Old Dog, New Tricks: Wave Breaststroke

First note that the best have much less up and down motion than a few years ago.That said there is no doubt that some undulation is good.Here are 2 drills that might help-1) breaststroke pull dolphin kick with fins(big fins,zoomers don't give enough push) Start with a big slow dolphin kick and then work in the pull. 2) alternate BR with fly 1 stroke each for a 25 or 50.I find this one fun and it helps emphasize the similarities between the strokes.

Allen, When I do breastroke drill with a dolphin kick I am pretty happy with the undualtion. I can also get a a pretty good 'turnover' - (strokes per minute). When I switch to breastroke kick I don't keep the undulation as well. I also can't get close to the same turnover. Any thoughts on some drills to correct these things? Thanks.

First note that the best have much less up and down motion than a few years ago.That said there is no doubt that some undulation is good.Here are 2 drills that might help-1) breaststroke pull dolphin kick with fins(big fins,zoomers don't give enough push) Start with a big slow dolphin kick and then work in the pull. 2) alternate BR with fly 1 stroke each for a 25 or 50.I find this one fun and it helps emphasize the similarities between the strokes. Thanks, Allen. #2 sounds interesting, I think I remember you mentioning this one before. About #1: Maglischo also mentions this drill and he says that the dolphin kick should happen during the arm outsweep, rather than just replacing the frog kick. I guess the point is to help in getting up higher. Guzman in "The Swimming Drill Book," however, says to put on fins and basically the dolphin replaces the frog kick. Which way do you use? I guess that you and other breaststroke fans will appreciate Maglischo's opening two sentences for the BR chapter: "The breaststroke has a rich competitive history. It was the first stroke used in competition after the Dark Ages and all of the remaining competitive strokes developed from it."

Re: going from drill to full stroke,2 things 1) in the drill slow down the dolphin kick so it is the same speed as the BR kick(I do the dolphin kick at the same point as the BR kick),2) try narrowing your BR kick so it is completed faster. Maglischo wrote his last book when greater amplitude was thought to be better in BR so I'd take what he says with a grain of salt(his ideas were always evolving and I'd like to see what he says now.)I'd definitely go to breaststroke.info and read Wayne's articles"What went wrong with the wave breaststroke" and "What went right with the wave breaststroke"

Re: going from drill to full stroke,2 things 1) in the drill slow down the dolphin kick so it is the same speed as the BR kick(I do the dolphin kick at the same point as the BR kick),2) try narrowing your BR kick so it is completed faster. Maglischo wrote his last book when greater amplitude was thought to be better in BR so I'd take what he says with a grain of salt(his ideas were always evolving and I'd like to see what he says now.)I'd definitely go to breaststroke.info and read Wayne's articles"What went wrong with the wave breaststroke" and "What went right with the wave breaststroke" For this drill, I do the dolphin kick at the same time as the evil kick too. In fact, I virtually never do evil kick. Or evil stroke for that matter. But I like doing this drill most with a MF. Long fins are good too. But feel free to ignore my advice as I'm typically inept at this stroke, especially if tired. A long time ago, I started a thread on "hinging" in breaststroke. I think that's essentially the same as wave action. I like Glider's advice. From what I saw in your 400 IM (aided by the speedy early dolphin kick :)), you need to keep your head down more and do this hunching action.

Chris, Here is a good resource for the wave style breaststroke: http://breaststroke.info/ See Wayne's Powerpoint presentation "Advanced Breaststroke - Ideas and drills that work" from the to the 2003 ASCA World Clinic. I'm big on using the 2 hunch system, but only for my longer 200 BR swims. - The hunch just before the insweep helps get your shoulders up out of the water to minimize resistance. - Then, you dive forward and try to "press your chest" down through your shoulders to a near-full extension to start the outsweep. - The important point is to dive forward slightly in advance of your kick so that you can maximize your kick propulsion by being streamlined. - The second hunch during the outsweep gets you ready for a high-elbow catch (kind of just like butterfly - I think you probably know that feeling.) Once you get it, it really is a great feeling and makes swimming breaststroke much more efficient which is especially important in longer swims. For me it doesn't work for sprinting at all. I'm fastest sprinting with a more flat stroke. YMMV Mark The other aspect of the hunching and pressing one's chest is that when you kick your hips should be equal or higher than your shoulders. I agree with the 2 suggested drills. I would add one other one done without fins - 1 stroke breaststroke with a dolphin kick, then 1 stroke breaststroke with a breaststroke kick. Best of luck making the switch. --mj

Chris, Here is a good resource for the wave style breaststroke: http://breaststroke.info/ See Wayne's Powerpoint presentation "Advanced Breaststroke - Ideas and drills that work" from the to the 2003 ASCA World Clinic. I'm big on using the 2 hunch system, but only for my longer 200 BR swims. - The hunch just before the insweep helps get your shoulders up out of the water to minimize resistance. - Then, you dive forward and try to "press your chest" down through your shoulders to a near-full extension to start the outsweep. - The important point is to dive forward slightly in advance of your kick so that you can maximize your kick propulsion by being streamlined. - The second hunch during the outsweep gets you ready for a high-elbow catch (kind of just like butterfly - I think you probably know that feeling.) Once you get it, it really is a great feeling and makes swimming breaststroke much more efficient which is especially important in longer swims. For me it doesn't work for sprinting at all. I'm fastest sprinting with a more flat stroke. YMMV Mark

I did this too Chris although you have years more swimming than I, I had to unlearn old BR and learn new BR. As per Allen. BR pull Fly kick is great. BR pull with pull buoy helps focus on faster recovery rather than old pulling style arms. My fav drill: Arms out like superman and throwing the hips forward 2 or 3 times (looks and feels weird), then add the kick at the end of the motion for 2 or 3 kicks. Those are my tips.

Steve, I started my evolution from the 70s' like technique to the modern version (wave motion) a month ago and have already achieved a visible improvement in speed. A few things that I learned: 1. You try to minimize both arms and legs recovery phase time. You do "fold - unfold" quickly. You accelerate your arms pull into recovery phase. 2. You kick "into your back" that allows you to direct your kick momentum and body wave motion forward Kitajima does #1 and #2 really well: YouTube- *** Kitajima gliding 3. To make my pull faster I should have reduced its width sizeably. 4. In implementing this modern *** technique I was advised to focus on DPS with 3 sec glide in a steamlined position. Then reduce the glide time gradually during the season, so in a few months you should be able to swim fast with a 0,2 sec glide. Dmitri Good points.Re: the width of the pull:that is something very individual that you have to play with.In general wider gives more power,but is slower to complete.Strong upperbody swimmers in general will want a wider pull to maximize their strength,but not at the expense of their tempo.A good breaststroke is all about tempo.I used to have 3 fairly different strokes for 50,100 and 200.Now it is as close to the same as I can get for all three with the difference being how long I"ride the glide".

So what drills or other means are out there to help modernize this old dog's breaststroke? Has anyone else out here made a successful transition and care to share what helped? Steve, I started my evolution from the 70s' like technique to the modern version (wave motion) a month ago and have already achieved a visible improvement in speed. A few things that I learned: 1. You try to minimize both arms and legs recovery phase time. You do "fold - unfold" quickly. You accelerate your arms pull into recovery phase. 2. You kick "into your back" that allows you to direct your kick momentum and body wave motion forward Kitajima does #1 and #2 really well: YouTube- *** Kitajima gliding 3. To make my pull faster I should have reduced its width sizeably. 4. In implementing this modern *** technique I was advised to focus on DPS with 3 sec glide in a steamlined position. Then reduce the glide time gradually during the season, so in a few months you should be able to swim fast with a 0,2 sec glide. Dmitri