Skills & drills
Butterfly Penguin Kick (on back)
This drill makes your kick fluent and improves your core strength at the same time. With this drill you are doing butterfly kick on your back, with both arms by your side. This allows you to focus on the movement starting from the chest, and driving it down all the way to your feet.
How to do it
- Push-off on your back with your arms by your side. Start by pushing the chest up while driving the hips down
- Then drive the hips up while the chest comes back to neutral
- Let your legs and feet follow along with these movements. It’s a dolphin-like motion
- Make the upward and downward beat kick fluent and powerful
Focus points
- Kick starts from the chest, and not from the knees. The kick is an almost full-body movement
- This kick should have a certain flow and smoothness to it. Find a rhythm and stick to that. We call this body undulation, where the energy should be flowing out of the legs
- Keep your chin lifted and your head stable to hold a high body line in the water
Coach tip
Alternate this drill with the butterfly timing drills and the single arm butterfly. Since the kick is so important when learning the butterfly, do not rush this drill. Take your time to master it, and use fins to help you out.
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