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 ...
I LOVE breaststroke,but the kick comes naturally to me.(I flunked my Boy Scout Lifesaving Merit Badge test the first time because I insisted in doing whip kick with sidestroke.) But breaststrokers aren't like other swimmers. As was noted it's the only stroke that is kick dominant. Also the ankle flexibiliy needed for breaststroke is exactly the opposite of that needed for the other strokes. Thats why so many breaststrokers have poor flutter kicks.Knee and hip flexibility aren't as essential in the other strokes so if you don't have this flexibility it will really only show up on ***. Several have said the don't like the feeling of swimming breaststroke because it's so slow,but when my stroke is flowing it is one of the best feelings in the world.(Also it is much faster than my backstroke and faster than my fly after 75 yd.-my 200 BR was 12 sec faster than my 200 Fly LCM)
The average swim coach really doesn't seem to know how to teach breaststroke. I have heard some appallingly bad advice from people who were excellent at teaching free,or there advice was technically sound but they were missing the big stroke flaws. Especially if your kick is weak you really need to maintain streamline to maximize your momentum from the pull. Recover your feet by bending your knees only,not by flexing at the hip. Make your hand recovery fast so you don't get stuck in a high drag half recovered position(I see this all the time at meets,people come to a complete stop half way through their recovery. Lastly keep your head down the whole time,breath by raising your torso,not your head.
Do a lot of breaststroke and you may have knee trouble. But that is not the reason I have two new knees, I have the knee problems because of genetics and also had lots of fast-twitch muscles because I developped them.
I would love to do breaststroke.
I could not be DQ'd in the pool at Watertown New York. The water was so laden with iron you could not see below the water surface.
I think I cheated underwater, my best breaststroke race.
I have nothing against breaststroke. I simply do not swim it well, but still cannot say I hate it.
But I can quote an argument of a frient of mine. He said that breaststroke is a frustrating stroke. The speed you can develop is hardly relevant to the amount of energy you put into your performance.
A curious thing - the wife of the man who helds that view on breaststroke is a breaststroker!
I adore breaststroke. It's my favorite.:woot:
I teach swimming lessons during the summer, and I've found most don't like it because the timing is hard to get. It takes effort to make the stroke efficient and even when you can swim it with good technique it's still not ever going to be as fast as the other three. I think people don't like it because when they get in the water they want to see speed with little effort. IMO
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?
I was a pretty good breaststroker many years ago with the flat style stroke. I have been trying to figure out the " New " wave style and am quite confused. I do like the flat style and it really is a great workout. forums.usms.org/.../dunno.gif
