Is the future of freestyle butterfly?

"The future of freestyle is butterfly."

That stopped me. I'd often wondered about incorporating butterfly into freestyle drills, but was unable to reconcile why that might be a good idea.

I've seen freestylers use a "gallop" stroke since high school in the 80s. It was always done instinctively, by higher-level swimmers. And I felt how it worked myself at times back in the day. But I wasn't sure why it worked - or what was happening.

The best explanation to date has been this, from The Race Club.

That take, from Gary Hall, Sr., is how the "loping" freestyle favored by elite swimmers is best described as a "hybrid" stroke - one arm shoulder-driven, one arm hip-driven

That is certainly true. Hall's breakdown has been insightful for me to understand and explain it.

But when I read a blog a few weeks ago connecting freestyle to butterfly?

Let's just say that I consume a lot of swim-related resources.

I've never before seen this take on what I've seen called "riding the wave" in freestyle.

If Hall's take is the "how," this is the "why."

Some coaches hate the gallop. And certainly, I also don't believe any beginner swimmers should ever start their technique journey this way.

But, when we all watch the Olympics this summer, this is the stroke you will see, over and over again.

Check out the butterfly-freestyle connection in this blog.

“By undulating during their galloping stroke swimmers can harness the natural flow of water and propel themselves forward like a stone skipping across the surface rather than using the linear pulling motion of regular Freestyle.

The evolution of Freestyle does not adhere to the traditional rules of classic Freestyle. It requires doing the stuff the swimming coaches told us strictly not to do…”

For whatever reason, the post hasn't gotten the views or attention it deserves. Blame algorithms, search engines or maybe the reach of the Australian site.

Could also be resistance from swim traditionalists.

Lest we forget, however, evolution is also a grand tradition of the sport as well.

See what you think!

-Doug Miller