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Mastering Butterfly Technique with Olympic Swimmer Marius Kusch
Get on the bus, Marius is taking you to school!
Butterfly is one of the most technically demanding strokes in swimming, requiring excellent technique to execute efficiently.
In this interview, German Olympic swimmer Marius Kusch shares his insights on perfecting butterfly technique through quality training methods focused on speed and power.
Marius emphasizes training the stroke at a high tempo with proper form from a young age. He avoids slow, "sloppy" butterfly sets that ingrain poor technique habits. Instead, he advocates repeat 50s and 25s at race pace with the correct stroke count to build endurance while maintaining excellent technique.
When it comes to drills, Marius is critical of traditional single-arm butterfly due to its tendency to cause hips to drop and an undulating stroke motion. He prefers drills that reinforce proper body position and timing. He also stresses the importance of a low, streamlined body position and engaging the core for a flatter, more powerful stroke. Like “skipping a stone across the water”.
In his own training, Marius focuses on relaxation and “throwing hands” during the recovery to maximize speed. He generates power from a high elbow catch and transfers it smoothly throughout the stroke. For butterfly kicking, he emphasizes engaging the up-kick (he thinks this is the most common kicking mistake in butterfly) and keeping his legs together.
Marius also talks a little bit about creating content and athletes marketing themselves. Be sure to follow him on Instagram, he posts a lot of swimming expertise.
Enjoy!
Listen on Apple Podcasts here.
Watch on YouTube here.
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Time Stamps:
00:00 - Welcome Marius Kusch!
01:32 - Marketing Yourself and Building a Brand
04:49 - Evolution of Training
06:43 - What is the Aerobic Base?
09:45 - Training Butterfly
18:12 - Breaking Down Butterfly Technique
26:50 - Butterfly Drills and Ideas
34:10 - Breaking Down Dolphin Kick - Common Mistakes
40:34 - Underwater Kicking
Learn something about butterfly technique today?
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