Butterfly - Kelsi Worrell

Important Note to the Viewer

LESSONS: 16 VIDEOS

3 Left / 3 Right / 3 Whole-Stroke Butterfly

If you pay attention to the details, 3-3-3 Butterfly is an excellent way to incorporate better technique into your butterfly. The idea is to focus on one or two technique points on the single-arm part of the drill…and then incorporate those points into your full stroke. Then repeat…over and over. Most swimmers don’t put a lot of thought into how they do this drill. Watch how Kelsi executes with great focus, attention, and precision.

Single-Arm Butterfly - Kelsi

What we see in this clip is how an elite athlete approaches one of the most basic drills in all of swimming: single-arm butterfly. Most swimmers tend to rush through this drill without thinking about how it applies to their stroke. Kelsi, on the other hand, EXECUTES with total focus. All the great technique points that we see in Kelsi’s butterfly…can be seen when she drills. Right away you should notice how Kelsi recovers her arms. The arm is straight, she leads with the top of the wrist, and the recovery is both relaxed and quick. Notice how quickly the hand travels from exit point to entry. Notice that when Kelsi drills, she uses the same every-other breathing pattern that she uses in her stroke. From under water, notice that Kelsi takes two kicks per armstroke, and that she places the down kicks right where they will be when she swims whole-stroke fly. When she drills, Kelsi initiates the kick from her sternum rather than from her knees...just as she will do when she swims whole-stroke fly. The takeaway is that elite athletes like Kelsi pay attention to details all the time…especially when doing drills.

Butterfly Kick on the Stomach

Kelsi does a lot of dolphin kick on her stomach, using fins and snorkel to really focus on technique. Her 1 focus is to initiate the kick from the sternum rather than the knees. She presses down with the chest to drive the hips to the surface. Kelsi tries to keep everything – arms, hips, and fins -- moving just above and just below the surface. From below the surface you can see how everything drives from the chest. Also notice the stable head, and that Kelsi’s eyes are always just below her elbows. From under water and head on, notice that Kelsi has a slightly whip-like motion of the feet, with toes coming around and together on each kick.

Butterfly Kick on the Back, Arms in Streamline

Here’s a master class in how to improve your dolphin kick. Put on some fins, get into the tightest streamline you can manage, and kick from the chest rather than your knees. In this closeup, notice how Kelsi isolates and stabilizes her head and arms, and how she drives everything with the motion of her chest and sternum. From under the surface, you can see how the arms and head are stable, and how power is generated from the chest. The whip-like motion travels from the chest all the way through the torso, hips, legs, and feet. Kelsi tries not to use her knees to generate power. Instead, she focuses on generating power from the sternum.

Butterfly - Kick on the Back, Arms in 11

One of Kelsi’s favorite ways to improve her butterfly is to do dolphin kick on her back, with fins, and with her arms in Position 11. She thinks about starting the kick at the chest and letting it flow through the body, legs, and down to the feet. The fins amplify the whip-like motion of the body. Kelsi tries not to kick from the knees. Instead, she drives everything from the chest and torso. Kelsi’s precision and control can be seen in the fins, which leave just the barest trace at the surface of the water – every…single…time.

Butterfly - Legs

Like most butterfliers, Kelsi takes two kicks for every arm cycle. She delivers a slightly smaller kick when the hands enter the water…and a larger, more powerful kick as the hands finish the pull and exit the water. On the smaller kick, Kelsi’s heels are just under the surface. On the bigger kick, her heels come just above the surface, to create a more powerful downward push. From above, the thing to notice is that Kelsi’s toes are turned slightly inward when she delivers each downward kick. This gives her slightly more surface area for a more powerful kick. From under water, we see Kelsi’s timing of two kicks per arm cycle – a big kick followed by a smaller kick. Kelsi bends her knees slightly for the kick, but the angle is in the 120-degree range, and not in the 90-degree range that we see in some swimmers. Two more ingredients in Kelsi’s powerful kick: she delivers power on both the down kick AND on the up kick…and her toes are always pointed.

Butterfly - Kelsi Worrell Dolphin Kick on Back

When you’re trying to develop a great underwater dolphin, stay focused when you’re doing normal kick. Why do it: Carrying through great technique to a kick set can help you learn skills that can become habits. How to do it: 1 - When Butterfly Champion Kelsi Worrell kicks butterfly on her back, she doesn’t allow her hands to pop up and down out of the water. 2 - Kelsi focuses on driving the hands forward, staying in a solid bodyline as she kicks. 3 - This also keeps her kick compact How to do it really well (the fine points): Kelsi uses fins on this to feel the power generated through her body and down to her feet. By keeping the top of the body more solid, rather than allowing the hands to be held out of the water, she continues to focus on driving the hands forward with each kick. Remember, if your hands are coming too high out of the water, your bodyline underwater may not be in the most productive position. Keep the hands stable and floating right at the surface of the water. You can see more of Kelsi’s videos by following this link.

Butterfly - Hips

The thing to notice about Kelsi’s hips is how they are always right at the surface. They travel just above and just under the surface. The result is great body position…a horizontal body position that reduces drag and resistance. From under water, you can see that Kelsi has tremendous flexibility in her torso and chest, and that she drives the stroke from her sternum. So many things are working together here to create speed: Drive from the chest…land the hands forward and high in the water…keep the head below the arms as the hands enter…keep the hips near the surface at all times…two powerful kicks per armstroke to keep the hips high.

Butterfly - Head - Kelsi

Taking a close look at Kelsi’s head position, what stands out is that she maintains a steady head/neck alignment throughout the entire stroke cycle. She finds one position for the head and neck and maintains it. No up-and-down movement. Kelsi’s breath is low to the water, with the chin just barely skimming the surface. From overhead, it’s hard to tell when Kelsi is taking a breath. That’s because she maintains a stable head/neck alignment…and keeps the breath low to the water. From under water, we can see that Kelsi’s breathes on every other stroke. This breathing pattern isn’t right for every swimmer, but it’s what works for Kelsi. What we also notice is the relationship of Kelsi’s head to her arms as her hands land in the water. The hands land forward and high – and the head and eyes are below the arms. This helps Kelsi stay forward on her stroke.

Butterfly - Hands - Kelsi

Focus just on Kelsi’s hands and wrists in this clip. Notice that Kelsi’s hands are always in motion. They never get stuck at any point in the stroke cycle. Notice that Kelsi leads with the top of the wrists as she sweeps the arms over the water during recovery. The recovery is low and relaxed, and Kelsi lands her hands FORWARD and high in the water, keeping her energy flowing forward. From above, what catches our eye is the moment just before Kelsi’s head breaks the surface. Just before breakout, there’s a deliberate separation of the hands to the catch position, with no change in the head or eye position. This helps Kelsi take full advantage of the all-important first stroke. From above we see that, on every stroke, Kelsi’s hands enter directly above her shoulders. This allows her to initiate the catch immediately and with maximum leverage and power. Looking under the surface, focus just on Kelsi’s hands and wrists. The hands never stop moving, and Kelsi maintains a straight line from her fingertips through the wrist.

Butterfly - Full Body

From this angle, we can see all the parts of Kelsi’s stroke, from fingertips to toes. She does many things really well, but what catches our eye is how she finds one position for her head and neck and MAINTAINS that alignment throughout the entire stroke cycle. No matter what she’s doing with the pull, the kick, or the breath – her head and neck are stable and aligned and always moving forward. We also notice that Kelsi’s hips ride high in the water during every part of the stroke. Kelsi has full-body undulation, but she keeps it just above and just below the surface. HOW she does this is a result of many things, including her strength and flexibility. But one of the big factors is the head/neck alignment we already mentioned. Another factor is that Kelsi thinks about landing her hands FORWARD – and high in the water -- rather than down. From under the surface, we can see that Kelsi has a classic butterfly kick – taking two kicks per every armstroke.

PREVIEW - Butterfly Legs

Part of our 2017 FALL COLLECTION, or WHAT WE'RE WORKING ON NOW! From directly above, you can see how Kelsi rotates her toes inward as she begins her kick. From underwater, pay attention to how SMALL the angles between the hips to thighs, and knee bend are while kicking. The smaller angle of setting up the kick creates very little resistance, which allows her a higher turnover, and creates efficiency by not creating drag.