Swim Lather Rinse Repeat

I'm obsessed with the butterfly stroke in swimming.  The challenge:  figure out why some trips to the other end of the pool feel good and others feel like I'm swimming through cold honey:  suffocating, slow and sticky.  Maybe I feel good on the 25 yards out, but on the 25 coming back I fall apart

Sometimes, I suspect a failure to take breathing seriously.  Other times, I just blame bad technique. 

Maybe I had a breakthrough this evening.  For 20 minutes, during my butterfly drills I focused on keeping the amplitude of my up and down excursions to a minimum.  I had to remind myself to really work on blowing out and sucking in my breath.  The stroke has so many parts.  Timing plays a greater role with butterfly than the other three strokes.  I swam some full stroke lengths with my arms skimming the water during the recovery phase.  I wanted to know what I looked like performing drills and full stroke--I hadn't brought a camera and no one told me how I looked.  I asked myself:  Did my hips sink following hand entry?  Do I kick with or after hand entry?  Was my chest too shallow?  Did any of that matter? 

With 15 minutes to go before pool closure, I swam some full stroke 25's, mindfully keeping the amplitude low.  I tried not to climb too much when getting a breath, nor sink following hand entry.

It felt good, but I forgot to breathe well.  Swimming butterfly is like trying to do a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle nine times in 25 yards. 

So far, repeat performances elude me.  It is a work in progress.  No quitting.

Lather. Rinse, repeat.  Breathe, stay small, breathe.