**Butterfly Body Position**
To teach the correct body position for butterfly, I want the swimmer’s arms to be straight and positioned directly in front of the shoulders or just a little wider. I position her head in neutral so that she’s looking straight down without tucking her chin. Her arms are higher than her ears. 

Legs are straight and together. When she firsts learns the butterfly arms she will pause in this position after every recovery.   I call it the Butterfly Float and this is easy for the swimmer to remember.

**Butterfly Pull** 
For butterfly, I like to teach the pull before I teach the kick.  And I teach them how to recover the arms before I teach them how to pull.  So step one is to get them in this position: The swimmer is face down with arms at their sides and arms just floating on the water.  The palms are slightly up, and a few inches away from her sides. 

I have the swimmer do a “snow angel” and just drag the thumbs across the top of the water.  The arms should be straight as they recover, and straight after they return to the “Butterfly Float” position.  

Next I teach the pull, and we start in the butterfly float position. I put my hands over the top of hers and guide her through the pull. 

I start by going out just a little more, then I make a vertical forearm with her arms. 

I guide the hands back and in and then round out the finish as the arms go into a “snow angel” recovery and land softly back in the butterfly float position. 

Next she tries it without my guidance.

**Butterfly Kick (Body Dolphin)** 
To teach the butterfly kick, which is really a whole-body movement called “body dolphin,” I have the swimmer float face down with arms at their sides.  

I put one of my arms along her spine with my hand on the back of her head and the other arm gently on her forehead. I just move her through the motion like this.

Next, I have the swimmer float face down with arms extended straight above the head in the butterfly float position.  Make sure the swimmer’s arms are near the surface of the water, with the arms higher than the ears. Notice how I position and hold her arms to get her started. 

Next, the swimmer does a number of body dolphins, keeping the hands near the surface and without breathing.  

The hands may press out a little as her hips rise. This should be encouraged because it helps set up the pull when we add that later. 

Next, she does just one body dolphin.  She goes... float... body dolphin... float -- and keeps her arms higher than her ears. She needs to know what a single body dolphin feels like so she can  do the separation drill that’s coming up next.

**Putting It All Together**
When the swimmer is ready to put all the parts together, I have her do a Separation Drill.  She does the arms only... then a single body dolphin.  The pull and the body dolphin are separated.  

The swimmer starts in a butterfly float position, then pulls, recovers, floats, and then does one body dolphin.  This is all done without breathing. The hands should land softly, with arms straight and in front of her shoulders, and with her arms higher than her ears. 

During the body dolphin, the swimmer keeps her head steady with eyes straight down and arms near the surface.  As her hips go up, the hands press out a little and this motion helps set up the next pull. I stabilize the head and control the arms after the entry. 

Have the swimmer do one cycle, then stop.  Next, we try two or more cycles, and we try to blend the body dolphin into the stroke cycle right before the hand entry.

**Butterfly Breathing**
To teaching butterfly breathing, I have the swimmer start in the butterfly float position.

As soon as she starts her pull I gently guide her head forward and slightly up by placing my flat hands along the sides of her head. 

Her chin clears the surface of the water so she can get a breath and then she returns her face to the water before her arms enter. I keep the head movement to a minimum, keeping the head in line with the body.  


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Butterfly Positioning Techniques