the mystery of breaststroke

first you'll find lot's of great info at: wayne's http://www.breaststroke.info I've written about breastroke in Swim Faster Faster forums.usms.org/showthread.php the trick to breastroke is mastering the technique and getting strong one key is body position you want your arms out in front and your head neutral when you fire off your kick be in a superman streamline position do kicking drills where you work on improving your feel for the water with your legs and feet also kick with a board, kick 200 - 400 *** per practice occasionally do 50 and 100 kicks for time you've got to master correct timing many swimmers could go faster in breastroke but their timing is off, their body position is wrong, or they're just not pressing as much water as they could once you have better technique and timing work on speed, strength and conditioning last year I worked with tyler blessing in december he split 38 on his IM by nats he split 34 do timed 50's where you swim into the wall backstroke, start the watch when your hand touches flip and swim a fast 50 *** also in the IM it will help if you don't kill yourself in the fly and back hold back a little so you'll have a stronger *** and free rest also makes a huge difference for breastrokers I'm known many breastrokers who make awesome drops during taper good luck hope this helps ande It is not a stretch to say that breaststroke is about 1/3 of my IM. I know my timing if off, but my kick really stinks. I have no excuse; I have a short axis body type and strong legs from running and weights. What can I do to fix my kick? Thanks!!

Thanks Ande. I'll check those websites. I probably just need to buckle down and do more of it. I've just been avoiding it like the plague. I didn't swim it all summer because 50 straight meters of *** without a turn in an IM seemed like a waste of an event. Can't kick with a board though, bad shoulders. And fly and back are my best strokes. If I'm not ahead after those, I'm done for!

Hi Leslie, All of Ande's ideas are great. Breaststroke gets a lot of power from the kick and (provided you are in a good streamline) a lot of that power relies on pressing the water the right way with your feet. Breaststrokers have flexible ankles in flexion and side-to-side... try doing the alphabet with your feet once a day for a month and see if it helps any. If you kick without a board like Matt suggests, you can also work on your streamline and kick at the same time. I like to kick on my stomach (no board), breathing every kick cycle, and trying to hold under 8 kicks in a 25 yard pool.

I think you are better off kicking without a board anyhow...for shoulder reasons and technique reasons. With *** kicking you want to avoid dropping your knees too far down and creating a virtual anchor. When you kick on your back you can work on your kick technique by not allowing your knees to break the surface of the water. This will teach you to get your propulsion in the kick without causing the anchor effect. It helped me out significantly and it saves my shoulders to boot. For the record, I never use a kickboard. I prefer to kick free on my back because it saves my shoulders and doesn't teach me to kick uphill.

Terry: Thanks so much. I tried Ande's suggestions today at the pool and I could feel an improvement. I definitely need to just practice the stroke and kick more rather than engage in avoidance. I've done #2. I will try #1 and #3 and let you know. I know my kick needs to be smaller. My breaststroking daughter has told me many times. How did I produce a breaststroker?! Leslie

Definitely a progressive gene, you breaststroker. My friends kindly refer to me as a non-breaststroker. My son is a distance freestyler and prefers the open water. Another recessive/progressive gene, no doubt

Progressive gene!

how's this project going? any progress? It is not a stretch to say that breaststroke is about 1/3 of my IM. I know my timing if off, but my kick really stinks. I have no excuse; I have a short axis body type and strong legs from running and weights. What can I do to fix my kick? Thanks!!

Fort, avoid it at all costs. Avoid IM, too. Stick to the other three strokes until I am named Supreme Ruler of the World and I change that breaststroke rule ... the one about it having to be swum in the IM ... I'll still let the crazy people like Rich, Alan, and Wayne swim it ...

last year I worked with tyler blessing in december he split 38 on his IM by nats he split 34 also in the IM it will help if you don't kill yourself in the fly and back hold back a little so you'll have a stronger *** and free Very funny, Ande. Very funny. :joker: The project is not going well. I think I'm getting worse. If it's possible. It probably is despite all the fabulous advice I received. I try to keep it in mind when I swim, but so far to no avail. I think I need individual help like Tyler Blessing. My teammate Wally Dicks is not helping out enough. I'll have to get a private lesson. There are no breaststrokers on my team to speak of. A lot of backstrokers who all hate breaststroke. My coach hates breaststroke too. We're just a big happy no-breaststroking kind of USMS family. I also have utterly ignored your advice about IMs. :joker: I just take my 100 IM out as fast as I reasonably can the first 50 (once I went out in 29.8) and then I just hang on and pray. This tactic seems to work reasonably well. Happy to report that I just beat my secret nemesis this way in December in SCM. Fortunately, she can't do backstroke, and couldn't catch up. I have witnesses. In fact, at this rate, everyone is going to know who my secret nemesis is, thanks to your advice to get one, and she will not be "secret" anymore. I hope those that know her identity will keep the silence! You know who you are. Or I will be an ogre again. My new approach to breaststroke is to wait for FlyQueen to be named Supreme Dictator of the World. :banana: :banana: :banana: :woot: Or, I will have to take myself off to a real breaststroke clinic. I can't even get lessons from the rude hormonal one. She doesn't believe in constructive criticism, just criticism, e.g., "Mommy, I'm 5 seconds faster in the 50 *** than you," etc. Who needs that? :dedhorse: