Amanda Beard comes up very high on the water. Almost like shes leaning on her elbows/forearms on the suface of the water. How high in general should you come up? I have always been taught to stay fairly close the to the surface. I can see how it would give her more propulsion when she is under the water and finishes her kick, but doesnt it interrupt the stroke? it would seem to make it more "stop and go" instead of a fluid movement.
If you watch Amanda from 1996 you can see she came even higher back then. I suspect she learned that way and she has such a great kick she can make it work. In general the lower the head the better. Better examples to watch are Kitajima or Hansen.
I've heard that when your hands are in near your chest (just before you push out), your left and index finger should be out of the water...so about that high. If that makes sense.
~Kyra
I'd say the short answer is anything that is not contributing to your forward momentum should be avoided. Obviously this means different things depending on the kind of breaststroke you use. If you use more of a traditional style your head should only come out high enough to allow you to breathe, if you use more of a "wave" style you should come out higher because the wave effect is part of the propulsion of the stroke. The "too high" point is when the up-and-down motion is no longer contributing to your forward motion.
i'd agree that brendan hansen is a better model to follow.
Brendan trains in the same pool I do in Austin.
Beard is awesome, she probably comes up too high.
I believe the most important part of *** stroke is being streamlined and flat when you fire your legs for each kick to glide fast and far.
I struggle with lifting my head in *** stroke. The really good *** strokers I've worked with tell me to keep my head still and in a neutral position.
My question related to "too-high" or not is what is the common feeling among breaststrokers about hands over the water or under/on the water?
I guess because of being a fly type of guy, I got in the habit of shooting my hands out of the water and diving back down for my *** stroke. But I'm curious if there is a preferred method, other than whatever feels good for the person.
