To not see the point of butterfly? (Swimming)

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

Slight frustration as the only thing holding DD back from moving up a level at swimming is her butterfly legs. Elder DD is on the lesson above (stage 5) and has had children move into her group barely able to swim a width in any stroke. Meanwhile DD is in level below able to do proper breaststroke, front crawl and backstroke. But her butterfly legs are a bit messy.

But what is the point of butterfly? Front crawl is fast. Breaststroke has it uses for people who can't go underwater and is calm. Backstroke has uses for when you get in trouble.

Neither child will be going into Club swimming... unfortunately Covid has put paid to any chance of that as they are too old now really.

My views might be slightly effected by being a former Club swimmer who didn't do butterfly after breaking my arm leaving it with a slight weakness... I could do the others fine.

So.. is there a use for the Butterfly stroke outside of competitive swimming?

@TheAbbotOfUnreason it’s not legal, should be a dq in all competitions. 15m underwater from the dive only for the exact reading that it’s faster to go underwater.

Yanbu. Looking back I'm really resentful of the couple of thousand pounds I spent in swimming lessons for my dc's to be taught butterfly. I wanted them to do crawl, breast and lifesaving.

Swin England seem to prioritise spotting the potential top swimmers than teaching children to keep safe in water or keep fit. I wasn't taught it and 40 years on I'm still a stronger swimmer than my dc's. (I could rant about this all day ).

I was taught it, and I enjoyed it - it's lovely to watch when done well. But it's not what I'd focus on when teaching until they are at club level.

Never once used it in all the various lifesaving qualifications I did - that was all head-up front crawl and breaststroke and sidestroke. I might have used the legs underwater.

Its also a really fast stroke and keeps your head out of the water and your field of vision clear, which means it can be useful for ocean swimming, and for entering and leaving the sea

It feels like you're describing a different stroke to the butterfly I'm familiar with...

Being able to swim 200m butterfly without getting disqualified got me a certificate in our county championships. I was slower than the second coming but everyone else got disqualified so I got into the final and repeated the exercise, possibly even slower!

I now swim a stately breaststroke along with the other old people at the early morning swim session.

Weeks of butterfly was the reason both my children gave up swimming lessons.

It’s really frustrating because most leisure swimming - swimming for fitness, amateur races, swimming to support other water sports - needs breast stroke, front crawl and life saving skills, but it seems you can’t advance in those without butterfly.

Dts got stuck in stage 4 for over two terms because of butterfly. They weren't physically strong enough to be able to do it properly at the time. They flew through to stage 8 after that and the covid so haven't gone back but they do rookie lifeguarding now and are very strong swimmers with good strokes.

I'm an ex climb swimmer and have never managed a length of butterfly properly. I'll stick to front crawl.

In my experience, at my local leisure centre general public swimming, butterfly is only useful to middle aged men wanting to show off with too much splashing and palaver when everyone else is just trying to get some lengths in and mind their own business. Look at me! I’m so macho and clever.

I could rant about this all day

Me too!

I think complaining about it is a bit like having your kids go to gym club and saying what’s the point of the parallel bars or something.

But most people learn to swim for safety, fitness and fun, not elite competition.

@OchonAgusOchonOh

The main use of butterfly is to ensure nobody gets in the same lane as you in a swimming pool.

Hahaha

I'm hoping to get to Stage 2 Doggy-paddle this summer.
This where my thrashing about is reduced to a such a level where ;

1. it no longer inflicts injuries on swimmers in close proximity,
2. life guards know not to throw me another life belt.

“I think complaining about it is a bit like having your kids go to gym club and saying what’s the point of the parallel bars or something.”

But I don’t want to be be so hard it’s pointless. I want my 5yo to develop strength and stamina in the water so she is safe and can enjoy water-based activity. If she wants to join a club later then fine but my primary motivation isn’t for her to be doing swimming for physical fitness or a challenge. It’s to stop her from drowning and secondly for fun. I’d rather my children could do front crawl really well for a length or two and do some lifesaving stuff before starting butterfly/breaststroke.

I just googled it because I genuinely had no idea what it was and it looks ridiculous.

I just look like I'm drowning whilst doing a butterfly stroke

I agree. My 6yo is working towards her level 5, and is on her second term of it, and it seems endless butterfly for no apparent reason. She's very good with her mermaid legs, and she is coping with it, but a lot of it seems to be about physical strength which she doesn't yet have cos, ya know, she's 6!

@InkySquid

Its also a really fast stroke and keeps your head out of the water and your field of vision clear, which means it can be useful for ocean swimming, and for entering and leaving the sea

It feels like you're describing a different stroke to the butterfly I'm familiar with...

I thought that too - your chin should barely be lifting out of the water if you’re breathing to the front otherwise your hips and legs will sink. But it is the second fastest stroke.

Butterflies don't swim.

It is a silly stroke.

@vivariumvivariumsvivaria

Butterflies don't swim.

It is a silly stroke.

It's a useful wanker alert. If you see on a man's dating profile he likes swimming ask him what his favourite stroke is. If he says butterfly fake your own death.

Former elite competitive swimmer, and no, outside of competition there is very little point in butterfly.

Except perhaps for clearing out a lane in a public session and making yourself unpopular.

So, genuine question, why is it taught so young and why is there so much emphasis on it to the detriment of children enjoying swimming and wanting to continue? Other than British Swimming wanting to remain competitive, surely it's better to have children carry on swimming than being forced to stop because they can't progress because of this specific stroke?

I've never been able to do a butterfly. They ended up moving me up a level, back in the US, because my sister would be in a class on her own. otherwise I would been stuck in that particular class forever!

[quote Kjr33]@TheAbbotOfUnreason it’s not legal, should be a dq in all competitions. 15m underwater from the dive only for the exact reading that it’s faster to go underwater.[/quote]
It certainly was legal - the child wasn’t underwater for the entire 25m. Dived in, pulled arms back, bobbed up to the surface and butterfly wiggled down the pool and recovered arms over the water to touch at the finish. We had trainee judges and it was discussed in the referee’s debrief at the end of the session.

Tbh this is the reason my kids never did swimming lessons. They can all swim competently by my standards (ie easily swim 25 metres, enjoy the pool with friends, dive down and touch the bottom etc). But they don't swim with correct technique because i literally don't are about that.