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?
Take a look at the master: www.youtube.com/watch
He's on his side off the wall and quickly gets himself oriented toward his stomach.
I think I put my feet on the wall pointing towards 10:30/11:00 (I turn to the left) and sink my left shoulder a little so I'm coming off the wall on my side and not my back. If you came off the wall on your back, you will likely be DQ'd. I don't think you need to come of the wall exactly on your front though, either.
Kitajima is (of course) doing it right.When I say don't twist I don't mean don't come off the wall on your side,I mean that once your hands hit the wall you don't turn your shoulders toward the horizontal.It is hard to discribe what I mean,but go to any USMS meet and watch for the people who try to square their shoulders before the push off.That is the extreme of the flaw I am trying to point out.Again,do it like Kitajima.
I plant my feet at roughly a 2:00, it's perfectly legal to come off on your side and it has proven to be advantageous. Your kick off the wall will start the motion due to momentum from the turn (as long as your turn was quick) it will cause you to straighten out.
I'm going to try and use Kosuke Kitajima's stroke style, his glide is amazing. I'll be working on perfecting my transition from stroke to glide.
The way my turn works is this;
My hands hit, my right elbow shoots backwards causing my legs to raise to the wall, I kick off the wall (sideways) and throw my other arm forward to get into a streamline. It works pretty well for me but fatigue ruins the quickness of it. :(
Tonight is another practice night, I'll be working on recovering out of the water tonight. Wish me luck!
