For Masters swimmers > 40 - breaststroke has also changed a lot from when I swam it in high school.
hear hear! I still swim it the way I was taught in the 70s and 80s, I still can't get used to putting my head underwater while swimming.
The IM would be great if breastroke was "optional" :drown:
How are the knees, you are lucky the kick changed in the 70s, not so many knee problems.
no problems with knees (or any joints really). Of all the strokes I train that the least but I have always just stunk at it. Unless I am doing IM sets I won't train breastroke.
no problems with knees (or any joints really). Of all the strokes I train that the least but I have always just stunk at it. Unless I am doing IM sets I won't train breastroke.
And I'm pretty much the same way with fly, unless doing IM sets I try to avoid it. Although I'm finding out that the more I do it (even little bits), I'm getting a little better, and it isn't so bad. I read somewhere, maybe even on these forums, that there are breaststrokers and butterflyers, and it is rare to have someone like and be highly proficient at both.
Other than it being "slow", what is with all the breaststroke haters? Just curious because I happen to think it's a beautifully powerful stroke.
Have you ever meet any of these folks? That in itself should answer your own question!
Other than that:
A) Its not a "stroke" it was developed as a means to get divers to the side of the pool after completing their belly flops
B) Try and walk past one coming toward you on a sidewalk and see how their duckfooted gait will most likely cause them to kick your shin or step on your foot
C) They were so envious of the "beautiful" stroke they stole the dolphin kick from it...also hoping that they would be able to finish their races before everyone had left the bar after the meet.
D) There angry people in general...I can understand however because their parents never enrolled them in gymnastics where they could have done those wonderful landings off the balance bars and their duck feet actually be of benefit...instead they got tossed in a swimming pool and got teased their whole lives because of how their feet stick out of the water on backstroke
:groovy:
I think many think breaststroke is technically very difficult to swim well. Fly is more exhausting for most, but breaststroke is difficult to swim fast.
For Masters swimmers > 40 - breaststroke has also changed a lot from when I swam it in high school. Far more emphasis on streamlining, the glide, and of course the undulation.
And the knees....until recently my 49 yr. old knees were unfazed by breaststroke but now I have some pain often.
How are the knees, you are lucky the kick changed in the 70s, not so many knee problems.
hear hear! I still swim it the way I was taught in the 70s and 80s, I still can't get used to putting my head underwater while swimming.
The IM would be great if breastroke was "optional" :drown:
Most people don't have the ankle flexibility in the external rotation direction to get a really powerful breaststroke kick.Since they can't do it well they resent those who can.
