Many great breaststrokers seem to pull too far back. But they do it without stalling and slowing down.
Soni is just one of many breaststroke swimmers who understand that you really don't get much out of a breaststroke pull, so why bother?
I have spent hundreds of hours looking at breaststrokers swims through VirtualDub. And read lots of scientific documentation on ordinary and world record breaststrokers.
As I explained all this today to a 14 year old girl who does 1:08/2:24 in yards with a poor streamline, knees coming out when she kicks on her back, the list goes on and on. But when you really know what makes breaststroke tick, you can concentrate on the important techniques.
How many really know how long in time their stroke is? And how much distance covered?
An older study of the wave style had 45% of the time in pull, 25% in kick, and about 10% dead time. But the world record holders had less dead time and more (22%) in productive streamline position. Yet less than 10% of the distance covered is through the pull!!!!! Back when David Salo was “the Guru” his windshield wiper pull was still over 40% of the time, and between 8-10% of the distance. For many breaststrokers, this equates to a foot from the pull and 5-6 feet from the kick.
The way I coach, I emphasize the kick and glide. The pull starts like a butterfly pull, the shoulders are hunched, the elbows are out and the hands rotated so the palms are outwards. From there a very fast scull outwards or a pull straight backwards, followed by a release of the water and pressing of the head, chest and arms as a unit until they are all underwater. Here the kick and glide come in.
What I look for is the pull to be less than 30% of the time, and yet because it is so fast is still 10% of the distance. I want the kick to be fast, about 22-23% of the time. But because the head is underwater nearly 60% of each stroke, the dead time is less than 8%, and the streamline is nearly 40% of the stroke time.
What this style, a pull, kick and glide does is greatly increase the distance of each stroke.
Just look at Amanda Beard from 1996 to the 2004 Olympics. Her stroke rate went in half, and her distance per stroke MORE than doubled.
Everyone needs to learn about swimming power. It is strength times distance divided by time. Most can’t get much stronger, and most can’t kick wider or pull wider or further. But by doing drills to speed up the limbs, the pull and kick can be made faster, decreasing the time component. More POWER is the result!
.
Thanks,well said.
Many great breaststrokers seem to pull too far back. But they do it without stalling and slowing down.
Soni is just one of many breaststroke swimmers who understand that you really don't get much out of a breaststroke pull, so why bother?
I have spent hundreds of hours looking at breaststrokers swims through VirtualDub. And read lots of scientific documentation on ordinary and world record breaststrokers.
As I explained all this today to a 14 year old girl who does 1:08/2:24 in yards with a poor streamline, knees coming out when she kicks on her back, the list goes on and on. But when you really know what makes breaststroke tick, you can concentrate on the important techniques.
How many really know how long in time their stroke is? And how much distance covered?
An older study of the wave style had 45% of the time in pull, 25% in kick, and about 10% dead time. But the world record holders had less dead time and more (22%) in productive streamline position. Yet less than 10% of the distance covered is through the pull!!!!! Back when David Salo was “the Guru” his windshield wiper pull was still over 40% of the time, and between 8-10% of the distance. For many breaststrokers, this equates to a foot from the pull and 5-6 feet from the kick.
The way I coach, I emphasize the kick and glide. The pull starts like a butterfly pull, the shoulders are hunched, the elbows are out and the hands rotated so the palms are outwards. From there a very fast scull outwards or a pull straight backwards, followed by a release of the water and pressing of the head, chest and arms as a unit until they are all underwater. Here the kick and glide come in.
What I look for is the pull to be less than 30% of the time, and yet because it is so fast is still 10% of the distance. I want the kick to be fast, about 22-23% of the time. But because the head is underwater nearly 60% of each stroke, the dead time is less than 8%, and the streamline is nearly 40% of the stroke time.
What this style, a pull, kick and glide does is greatly increase the distance of each stroke.
Just look at Amanda Beard from 1996 to the 2004 Olympics. Her stroke rate went in half, and her distance per stroke MORE than doubled.
Everyone needs to learn about swimming power. It is strength times distance divided by time. Most can’t get much stronger, and most can’t kick wider or pull wider or further. But by doing drills to speed up the limbs, the pull and kick can be made faster, decreasing the time component. More POWER is the result!
.
Thanks,well said.
