"What do YOU need to do to have a major swimming breakthrough?"

Not that I'm any kind of model of great breaststroke, but prioritizing long pull outs are the one thing I do right. The longer you can stay under, the fewer strokes you will have to take (so, less energy expended), and the more air you will have overall. It is definitely worth it. And if you want to bring your stroke count down, it's a good way to do it. Push off hard, glide, pull down hard, kick hard, glide a wee bit more, and come up (and don't lift your head too soon! that's the hardest part for me). :applaud: That's my theory too including the head up too soon issue! The further you get from that wall underwater, the less actual breaststroke you need to swim.

work out times are the best clue. Swimming faster in practice than you ever have before is a very positive sign. good luck, My big meet is now 3.5 weeks away. The meet I've been training for since April '10. I'll begin my taper two weeks out. I happen to know it will be a big breakthrough meet for me. How do I know? Back in late April, the USAS team I train with, which consists of mostly high schoolers, started tapering for their end-of-season meets. As a side effect, I got partially tapered for one week of their two-week taper. What I saw was... :angel: And then the second week came around, following a weekend where I got sick, and then my coach put me back in full workouts. But that glimpse I got... oh, man. The question is, how big will the breakthrough be? I know what I need to do to make it even bigger.

My big meet is now 3.5 weeks away. The meet I've been training for since April '10. I'll begin my taper two weeks out. I happen to know it will be a big breakthrough meet for me. How do I know? Back in late April, the USAS team I train with, which consists of mostly high schoolers, started tapering for their end-of-season meets. As a side effect, I got partially tapered for one week of their two-week taper. What I saw was... :angel: And then the second week came around, following a weekend where I got sick, and then my coach put me back in full workouts. But that glimpse I got... oh, man. The question is, how big will the breakthrough be? I know what I need to do to make it even bigger.

Anyone out there working on having a major swimming breakthrough this summer? What are YOU doing about it? Have you recently had major swimming breakthrough? Tell us about it What was it? How did you do it?

No breakthroughs. But holding steady as I age. At a meet the weekend before last I swam my fastest times since SCY Nationals in Atlanta and my 100 back was my 3rd fastest and 200 back 2nd fastest ever for me. I'll happily take that into my 60's next year! And hope I can continue to hold steady for a few more years.

No breakthroughs. But holding steady as I age. At a meet the weekend before last I swam my fastest times since SCY Nationals in Atlanta and my 100 back was my 3rd fastest and 200 back 2nd fastest ever for me. I'll happily take that into my 60's next year! And hope I can continue to hold steady for a few more years. That's really great swimming! ...and an inspiration to those of us who are a decade younger. Thanks!

Anyone have a breakthrough recently? Anyone working on one? Tell us about it. What was it? How'd you do it? Ande

Anyone have a breakthrough recently? Anyone working on one? Tell us about it. What was it? How'd you do it? Ande Yes. It started at the end of the last season. I was looking at my national cuts and noticed that I wasn't too far from the 50 breaststroke cut: 32.50 (LCM). That moment I decided that the following season it would be my goal to make the cut. I made a mental plan. After that I tried to figure out some things that I had to accomplish to achieve my goal: 1. Improve my technique 2. Get stronger 3. Recover better from workouts 4. Improve mobility and soft tissue quality Number 1 is an obvious choice. I started doing more drills in practice. Main thing I changed was my kick. I started using a narrower stance with my knees and immediately noticed a huge improvement. I counted strokes. I also started improving my streamline while gliding but also off the walls. I still have a lot to change though. Number 2 has played an essential role so far. I got back to the gym and resumed weightlifting and I feel much stronger and powerful, especially off the turns. Using mainly compound movements: squats, deadlifts, pull ups, ovh pressing, glute ham raise. Number 3 was also very big for me. I overtrain very easily. I think this is because I'm generally a very bad sleeper. At the end of the previous season I was so tired I went 3 seconds slower than my best in the 100. So I decided I would nap during the day and it has worked wonders so far. I also promised myself that I would listen more to my body. I used to push myself extremely hard at least 4-5 times a week. That resulted in exhaustion very quickly. This season I'm taking it slow and steady and backing off when necessary. Number 4: I started foam rolling more often, especially the adductors (which I used to strain very easily) and the IT Band. My knee pain is pretty much gone and my legs feel much looser when kick. I have yet to suffer an injury despite swimming much more breaststroke than in previous swimming. I also made a commitment to improving my hip mobility and started doing Diesel Crew's Essential Hip mobility at least 3 times a week. Essential Hip Mobility Movements / How to Warm-up for Lower Body Workouts / Feel Better, Move Better - YouTube It's all paid off so far. In my first SCM meet, swimming in old FS-PROs and in a very bad pool I dropped a full second off my 50Br and another second off my 100. I hadn't improved those times in months. This past weekend I swam the 100 and dropped 2 more seconds. Oh, and my split was less than a tenth off my 50Br PB. :) I'm hoping that next year I manage to hit my goal. Even if I don't, I've still accomplished things that I didn't imagine were possible for me and it has renewed my love for swimming.

Androvski, define "narrower stance" in relation to changing your breaststroke. I'm also working to improve my times as I seemed to have hit a plateau.:bow:

I have just had my swimming breakthough I swam half our fly set in training WITHOUT MY FINS for the first time:wiggle: ........and it wasnt as bad as I feared either well almost - it was 30x25m which i could justabout manage with fins - I swam 15 x 25m without fins and alternated whilst the finners zoomed past