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?
Parents
Former Member
Your extension (reach of the arms) on the glide is where the additional speed might be gained.
Wayne describes the wave style breaststroke on his website...
"The above water portion of the stroke has become less stylish in favor of spending more time per stroke in the streamlined position. Very small changes to head position and pull patterns are increasing the time in this streamlined position.
In the 200 stroke distance per stroke is increased by decreasing drag in this streamlined position by being underwater. This decrease in drag and increase in distance per stroke make continued lower times breaststroke easier to obtain".
www.breaststroke.info/Whatwentrightwiththewavestylebreaststroke.htm
Your extension (reach of the arms) on the glide is where the additional speed might be gained.
Wayne describes the wave style breaststroke on his website...
"The above water portion of the stroke has become less stylish in favor of spending more time per stroke in the streamlined position. Very small changes to head position and pull patterns are increasing the time in this streamlined position.
In the 200 stroke distance per stroke is increased by decreasing drag in this streamlined position by being underwater. This decrease in drag and increase in distance per stroke make continued lower times breaststroke easier to obtain".
www.breaststroke.info/Whatwentrightwiththewavestylebreaststroke.htm
