I saw a post on these forums with a link to a site discussing the future of breaststroke and the idea of NOT breathing every stroke. I can see how it might be advantageous, especially in a 50.
For those not familiar, the idea is that during your main stroke phase, every other stroke you pull as though you're going to take a breath, you still come up but not nearly as much as a breathing stroke. It seems to me (this, having not tried it yet) that this would allow you to not only conserve energy but also actually deliver more force to the water due to a more opportune angle to move forward. It also seems like it would allow you to stay in a lower stroke, also allowing for a quicker and more effective streamline each non-breathing stroke.
Well, my question is this, do you guys think that it's a good idea to start working toward this sort of stroke, also, if I have a meet tonight should I risk it?
I think that for the 50 it is a definite plus, but what about the 100? My 100 Breaststroke time is a 1:07.16 currently so I would be more than just a bit outside of the 40 second rule for no breathing. I'm also worried that breathing less means that my pullout will be less effective due to a lack of oxygen, is this concern warranted?
My 50 time is currently a 30.19, I really want to get it under 30 seconds. Do you guys think that not breathing each stroke will make a significant difference?
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Former Member
I tried it tonight and I did see a significant improvement but I think there were other factors involved. My start was quite good and my first Pullout felt downright beastly.
I went a 29.08 tonight, that's 1.1 seconds under my previous best from a whiiiile ago. My 100 breaststroke wasn't as good, I swam a 1:08.96 tonight but I can pin that on my stroke itself falling apart, flattening out and such due to fatigue and distraction.
Notably, I also swam my best 50 freestyle thusfar, a 26.36, nothing too special but I'm still happy with it.
I have a few questions to ask additionally, my opening 50 is normally a 31 or so, and my closer is the one that weighs me down the most. I basically closed a 38 tonight. That seems wrong. What can I work on to maximize my stroke for the second 50? Should I glide more? Should I stroke faster? What can counteract the losses due to fatigue?
I tried it tonight and I did see a significant improvement but I think there were other factors involved. My start was quite good and my first Pullout felt downright beastly.
I went a 29.08 tonight, that's 1.1 seconds under my previous best from a whiiiile ago. My 100 breaststroke wasn't as good, I swam a 1:08.96 tonight but I can pin that on my stroke itself falling apart, flattening out and such due to fatigue and distraction.
Notably, I also swam my best 50 freestyle thusfar, a 26.36, nothing too special but I'm still happy with it.
I have a few questions to ask additionally, my opening 50 is normally a 31 or so, and my closer is the one that weighs me down the most. I basically closed a 38 tonight. That seems wrong. What can I work on to maximize my stroke for the second 50? Should I glide more? Should I stroke faster? What can counteract the losses due to fatigue?
