The latest threads clearly reveal that the vast majority of masters swimmers wish breaststroke did not exist (except Peter, Allen, Aquafeisty, and a possiblely experimenting SCY freestyler). So why does everyone hate breaststroke? :mad:
I'll go first. I hated it when I was young because it was too slow, I never learned how to do it right, and I never learned the wave action because it didn't exist when I was young. I can't seem do get the timing right now. And I have no excuse. Unlike my shoulder, my knees are fully intact. Not sure I have the gumption or time to put in 100,000 yards for a complete overhaul on a stroke I don't swim in meets. But I'd like to be able to fake it in IMs ...
Allen:
Those are most excellent points. Your first post describes my daughter almost exactly (e.g., freakish ankle flexibility, ferocious kick). Breaststrokers are weird animals. And they tend to excel at *** and IM and drop off in the other strokes (except maybe fly).
Here's the thing though. My daughter looks exactly like me, I have seriously loose flexible ankles and strong legs, but I'm hopeless at *** (well, you know, relative to my other strokes). So I should be able to do it reasonably well if I re-learned the mechanics properly. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said coaches don't coach it properly. I was never taught properly as a youth and I'm not now. In fact, when my daughter recently switched USS teams, I went out of my way to find out which strokes her coaches competed in in college. Virtually all the coaches on her team (including the ones she works with directly) were ***/flyers. So she, at least, is getting the proper coaching.
I'm going to make an effort this year to really focus on stroke mechanics. I know I need to keep my head in a more downward neutral position, particularly going into turns where I'm stupidly looking up for the wall. I read in one USMS mag that you should arch your back coming out of the kick. That seemed odd to me; it seemed to create that pause in the forward momentum you were talking about. Is that a good drill or was I just doing it wrong?
I don't really mind the loss of speed in ***. I love watching the ones who know what they're doing. It's more the frustration and enervating nature of maintaining proper position that gets me. And, while we're on the topic, what is the current thinking? Are we supposed to be wave actioning or going low like Leisel Jones?
Allen:
Those are most excellent points. Your first post describes my daughter almost exactly (e.g., freakish ankle flexibility, ferocious kick). Breaststrokers are weird animals. And they tend to excel at *** and IM and drop off in the other strokes (except maybe fly).
Here's the thing though. My daughter looks exactly like me, I have seriously loose flexible ankles and strong legs, but I'm hopeless at *** (well, you know, relative to my other strokes). So I should be able to do it reasonably well if I re-learned the mechanics properly. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said coaches don't coach it properly. I was never taught properly as a youth and I'm not now. In fact, when my daughter recently switched USS teams, I went out of my way to find out which strokes her coaches competed in in college. Virtually all the coaches on her team (including the ones she works with directly) were ***/flyers. So she, at least, is getting the proper coaching.
I'm going to make an effort this year to really focus on stroke mechanics. I know I need to keep my head in a more downward neutral position, particularly going into turns where I'm stupidly looking up for the wall. I read in one USMS mag that you should arch your back coming out of the kick. That seemed odd to me; it seemed to create that pause in the forward momentum you were talking about. Is that a good drill or was I just doing it wrong?
I don't really mind the loss of speed in ***. I love watching the ones who know what they're doing. It's more the frustration and enervating nature of maintaining proper position that gets me. And, while we're on the topic, what is the current thinking? Are we supposed to be wave actioning or going low like Leisel Jones?
