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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Well, I tried it last night (though I was basically cruising tonight's swim), I noticed something, Throwing out into my glide and gliding for a longer period of time made my Breaststroke less exhausting. My time was a 1:08.99, I was trying to conserve energy for the 400 Freestyle Relay directly after my 100 Breaststroke (Which, notably, was a best time and generally looked much smoother.)
I'll get back to you on how it works, I've got the first practice of the week on Wednesday so I can drill the hell out of the Breaststroke. I'm excited to see how it performs when I don't have to worry about another race directly afterward. I intend to make all of my turns fast (oh, really? :P) and I won't skimp on any of my pullouts so this will be a good benchmark for how well this altered technique works.
I glided considerably longer last night and it felt like it was less difficult to stay moving, the only problem was that at first I had some decent competition. I think what this did was slowed down my first 50 split and significantly dropped my closing leg. I really want to know how to make my Breaststroke faster, if I'm ever going to drop times I feel like I need to find a stroke that allows me to move through the water easier.
If you couldn't tell from the videos, I am 6'2" and fairly flexible, I am willing to try any stroke variation that could even remotely make my stroke faster. I'm a bit frustrated by the past three meets, I've been at a 1:08-1:09 these past three meets and I'm afraid that without further changes it will stay that way.
Any tips? I can post up my 100 Breaststroke from last night as well as tonight, along with the previous recording you might be able to get a decent idea of where my stroke is at. Thanks! :)
Well, I tried it last night (though I was basically cruising tonight's swim), I noticed something, Throwing out into my glide and gliding for a longer period of time made my Breaststroke less exhausting. My time was a 1:08.99, I was trying to conserve energy for the 400 Freestyle Relay directly after my 100 Breaststroke (Which, notably, was a best time and generally looked much smoother.)
I'll get back to you on how it works, I've got the first practice of the week on Wednesday so I can drill the hell out of the Breaststroke. I'm excited to see how it performs when I don't have to worry about another race directly afterward. I intend to make all of my turns fast (oh, really? :P) and I won't skimp on any of my pullouts so this will be a good benchmark for how well this altered technique works.
I glided considerably longer last night and it felt like it was less difficult to stay moving, the only problem was that at first I had some decent competition. I think what this did was slowed down my first 50 split and significantly dropped my closing leg. I really want to know how to make my Breaststroke faster, if I'm ever going to drop times I feel like I need to find a stroke that allows me to move through the water easier.
If you couldn't tell from the videos, I am 6'2" and fairly flexible, I am willing to try any stroke variation that could even remotely make my stroke faster. I'm a bit frustrated by the past three meets, I've been at a 1:08-1:09 these past three meets and I'm afraid that without further changes it will stay that way.
Any tips? I can post up my 100 Breaststroke from last night as well as tonight, along with the previous recording you might be able to get a decent idea of where my stroke is at. Thanks! :)
