I could use some advice from experienced breaststrokers on the proper pull technique. I have a naturally good breaststroke kick, which probably makes up 90% of my propulsion at this point. I know that breaststroke is the stroke with the most potential for me, but I seem unable to get the right feel for the pull. Every once in a while I have one of those really smooth swims where I can feel myself riding the wave, but I cannot recreate that at will.
I've tried the hand paddles drill where I swim BR with the paddles on backwards so they are not attached to my hands at all. I can keep the paddles on pretty easily. I think I'm using the right basic technique, at least based on all the descriptions I've been able to find. Yet when I swim ***, my coach says that my arms look "stiff", like I'm not turning them in enough.
I would like to understand what the proper pull should look like and feel like, before I start increasing my yardage and intensity.
TIA
Do you have any video of yourself so we can see what you look like. I think it is vital in breaststroke to acccellerate throughout the pull into the lunge foreward. I like to think of the pull as having no recovery,you move smoothly from the insweep to the lunge and then extend as streamlined as you can.People who are "swimming up hill" generally are hesitating at the end of their insweep.I'm not sure how you could be doing that though if you can keep the reversed paddles on. Try swimming breaststroke underwater and see if you feel any dead spots.
I meant Chris,but I'd love to see yours. I bet it's not as bad as you let on.:banana:
Former Member
Thanks George. That's some of the best underwater photography I've seen. Nice, high quality video.
Who is the woman in the video? Is she fast? Her timing seems off. That doesn't look like how I want to swim breaststroke. In fact, it looks kind of like how I feel when I'm having an off day and not "riding the wave" right. You know, torso angled up like a plank, blocking the water. As opposed to lunging forward, driving over the wave.
I wish I could see a similar detailed analysis of Hansen or Kitajima. www.youtube.com/watch
Former Member
If you want to get a sense of how the velocity changes during the underwater pull phase, here is some good video with a corresponding velocity graph. There are a number of videos to view. All the breaststrokers in these video's were Division I swimmers with 100 yard times between 56.8 and 57.8 There is also a link to a research paper that was recently presented at one of the top international symposiums from last summer on the page.
www.teamtermin.com/velocity_meter_video.shtml
Hope that helps....
Allen I hope you are not asking for my breaststroke videos. I have not done breaststroke since 1954 and it was all underwater. That was in Watertown NY and the pool had water so ironized you could not see underwater. I am not going to tell you what I did underwater and if you did see it you would not think it was breaststroke. It was not I cheated.
Three nice breaststroke videos here. www.swimmingcyclingrunning.com/SwimVidOStrokes.asp just go down the list and watch the breaststroke videos.
Former Member
Unfortunately I have no video of myself swimming. I may be able to post one if I can convince my wife to record me.
I'll try swimming the whole stroke underwater to look for dead spots.
Good pictures.That is about how the pull should look.The insweep is where the power is for most breaststrokers and you want to keep your hands in front of you shoulders at all times.
