Video Analysis - Breaststroke

Regarding the knee outside of foot kick, it's the most comfortable position. I used to try to keep my knees more narrow, but when doing the kick it felt like something a knee was not meant to do. it might be more like your using different muscles at greater degrees than before. Good reason to go easy and narrow at first when adjusting your kick

Regarding the knee outside of foot kick, it's the most comfortable position. I used to try to keep my knees more narrow, but when doing the kick it felt like something a knee was not meant to do. Masters Swimming Rule #1, don't do anything that can cause injury.

To me, it looks like the biggest thing is that your missing drive, "oomph" as it were. Your stroke is there, you need to be more aggressive. When your hands catching at the front, grab the water and pull it in (I'd like to see your pull a little wider there also). When you load up the kick at the back, whip those legs back and around. Another thing, also regarding the aggression of the stroke, is what your body between your arms and legs is doing. When you rear your head/shoulders out of the water to breathe, you need to drive your shoulders (and by extension the rest of your body) forward along with your arms. I guess it is hard to explain via typed word... drills like this should give you the right idea: www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../ Obviously Adam Peaty is as close to otherworldly as you can get, but check out how aggressive his recovery is - his head and shoulders drive forward, and that "body dolphin" brings the hips and legs with.

I think JP is right. This is a very interesting video as you are doing most things right, but are not getting the DPS. A few things,on the pull, most people pull back too far, you don't pull back far enough. that along with your relatively narrow pull means you are not getting much power from your insweep. The insweep is where you build up the speed to shoot your hands forward and shooting your hand forward with power helps shoot your legs back with power. On your kick recovery, you are bringing you knees out side of your feet, which increases drag. The actual kick looks pretty good mechanically, but it needs more oomph. Based on your push offs, I don't think it is a matter of leg strength, but if you are not shooting your hands forward quickly, it is hard to shoot your feet back powerfully. Work on widening your pull and concentrating on your insweep/recovery. Then work on BR kick with no pull, working on foot speed and gliding. A great drill for foot speed is AFAP eggbeater kicks, either vertically or 25s with a snorkel

Oh, I think you're right... my stroke looks pretty weak compared to the woman in the video. The funny thing is that I know of this drill, however I miss applying the forward drive from the drill into my actual stroke. Do most people swim breaststroke with this kind of aggression? I'm wondering if it's like fly; can only practice in short bursts. Thanks!! I can't speak for everyone, but after warmup, I only swim BR at race pace in when swimming BR, unless I am swimming slower as part of an awareness drill.

To me, it looks like the biggest thing is that your missing drive, "oomph" as it were. Your stroke is there, you need to be more aggressive. When your hands catching at the front, grab the water and pull it in (I'd like to see your pull a little wider there also). When you load up the kick at the back, whip those legs back and around. Another thing, also regarding the aggression of the stroke, is what your body between your arms and legs is doing. When you rear your head/shoulders out of the water to breathe, you need to drive your shoulders (and by extension the rest of your body) forward along with your arms. I guess it is hard to explain via typed word... drills like this should give you the right idea: www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../ Obviously Adam Peaty is as close to otherworldly as you can get, but check out how aggressive his recovery is - his head and shoulders drive forward, and that "body dolphin" brings the hips and legs with. Oh, I think you're right... my stroke looks pretty weak compared to the woman in the video. The funny thing is that I know of this drill, however I miss applying the forward drive from the drill into my actual stroke. Do most people swim breaststroke with this kind of aggression? I'm wondering if it's like fly; can only practice in short bursts. Thanks!!

I think JP is right. This is a very interesting video as you are doing most things right, but are not getting the DPS. A few things,on the pull, most people pull back too far, you don't pull back far enough. that along with your relatively narrow pull means you are not getting much power from your insweep. The insweep is where you build up the speed to shoot your hands forward and shooting your hand forward with power helps shoot your legs back with power. On your kick recovery, you are bringing you knees out side of your feet, which increases drag. The actual kick looks pretty good mechanically, but it needs more oomph. Based on your push offs, I don't think it is a matter of leg strength, but if you are not shooting your hands forward quickly, it is hard to shoot your feet back powerfully. Work on widening your pull and concentrating on your insweep/recovery. Then work on BR kick with no pull, working on foot speed and gliding. A great drill for foot speed is AFAP eggbeater kicks, either vertically or 25s with a snorkel Thanks for the great tips, I'll work on a wider stronger pull and faster insweep which will hopefully translate into my forward drive and stronger kick. Regarding the knee outside of foot kick, it's the most comfortable position. I used to try to keep my knees more narrow, but when doing the kick it felt like something a knee was not meant to do.

Thanks for posting this! I think your breaststroke has a lot of potential and it's great to see that you would like to share your stroke with the members of the forum. While there are a lot of points that you can work on to improve your breaststroke, you will get the biggest bang for your buck by correcting your body position after the finish of the kick. I've attached a screenshot here to demonstrate: 11416 As you can see, in the streamline position, your upper body is closer to the surface of the water, while the lower half of the body is heading towards a vertical position. Keeping your body position parallel to the surface of the water after the finish of the kick when you should be in a streamlined position, is essential to taking advantage of your kick, helping reduce drag and move continuously forward. Good luck! Thanks for pointing that out, it definitely feels like the lower half of my body drops in the water when I finish the kick. I guess I should try undulating in the stroke to raise my hips?

Your main goal will be to strengthen the core such that you can keep your hips closer to the surface of the water during that streamline position. Undulation is a bit tricky because this could lead to too much up and down motion during your stroke, thus reducing efficiency. Here are a few drills that might be helpful, as demonstrated by Kristy Kowal: www.swimspire.com/.../ However, as Allen said, the number 1 rule is to not do anything that might lead to injuries, so approach these and any drills you do with caution. Not all of them will be geared towards your needs. Ideally you should also use the services of a coach specialized in stroke technique to further your efforts in the breaststroke.

Thanks for posting this! I think your breaststroke has a lot of potential and it's great to see that you would like to share your stroke with the members of the forum. While there are a lot of points that you can work on to improve your breaststroke, you will get the biggest bang for your buck by correcting your body position after the finish of the kick. I've attached a screenshot here to demonstrate: 11416 As you can see, in the streamline position, your upper body is closer to the surface of the water, while the lower half of the body is heading towards a vertical position. Keeping your body position parallel to the surface of the water after the finish of the kick when you should be in a streamlined position, is essential to taking advantage of your kick, helping reduce drag and move continuously forward. Good luck!