Mine is a strictly 70s-era breaststroke, pretty flat, shoulders mostly stay in the water. My coach says I should be getting up (much) higher, though my initial thought was that energy devoted to going UP rather than FORWARD seems wasted.
But Maglischo is pretty convincing that the wave-style breaststroke is better and it certainly seems like the best breaststrokers nowadays all use this stroke.
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?
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.
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.
