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.
Former Member
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.
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. :)
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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 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!
