Breaststroke has always been my favourite stroke, but I've had these questions/problems for the longest times, could someone answer them for me? By the way, I'm 15.
1) How in the WORLD is it possible to do that ankle snap thing? I've been trying to turn my ankle out and in but it just wouldn't budge. It's just stuck there, and it cannot move side to side. I've seen some pictures of breaststrokers' feet turning 90 degrees in, but how can I do that? What are some exercises to improve side-to-side ankle flexibility?
2) I have a pretty narrow kick, and I think it is decent. However, I never feel the "explosion" everyone's talking about. I try my hardest to kick hardest, accelerating, but my legs just feel like pasta at the end of each kick. I can get pretty far with my kicks, but I feel like I can do better - I sometimes don't feel a lot of water resistance against my feet.
3) I've been having a bit of trouble with slipping recently. When I'm doing a 50 or 100m *** at a faster pace, my hands will sometimes fail to grab water, and sometimes a foot, sometimes both feet! I think it has to do with my pulling too fast, but I dunno.
4) When I go into a wall during ***, I am usually not tired, not even in a sprint (Short Course). However, the minute I complete my turn and start my underwater pull out, all hell breaks lose. I feel like my lungs will explode, and right after my first breath every single muscle begins hurting like never before. All fatigue comes at this one turn, and worsens every turn, until the last turn my underwater pullout is much shorter than my first pullout (from pushoff, I can usually do 10 meters from the pushoff while still maintaining a decent speed).
5) What are some workouts I can do to improve my sprint 50m and 100m breaststroke (short course)? I think I can do a near 40s 41s for 50m short course breaststroke from pushoff, but I want to get close to and under 35s.
6) What are some dry-land exercises I can do to improve my breaststroke?
7) Any other advice for faster sprint breaststroke?
Thanks A BUNCH to everyone who replies. I am really frustrated right now. Thanks again.
Parents
Former Member
oh yes, one more thing. I almost fell over when I read suggestions that you should 'hold' your breath. One should never actually 'hold' their breath at anytime in a race, unless you like CO2 build up. One needs to learn to employ a 'controlled' exhale. That is, exhale slowly during the time you'd be holding your breath. You should be able to time this exhale, leaving just alittle bit of excess air to blow out prior breaking the surface for your inhale. You will find much less lung fatigue, and less feeling of oxygen starvation. Take it from a smoker, it really helps.
Try it in freestyle. Try 100s, breathing every 5 strokes (or 6 if you, like me, hate bi-latteral breathing). Try it holding your breath, and try the way I describe. Which method do you find yourself giving up the 5 stroke count the earliest?
oh yes, one more thing. I almost fell over when I read suggestions that you should 'hold' your breath. One should never actually 'hold' their breath at anytime in a race, unless you like CO2 build up. One needs to learn to employ a 'controlled' exhale. That is, exhale slowly during the time you'd be holding your breath. You should be able to time this exhale, leaving just alittle bit of excess air to blow out prior breaking the surface for your inhale. You will find much less lung fatigue, and less feeling of oxygen starvation. Take it from a smoker, it really helps.
Try it in freestyle. Try 100s, breathing every 5 strokes (or 6 if you, like me, hate bi-latteral breathing). Try it holding your breath, and try the way I describe. Which method do you find yourself giving up the 5 stroke count the earliest?
