What it is
Push off the wall in streamline with fly kick. At the surface, do two fly strokes and take a breath on the second one.
Essentials
- Streamline with fly kick; arms start only when at the surface
- Breath occurs on the second stroke, at the beginning of that stroke (as hands push water down from 11)
- Arms move under body and water, then out and around with straight elbows
- Hands in 11 = hips up; hands pulling water = hips down
- Thumbs aim down as arms travel forward; only part of the hand touches the water
- Arms do not recover UP or above the body — keep them natural to the sides, moving forward
Progression
- 3× SL + No Kick + 2 Fly Strokes — no kicking; glide on streamline, then at the surface move arms in fly motion
- 3× SL + No Kick + 1 Fly Stroke with ½ Kick from Airplane to 11 — no kick until the very end of the arm stroke
- Add ½ Kick — thumbs down, arms stay natural to the sides, moving around the sides
- 3× SL + 2 Fly Strokes — full fly kick through both strokes; breathe at the beginning of stroke 2 as hands push from 11 to hipline
What goes wrong
- Lifting the head too early for the breath → cue a quick, low breath; head stays down until hands push from 11
- Pausing at the top of the recovery → keep arms moving naturally forward; no stop at airplane
- Letting the hips drop during the pull → connect hips to arm strokes; hips drive down as hands pull water
- Arms recovering UP or above the body → reset to no-kick drill; emphasize arms to the sides, moving forward
- Elbows bending during recovery → straight-elbow airplane; aim thumbs down as arms travel forward
How you know it worked
Elbows stay straight during recovery; hips rise as arms sweep forward to 11; breath is quick without the butt dropping too much; feet snap with a strong up-and-down motion.
How you teach it
The core mechanic is connecting hips to the arm strokes: hips rise when arms reach 11, hips drive down as hands push water from 11 to the hipline. The breath is timed to the beginning of the second stroke, not the end of the first. Swimmers often struggle with this timing, so the progression strips out the kick first to isolate the arm motion, then reintroduces it in halves before the full fly kick runs through both strokes.
It is acceptable for the recovery (hips to 11) to push the swimmer backward during early drills — this is a natural consequence of the wide arm sweep and should not be corrected until the motion is clean. The cue "arms in 11 = hips near surface" gives the swimmer a body-position check they can feel without looking.
For feedback, watch for the "legal fly" requirement: arms must stay under the water, not swing over the top. If a swimmer is lifting arms above the body, reset to the no-kick drill and emphasize "arms to the sides, moving forward." Bonus goals (quick breath, straight-elbow airplane, clap the back of the hands above the head in 11, roll the entire body) are extensions once the base skill is solid.
In lesson integration this skill sits alongside the 3× SL + 1 BR arm + 1 BR kick drill and the 5× SL + 2 FLY arms set. The 5× SL + 2 FLY arms set emphasises a powerful kick with arms "sneaked in" — the kick drives the body and the arms are secondary. The SL + 2 FLY under & on back variation (push off underwater, do 2 full fly strokes on the back without touching the surface) builds the same arm pattern in a different body position.