Let's cut to the chase. You've seen Michael Phelps glide through the water like a dolphin and thought, "I want to try that." Then you get in the pool, attempt a few strokes, and feel like you're wrestling an octopus while drowning. That's the butterfly stroke for you. It's spectacular, powerful, and arguably the most impressive stroke to watch. But for the average swimmer, the disadvantages of butterfly swimming are significant and often underestimated. It's not just hard; it's a unique blend of extreme physical demand, technical fragility, and a high risk of injury if done wrong. This isn't to scare you off, but to give you the real picture—the one most casual guides gloss over.

The Core Challenges: Why Butterfly Wears You Out

The first major disadvantage is sheer energy cost. Studies referenced by organizations like U.S. Masters Swimming indicate that butterfly has a much higher oxygen cost per meter than freestyle or backstroke. Your body is working against the water's resistance in a brutally inefficient way if your technique is even slightly off.

Think about the motion. In freestyle, your arms recover in the air alternately, giving one shoulder a rest while the other pulls. In butterfly, both arms recover simultaneously, which means both shoulders and your entire back and core are under constant, simultaneous tension. There's no break in the rhythm.

Then there's the breathing. Unlike freestyle where you can turn your head to the side, butterfly requires you to lift your head and torso forward to breathe. This action breaks your streamlined body position every single breath cycle. Do it too high, you sink your hips and create drag. Do it too late, you gasp for air. Get it wrong, and you're adding seconds to your time or cutting your lap distance in half from exhaustion.

The Undulating Kick: A Double-Edged Sword

The dolphin kick is the engine. When it's synced perfectly with the arm pull, it's magical. When it's not, it's a power drain.

A subtle error I see all the time—even with intermediate swimmers—is kicking from the knees. The power should initiate from the core and hips, transmitting a wave down through your legs. A knee-dominant kick is not only weak but also a fast way to exhaust your quadriceps. You'll feel tired after 15 meters without actually propelling yourself forward effectively. It's the swimming equivalent of revving your engine in neutral.

Technical Pitfalls and the Road to Injury

This is where the disadvantages get serious. Poor butterfly technique doesn't just slow you down; it can sideline you.

The Shoulder Killer: The recovery phase is the biggest risk zone. As you bring your arms forward over the water, the instinct is to use your shoulder muscles (deltoids and rotator cuff) to lift them. This is a mistake. The force should come from using your latissimus dorsi (the large back muscles) and core to roll your body forward, allowing your arms to swing around almost loosely. Forcefully lifting with the shoulders, especially when fatigued and your form breaks down, places extreme stress on the vulnerable rotator cuff tendons. The Mayo Clinic lists swimming as a cause of shoulder overuse injuries, with improper technique in strokes like butterfly being a prime culprit.

Lower Back Strain: That undulating motion? If it's exaggerated or comes from arching your back instead of engaging your core, you're compressing your lumbar spine with every stroke. It's a recipe for chronic lower back pain.

Breathing Disruption: We touched on this, but it's worth reiterating. Lifting your head to breathe sinks your hips. It's physics. This turns your body from a spear into a plow, massively increasing drag. The struggle to get air then makes you lift your head even higher, creating a vicious cycle of inefficiency.

Who Should Think Twice About Butterfly?

Butterfly isn't for everyone, and that's okay. Understanding its disadvantages helps you make an informed choice.

If your goal is general fitness, calorie burning, or stress relief, you'll get more sustainable benefit and enjoyment from mastering freestyle and backstroke. Butterfly, for you, might be an occasional drill rather than a staple.

A Realistic Path for Beginners (If You're Determined)

So you still want to learn? Good. Here’s how to approach it while respecting its disadvantages.

Forget trying full-stroke butterfly for the first month. Seriously.

• Phase 1: Dolphin Kick Domination. Spend weeks just doing dolphin kick. On your front with fins, on your back, on your side with one arm extended. Use a kickboard. The goal is to feel the wave from your chest, not your knees. This builds the essential core engine.
• Phase 2: One-Arm Butterfly. This is the secret sauce. Swim with one arm at your side, doing the dolphin kick and breathing to the side, while the other arm does a modified fly pull. It isolates the timing of the pull and breath without the shoulder strain of a double-arm recovery. Switch arms.
• Phase 3: 3+1 Drills. Three dolphin kicks, then one full butterfly stroke. This forces you to maintain a strong kick rhythm and prevents you from rushing the stroke.
• Phase 4: Short Sprints. Only attempt 12.5m or 25m max with perfect focus on form. Rest fully between attempts. Quality over quantity, always.

The moment your form crumbles—your kick turns to a flutter, your shoulders hike up—stop. Swim easy freestyle. Continuing with bad form is where you learn nothing and risk everything.

Your Butterfly Questions, Answered

Look, butterfly swimming is a beautiful monster. Its disadvantages—the intense physical demand, the technical complexity, the injury risks—are very real. They're the reason it's the last stroke most people learn, and why many choose not to prioritize it. But understanding these drawbacks is the first step toward conquering them. If you choose to tackle it, respect the process. Build it slowly from the core and kick outwards. Focus on rhythm over raw power. Listen to your body, especially your shoulders. Done right, mastering even a passable butterfly is an incredibly rewarding achievement that teaches you more about body awareness in the water than any other stroke. Just know what you're signing up for.