimately find one side is better than the other, but you'll need to try them both for a little while to make that determination.


Tags breathing, butterfly


Responses

Responded Apr 19, 2011 05:46PM

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. It is definitely on my to do list next time Butterfly is on the menu:)
Responded Apr 19, 2011 06:48PM

I will have to give this a shot. When I swim butterfly, or maybe attempt to is a better way of putting it, I am told my head doesn't get back down into the water fast enough. Also, I leave my hands out front for a "pause". I can't seem to fix it. I have the same problem in freestyle...my hand it "stuck" out front, resulting in a catch-up that I don't want.

Responded Apr 19, 2011 09:14PM

When i do side breathing , my body is unbalanced to the side that I breathe. I will practise it a little more.

Responded Apr 20, 2011 08:25AM

I am an all-sides breather yeah :D. I use side breathing on 50s... it is so nicely low :)

@Rae I also used to over-glide on butterfly. It is a huge disadvantage and simply slows you down. The trick to get rid of it is as simple though - speed drills. While speed drilling you should not pay attention to technique or how you catch the water. Its purpose it to learn swimming with fast stroke frequency. Also during swimming, simply focus for a couple of days on fast arms instead of focusing on a powerful catch. Your heart rate will shoot up and you will die at first, also it will feel inefficient and weird, but you need to get rid of that "pause". Keep trying, it is worth it.
Responded Apr 21, 2011 01:29PM

I agree with Sprinter about working on turnover because the essence is one of continuity of motion without that pause. My experience with many of those who pause is that they are not breathing out in the water during the stroke and so, therefore, also have their head high out of the water for a long time and lose the rhythm, leading to the pause at the front end. Also, concentrate on kicking in and kicking out of the hands to try to maintain the continuity of movement. Good luck with it. Personally, I can only breathe forward on fly because I lose balance with any form of sideways breathing, even keeping it low in the water, although I can see that it might in certain circumstances keep the body position flatter throughout the stroke
Responded Apr 23, 2011 09:48AM

I find this a great drill to keep the head/neck movement to a minimum. Work the side breathing nice and low - then forward breathing - keeping the same low body position.
Responded Apr 24, 2011 04:06PM

This is all help full information. That's what I need nicely low. I will give this practice a try. I do not know but I am somewhat afraid for cracking my neck doing side breathing during fly. Thank you for all your comments! See how this works out.

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