Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Former Member — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:19:50 GMT

Babies "crawl" Bugs "fly" Backstroke is really just "lounging," all the air you want... :bump:

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Former Member — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:17:52 GMT

THAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH BREASTSTROKERS they hog the lane, and block the real swimmers. You are the type of swimmer I try to give a swift kick as a pass you by doing the *** stroke.:duel:

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Former Member — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:01:33 GMT

Ever tried to pass a rec swimmer during lap swim time doing their verison of breastroke?? Super wide kick...swimming head up...not even close to putting it in the water...plodding down the lane in the middle of it... and they get annoyed when you pass them. Breastroke should be in the same league as noodlers = pool space wasters. You are the type of swimmer I try to give a swift kick as a pass you by doing the *** stroke.:duel:

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Former Member — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:59:46 GMT

Learning *** as a survival stroke or in a non-competitive pollywog class is entirely different from doing it for years and years in a competitive team environment. Obviously, I was using some hyperbole but the change to today's modern *** does take a good bit of tinkering from the old days to perfect. I should have clarified this...... I learned to swim the *** stroke the way it was taught in the 70's,but never had the opportunity to swim competitively because there were no programs in place where I grew up,neither HS/college or beyond(rural Germany). I also took a very long break in my swimming and probably started from scratch when I got back in the pool 2 years ago. I could have learned any stroke, but *** stroke felt like the right when I tried it. I see many people at my pool struggling with it because they swim it incorrectly- we even have one gentleman who seems to move backward because his timing is off- but, bless his heart, he keeps at it!I have to bite my tongue to not go over and help him out..... Once in a while someone comes in and just nails it, and you can tell right away that that is "their"stroke.

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Former Member — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:58:40 GMT

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

aquageek — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:15:52 GMT

You are the type of swimmer I try to give a swift kick as a pass you by doing the *** stroke.:duel: There has never been a documented case of a breaststroker passing anyone in a pool, other than a noodler. All this is a bit tongue in cheek. I swam with an Olympic Trials breaststroker form Auburn and there is an Olympian breastroker at our pool and they are pretty incredible swimmers.

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

gobears — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:44:57 GMT

It's still a lame stroke, done by lame people in lame events only intended to give real swimmers rest between the real stroke events. Then you should be a pro...:rolleyes:

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

aquageek — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:18:18 GMT

No it isn't. I learned *** stroke in the 70's and never swam competitively,so it was pretty basic. Learning *** as a survival stroke or in a non-competitive pollywog class is entirely different from doing it for years and years in a competitive team environment. Obviously, I was using some hyperbole but the change to today's modern *** does take a good bit of tinkering from the old days to perfect. It's still a lame stroke, done by lame people in lame events only intended to give real swimmers rest between the real stroke events.

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Former Member — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:52:42 GMT

Here's the most fun of all: a breaststroker going north on one side of the lane line and a backstroker going south on the other side of said lane line. The backstroker, bless its heart, is openly trying to grope at the body parts of the breaststroker (don't think we don't notice these things) and the breaststroker (completely in self defense, of course) attempts to deliver a disabling blow to the randy backstroker. When you connect, that's when you know that Kung Fu Breaststroke training has paid off!

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Former Member — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:35:03 GMT

Who says men can't change? Women.

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Former Member — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:45:47 GMT

As a breaststroker and sometime age group coach, I've noticed that often, kids can either do breaststroke kick naturally or it takes them quite awhile to learn to flex their feet and kick correctly. Then there's the timing issue, which is not easy to fake if you want to swim fast. I think freestyle is easier to swim (incorrectly even) for the novice swimmer. Hence, you have more freestylers and more freestyle events. The hostile attitude toward this particular stroke is a case of "breaststroke envy", IMHO...:wiggle: I agree totally about the breaststroke kick...I used to hate my "Mary Poppins" feet (my prom picture has my lovely feet pointing out) but I have found the breaststroke kick to be as natural for me as the flutter kick. I like the fly too...Free and Back are necessary, but boring, strokes as far as I am concerned. And I would much rather watch a butterflyer or breaststroker swim any day of the week.

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Former Member — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:04:26 GMT

Breaststroke is the best stroke, no doubt about it.

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Former Member — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:35:03 GMT

Only breaststrokers have a wrongly placed superior attitude. They just think they look good in the water. Their finish is only complete with their first stroke underwater. They then think a good finish is somewhere near their shoulders. If I bent my knees that much and finished at my shoulders swimming crawl, every one would say that is not a streamlined stroke. We know how bad the kick they use is it almost the same as the illegal kick that butterfroggers use. It is allowed for the old foggy flyers eg; allowed for senior citizen flyers because these old guys cannot do a dolphin kick.

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Former Member — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:31:43 GMT

In my case - it's too much effort for too little speed

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Former Member — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:17:00 GMT

And, to everyone else's point, if you learned it in the 1970s, completely impossible to change. No it isn't. I learned *** stroke in the 70's and never swam competitively,so it was pretty basic.When an injury forced me to give up most other forms of exercise I got back in the pool, only to find that the way I had learned the *** stroke was completely inefficient.With the help of my kids swim coaches, my pools aquatic director and by watching hours of footage of *** stroke and reading about various techniques I have gotten to the point where I am happy with my *** stroke. It was not easy, but I am glad I did it-it's the best stroke ever!:cheerleader:

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

swimmieAvsFan — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:37:34 GMT

...I think backstrokers are rarely good breaststrokers. it goes both ways! i coach 12 and unders, and last week we worked on the kids' "worst" stroke. i had the backstroke lane, and every single kid in the lane claimed breaststroke as their best non-free stroke... :laugh2: and as a backstroker, i know breaststroke is my weakest stroke, by far!

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

gobears — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:18:31 GMT

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Paul Smith — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:55:01 GMT

Actually, I learned it in the (early) 70's and made some changes...enuf changes I guess to make a diff. Who says men can't change? Real men don't "change"to swim the sissy stroke.

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Jim Clemmons — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:37:09 GMT

And, to everyone else's point, if you learned it in the 1970s, completely impossible to change. Actually, I learned it in the (early) 70's and made some changes...enuf changes I guess to make a diff. Who says men can't change?

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

aztimm — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 04:47:00 GMT

And, to everyone else's point, if you learned it in the 1970s, completely impossible to change. I learned to swim around 1974ish, all four strokes. I did nothing with it except summer or the off recreational swim, until I became active with a grad school swim group, triathlons, then masters swimming around 1995. I certainly wouldn't call myself an expert or master, but I can pretty much hold my own with ***, and my form is always evolving. It was by far the easiest of the strokes for me to be comfortable with in the water.

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

aquageek — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 04:34:12 GMT

I really wouldn't call it a stroke. A stroke generally has one, maybe two, methods or ways of doing it correctly. I have yet to see any two people do this stroke the same way. Therefore, it is really a collection of somewhat similar swimming actions not otherwise classified. And, to everyone else's point, if you learned it in the 1970s, completely impossible to change.

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

ImFree — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 04:17:38 GMT

Of all strokes, I think breaststroke is the one that ones physiology plays the most significant role. The right kind of legs, knees, ankles, etc. When I first started swimming, I thought I'd be a breaststroker, but had difficulty keeping up. But I'd kill it on free. Only took about a week to figure that out. My brother and sister also stunk at ***, although not quite as bad as me, but were decent in the other strokes. My brother and sister's kids swim, and *** is by far their weakest stroke. We still joke about that missing breaststroke gene in our family. I got that freestyle gene though.

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

The Fortress — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 04:10:40 GMT

Fort,I learned breaststroke in the 50s.Yes changing to "new" breaststroke took years,but it was worth every minute. I'm working on dolphin kicking every minute, so I don't have any more minutes. :)

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Allen Stark — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:52:43 GMT

Fort,I learned breaststroke in the 50s.Yes changing to "new" breaststroke took years,but it was worth every minute.

RE: Why does breaststroke get a bad rap?

Former Member — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:38:55 GMT

Well, I'm still not convinced that the breaststroke is evil...the only valid arguments I've seen against breaststroke are the "old vs. new" comments and bad knees, ankles, etc. Still think it's powerfully beautiful and a legit stroke. I'm just glad I can do it at this point in my life.