Just started practicing breaststroke and already have a bunch of questions.
One - is your head supposed to be in one position only at all times, i.e. looking down or do you kinda raise it a bit when about to break the surface when finishing the pull-out and then lowering your chin again to look down when submerging again?I noticed after watching some videos that there is some slight movement of the head.Or am I wrong?
Two - how deep is it best to be when doing the underwater part(streamline part) of the breaststroke(not start or turns).
Three - what is the optimal stroke count for breaststroke for, say, 25-meter pool(I am 6'1'')
And finally - how is it best to train the breaststroke kick(sample drills would be appreciated)
Sorry if that is too many questions at once.
Thanks.
Former Member
Originally posted by breastroker
Look at www.breaststroke.info
:p
I think I've heard that advice before......
Absolutely, go to Wayne's website,but in the interum,if you don't bend your neck when you breath you should have to slant your body up enough so that you can recover your feet under water without bending at the hips.(Actually,world class breaststrokers bend at the hips just before the propulsive phase to increase power,but they do it very fast and at the moment they are moving at the same speed as the column of water surrounding them,so the increase in resistance is minimal and more than offset by the incease in power.)
Actually i have another question after reading an article about breathing one every 2 strokes in sprint breaststroke at Wayne's site -what is the exact rule on breaking the surfuce in breasstroke?Is your head supposed to come totally out of the water or not?Wouldn't breathing once every 2 strokes kinda make breaststroke underwater stroke of some sort?Or does that mean just breaking the surface slightly and not "getting out of the water up to your shoulders?"
Originally posted by hooked-on-swimming
Actually i have another question after reading an article about breathing one every 2 strokes in sprint breaststroke at Wayne's site -what is the exact rule on breaking the surfuce in breasstroke?Is your head supposed to come totally out of the water or not?Wouldn't breathing once every 2 strokes kinda make breaststroke underwater stroke of some sort?Or does that mean just breaking the surface slightly and not "getting out of the water up to your shoulders?"
The exact rule is:
"Some part of the swimmer's head shall break the surface of the water at least once during each complete cycle of one arm stroke and one leg kick, in that order, except that after the start and each turn the swimmer may take one arm stroke competely back to the legs and one leg kick while wholly submerged. The head must break the surface of the water before the hands turn inward at the widest part of the second stroke."
All real breastrokers know you are faster underwater than on the surface.
That was always my complaint when many coaches hijacked the stroke for a dozen years by emphasizing the above water part of the wave stroke.
Finally some coaches learned and you get swimmers like Kitijima, Hansen and Amanda Beard, who now spend as much time in each stroke underwater as the other components of the stroke.
As to the rule, your head only needs to go high enough to break the waters surface, just the very top of the head coming out. The entire head does not have to come up. This allows more time in the streamlined underwater portion of the stroke.
