Butterfly kick: a horizontal rotation with legs swinging one after the other. Progression from the cartwheel, mat check, honest evidence and spotter note.
In the butterfly kick you rotate in a nearly horizontal body position around your own axis while the straight legs swing through one after the other. In the FIG rules the butterfly is listed among the acrobatic elements with a base value of 1.2, next to the frisbee [1]. That number is a competition scoring value, not a learning difficulty.
The honest answer: I did not find a single study on the butterfly kick — no biomechanics, no injury data. Everything I tell you here about technique is practical knowledge from training, not from research. What studies do provide is the surroundings: landing and build-up.
For example: in parkour studies injuries often occur at landings and in the legs [2]. In a survey of 161 traceurs, 28.5 % of reported injuries involved the ankle [3]. But those were recalled answers, not rates. In the butterfly kick you land on one foot; the ankle is your weak spot.
And what can you take from studies about learning? In a cross-sectional study with 17 parkour children (12.5 years), cartwheel performance was better than in 17 same-age team-sport athletes (p = 0.019) [4]. That shows no learning effect, only a snapshot.
Until the butterfly kick feels solid with light hand support, expect weeks to months. That is an experience value, not a study figure.
Why am I so open about the evidence? Because honesty matters more than a smooth text when it comes to tricks. If there is no study, I say so — and I do not let anything pass as "scientifically proven" that is practical knowledge. The butterfly kick is a typical example of a move that coaches teach every day but that research has not yet measured. That is not a flaw of the move but of the research.
Train only when rested. Rotation moves need full concentration, and fatigue changes where your feet land. This is a practice standard.
Do 10 cartwheels per side in a straight line. The cartwheel is your rotation base.
Milestone: 10 cartwheels per side in a line, landing controlled on both sides.
On the mat: stand in the middle, lean the upper body sideways until it is nearly horizontal, and rotate in a controlled way around your own axis. It is about the feeling, not speed.
Milestone: 10 repetitions, the rotation stays even.
Touch the hands down briefly for help while the legs swing through. You arrive on one foot.
Milestone: 8 out of 10 tries with a clean landing on one foot.
Cut the hand support to a short tap or drop it altogether — only with a spotter and mat.
Milestone: 5 tries with minimal hand contact, landing calm.
Without hands, with a spotter. Only when every stage sits securely do you move to firm ground.
Milestone: 8 out of 10 tries clean on the mat.
Turn your phone sideways and film yourself from the front. This is a practice trick without study evidence, but you see at once whether your body really rotates horizontally or whether you only feel like it does.
Second trick: rehearse the rotation in your head. Picture the legs swinging one after the other through the horizontal before you do it. Mental practice does not replace repetition, but it calms the timing. This is a practice trick without study evidence.
A butterfly kick is a horizontal rotation in which the straight legs swing through one after the other. In the FIG rules it is listed among the acrobatic elements with a base value of 1.2 [1].
No, but a clean cartwheel helps. The butterfly kick is a rotation around your own axis, not a flip. That is why the cartwheel is the prerequisite.
No injury-rate data exist. The one-foot landing is the delicate part; hence mat, spotter and small steps.
That depends strongly on the cartwheel and your mobility. Expect weeks to months; that is an experience value, not a study figure.
It is practised in both scenes. In the FIG parkour rules it is listed among the acrobatic elements [1]. Whether you see it as parkour or tricking does not change the build-up.
Learning the Swing to Precision: Landing Precisely Out of a Swing