When you teach butterfly from in the water, you give yourself – and the swimmer – several advantages.

You can guide the swimmer through the correct motion right from the start.

You can stop any grossly incorrect movements right away.

You can go below the surface and see the exact pull pattern and how the swimmer is “feeling” the water.

You can get a clear and accurate picture of the #1 priority for good butterfly:  head and body position.

When you’re in the water, you can demonstrate for the student, which will benefit the visual learner.

When I teach from the water, I use the same teaching progression that I use when teaching from the deck.  The main difference is there is less explaining and more doing.

I demonstrate more and the swimmer does more swimming.

When I teach from the water, I often use acrylic mirrors, which give instant visual feedback to the swimmer.

I demonstrate, explain, demonstrate again, and guide them through the movement over the mirror.  

Then, they try to imitate what they just saw and felt.

For each skill, the swimmer 1) Sees what to do…

…2) Hears what to do…

…3) Feels what to do…

…and 4) Sees him or herself doing it.

In the following sections, we’ll show a simple teaching progression that you can use when you’re in the water with your student.  

We use an underwater mirror for this progression, but you don’t need a mirror to make the progression work.  

We use the mirror to make it easier for you to see what’s happening… and so you can see how effective they are for teaching. 

You can learn more about these mirrors in a DVD called Go Swim with Mirrors, Tools, and Toys.    


Sign In to watch video

Teaching Butterfly from in the Water