I have been a swimmer for a long time and when I was younger the breaststroke was one of my favorites. I was able to swim breaststroke very well until recently. My feet are too close to the surface of the water and I cannot for the life of me figure out what exactly I am suddenly doing differently. It is very frustrating as it really did seem to happen overnight and I cannot seem to fix what seems like simple enough of a problem on my own. Anyone else experience this problem? Any thoughts on how it might be corrected? Thanks!
Former Member
You're most likely kicking too fast, let the stroke work itself and don't rush the kick.
I have the same problem, even when I do heads-up breaststroke. My feet would float so high on/out of surface that sometimes I was kicking the thin air (or the lane divider if close to it). I would like to know the reason and fix as well.
I have tried slowing down and speeding up. My body is just at the wrong angle and it is driving me crazy that I cannot figure out why! I have even stopped swimming mid lane to reposition and take my time with it, but my feet end up at the surface again and whether I focus all I can on fixing it or relaxing and trying to let my body right itself, it still doesn't work. I do not have the same problem with a kickboard so I am thinking maybe my upper body is going too deep?
Former Member
Head a little higher feet will sink a tad.
I have tried slowing down and speeding up. My body is just at the wrong angle and it is driving me crazy that I cannot figure out why! I have even stopped swimming mid lane to reposition and take my time with it, but my feet end up at the surface again and whether I focus all I can on fixing it or relaxing and trying to let my body right itself, it still doesn't work. I do not have the same problem with a kickboard so I am thinking maybe my upper body is going too deep?
Thanks for the ideas.
I have been trying to work on it but without success. I think I need someone to actually see me in the water to help pinpoint what I am doing wrong since I can't seem to feel it on my own. The 3 day swim camp I am participating in next weekend has a component to it for work on strokes other than freestyle, so hopefully they can shed some light on my problem. Will provide feedback after the camp to let you all know!
My feet no longer float!
After a couple session on the camp we got to breaststroke and I voiced my concerns about my feet. Of course, when I went to demonstrate, my stroke magically worked the way it should. So, I am not sure what in the first parts of the camp changed what I was doing, but it worked. Other thoughts that the coaches had was that I was kicking down more than back and that my hips were coming up which in turn made my feet go up when my hips came back down. I am so happy, I not only have my breaststroke back, but it is better than ever!
It was a combination of my kicking down rather than back and my undulation. When my hips went down, it caused my feet to go up. So, less undulation and a focus on kicking back should help! Let me know!
As for swimming with the dolphins, I did swim with them in Hawaii but the picture is from the Mirage in Vegas where I was a trainer for a day. Most people don't get to actually be in the water with them during that program (which they stress when you sign up) but my group was lucky enough to be able to. Both experiences were really wonderful, I hope you get to experience it soon!
Former Member
Did you figure out what was causing it and what changed to fix it?
I had the same problem earlier this year.. my feet broke the surface a couple of times at meets. It seemed to be happening only when I was trying to swim all-out, which made it even more frustrating because it totally killed my kick power. I think it may have been caused by undulating too deep with my upper body, but I'm not sure.
Btw I saw your pic and am jealous you got to swim with a dolphin. That reminds me, it's something I have wanted to do since I was a kid.
