I'm 38 years old and started swimming for fitness about 3 months ago. I learned basic breaststroke in my late 20s but haven't practiced much back then.
Here is a video of my breaststroke swim.
www.dropbox.com/.../breaststroke 2.MOV
If I sprint, it takes me about 33 seconds for 25m and 2:27 for 100m. I can maintain 2:40 per 100m when I swim long distances like 1000m, without getting tired.
I have two modest goals - Swim 25m in 25 seconds and 100m in 2min. How do I quickly reach these goals? Is my problem my poor technique or lack of strength (I'm skinny)?
Thanks in advance.
www.dropbox.com/.../***-Dec15.MOV
This is the video with slightly better pull. I'm consistently not bringing my hands behind my shoulder. But it seems my elbows aren't always high.
I'm still angled and swimming 1 feet below the surface! But I'm excited about the progress! (3 seconds improvement in 25m).
Looking forward to trying some of these drills.
Sojerz, thanks to Amazon, it seems like all these tools are available here as well.
But I'm excited about the progress! (3 seconds improvement in 25m).
Congratulations on your quick improvement! :applaud: That just goes to show how important proper technique is in swimming. I'm sure you will improve your times as you continue to work on your technique. If there is one person to pay attention to on this thread and "The Breaststroke Lane" thread, it's King Frog (Allen Stark). He is the frogstroke expert! :D
Congratulations on your quick improvement! :applaud: That just goes to show how important proper technique is in swimming. I'm sure you will improve your times as you continue to work on your technique. If there is one person to pay attention to on this thread and "The Breaststroke Lane" thread, it's King Frog (Allen Stark). He is the frogstroke expert! :D
This is a big improvement.You are actually not as deep as before, but you are swimming a bit "uphill".I think to get you hips higher you need to add some undulation to the stroke. As you do the insweep, push your hips forward (towards the bottom of the pool) and then as you shoot your hands forward, vigorously straighten out you back(like a dolphin kick.) The breaststroke pull/dolphin kick with fins drill may help with the feel of this. A really good, but fairly difficult, drill for this is swim BR kick with your arms by your side, so that the only way to breath is with a good undulation.
Another thing i noticed is that when you recover your legs, your knees are wider than your feet. This increases drag. Work on keeping your knees closer together, about 1-2 fists apart.
Allen, the quick improvement is thanks to your excellent observation and suggestion :bow:
Further improvements might take time as my dolphin kick technique is also weak. Should I order long fins or short fins for my drills?
It looks like all the good swimmers (Merle Liivand and other Youtube videos) actually shoot their hands slightly downwards whereas I keep them straight, parallel to the floor. Do I also need to shoot my hands downwards?
The conventional wisdom is to shoot your hands straight forward. Many good swimmers aim them a little downward, but the recommendation is forward.
I like the long fins. I am doing one kick per pull, timing it like it would be with a BR kick and the short fins throw my timing off.
Allen, the quick improvement is thanks to your excellent observation and suggestion :bow:
Further improvements might take time as my dolphin kick technique is also weak. Should I order long fins or short fins for my drills?
It looks like all the good swimmers (Merle Liivand and other Youtube videos) actually shoot their hands slightly downwards whereas I keep them straight, parallel to the floor. Do I also need to shoot my hands downwards?
If there is one person to pay attention to on this thread and "The Breaststroke Lane" thread, it's King Frog (Allen Stark). He is the frogstroke expert! :D
TRUE THAT! :D
www.dropbox.com/.../*** Feb 2.MOV
This is my latest breaststroke video. I'm undulating a bit so my body is straighter during the kick. But I still feel like I'm lower in the water than I'm supposed to be.
I wasn't able to properly do the breaststroke pull with dolphin kick. I wasn't getting the timing right.
Allen, I would love to hear your feedback!
You are much better in body position. Your pull is still narrow and you are pausing at the end of the pull back before the recovery. The insweep should transition seamlessly into the recovery. You have very little insweep, making that difficult. Also, with your pull you are leading with your elbows instead of getting your elbows above your hands, kind of like EVF in free, or as I was taught many years ago, like reaching over a barrel.
