Swimming
Butterfly with Hand Paddles
Butterfly with hand paddles adds resistance to the butterfly stroke, challenging your upper-body pulling strength and coordination between the arm pull and dolphin kick.
- Advanced
- Moderate injury risk
- Rest 45 sec
How to do it
- Secure the paddles on your hands according to their strap design.
- Push off the wall face down with your arms extended overhead.
- Angle your fingertips downward from a shoulder-width reach, keeping your elbows closer to the surface than your hands.
- Sweep both hands backward beneath your chest.
- Press the water toward your feet until your hands reach your hips.
- Swing both arms forward together over the water.
- Enter the water fingertips first with your hands shoulder-width apart.
- Repeat the stroke to the wall, finishing with a simultaneous two-hand touch.
Form cues
- Kick at hand entry and pull finish.
- Breathe low as your hands finish pushing.
- Return your face before your hands.
Common mistakes
- Using oversized paddlesChoose paddles only slightly larger than your hands.
- Forcing a deep chest dipKeep the body wave small enough that your hips stay near the surface.
- Pausing out frontBegin the catch as your forward reach ends instead of gliding to a stop.
Safety
Paddles increase resistance at the shoulders, so forceful pulling or fatigue can overload them. Losing stroke coordination can also make breathing and reaching the wall harder.
- Practice in a lifeguarded pool with enough lane space for both arms to recover freely.
- Warm up with easy swimming without paddles before starting.
- End the interval if shoulder pain appears or you cannot maintain coordinated strokes.
- Remove the paddles before increasing your swimming distance substantially.
If you have shoulder pain, limited overhead motion, or a recent shoulder injury, get advice from a physiotherapist before using paddles.
Muscles worked
Primary muscles
Secondary muscles
Equipment
- Pool Lane Line (optional)
- Swim Hand Paddles
Sets and reps
- Sets
- 4–6
- Target
- 25 meters
- Rest
- 45 sec
Use paddles only after you can comfortably swim the same distance with regular butterfly.