BREASTSTROKE TECHNIQUE

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Breaststroke Technique VIDEOS

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Breaststroke Technique Basics

Kicking Width and Speed–
70-80% of propulsion in breaststroke comes from your legs. Kick needs to have knees very narrow, basically inside or at the width of shoulders during both forward and backward movements… and it also needs to be super-fast- you don’t want to spend a lot of time with your knees bend, because it creates massive amounts of drag and literally stops you on your tracks. The kick needs to aim backwards, not to the side! Also, toes should be pointed backwards by the end of the kick and legs lifted, you don’t want the “foot-brakes” on or legs dangling like anchors behind you. Lightning fast and very narrow kicks are the driving engine of a powerful breaststroke. Flexible hips and ankles are paramount, so you can keep knees together and toes out for great propulsion. Try to move the heels back and forth just below the surface and rest them with legs straight and lifted, not with knees bent. All that said, younger/less experienced swimmers sometimes don’t have the knee/hip/ankle flexibility to keep the kick super narrow, so a bit wider is OK, until they improve and to avoid injuries, but the kick still needs to happen explosively with no pause while knees are drawn in.

Kick Finish– Pointing toes all the way back at the end of the kick and keeping the feet high/flat (as close to the surface as you can) while they drag behind you at the end of the kick, is very, very, very important. Legs (and feet) are big and if they tangle low behind you, they will act as big brakes, causing you to lose massive amounts of speed.

Pulls– Virtually all of the elite breaststrokers pull widely, using whats called the loop pull. It doesn’t mean that the arms spread infinitely, but rather that it helps to get higher during lift phase and avoids being in a “praying mantis” position while elbows are drawn back. The arms remain straight and sweep out to the sides with the hands pitched to about 45 degrees (lift phase). The motion of the arms continues in this arc until they are nearly perpendicular (right angles) to each other. At that point, the elbows bend and the hands drop with the fingers pointing down to move into a very short path backward (propulsion phase). From there, the hands sweep inward toward each other with the hands pitched again (release phase) until the hands are close to the chest. The elbows typically get tucked into the swimmer’s side near the bottom of the rib cage, but shouldn’t stick out past the back when viewed from the side. Finally, with the little fingers down (prayer position), the hands elevate until some or all of the hands are above the surface of the water and the arms shoot forward into the racing streamline position (strike phase). Just be careful to jump over the water with hands and then ending up diving down towards the bottom. Now all that said, you need strong shoulders and a very flexible lower back to execute a wide pull, but if the swimmer does not get high enough out of the water (by flexing the back and using arms/shoulders at lift phase), then either the elbows often go past the rib cage as the chest is much more horizontal than vertical and low in the water and arms get stuck underneath the body, or the hips sink and the swimmer almost stands up vertically, which means the speed disappears entirely.

Racing Streamline– Breaststroke is the slowest and most inefficient stroke, so streamline (and getting into it ASAP) is incredibly important. Getting into the tightest streamline you can, as fast as you can by the end of the kick takes advantage of all the speed provided by the kick. “Racing streamline” means very straight arms with palms down, thumbs touching (but hands NOT on top of each other) and head squeezed in between the arms (or below the biceps preferably, so you can be even narrower), as tightly as possible. So tuck the chin down, so it nearly touches the chest, squeeze the elbows tightly together almost behind your head and extend the arms forward from shoulder joints as far as possible… on every stroke and every pull-out!!!

Timing= Pull-(Breathe)-Kick-Glide Sequence– (AKA Pull-Kick-Glide)- Needs to be taught especially to young swimmers, who often rush the pull part of the sequence, instead of staying in glide, causing their spread arms then to become massive brakes while kicking. Glide needs to happen, even if for a split second. Don’t pull and kick at the same time!

Exit Angle/Shoulders Up– Although it’s nice to have a high perch to shoot down from, most swimmers should try not to jump out of the water totally vertically, but rather at a forward angle with head in line with spine, while getting the chin off the chest of course. 45 degrees to surface seems like a good starting point. The reasoning is to not sink the hips/legs by having the back perpendicular to surface (no-one bends that much at lower back), yet still get enough height to throw the head down and letting it pull you forward. As the chest elevates out of the water, shoulders should come up to ears, so the hands have a better position to start moving forward rather than getting stuck underneath the body. Not elevating the shoulders sometimes looks (from the side) like the elbows go past the back and stick out like chicken wings, while hands get close to belly button, instead of staying at chest level.

Fast Head and Breath– Head needs to go down fast after a quick breath, so it can get into the racing streamline as soon as possible and pull the body behind it. Imagine really breaking a board/water with your forehead as you throw it forward/down. Which also means that you want your face mostly looking forward while your head is up, so you can throw it down harder, rather than staring at the surface during the whole breath as some (inexperienced) swimmers do. Don’t miss out on the kinetic energy you get from a head throw.

Up-Out-Back (or “Around”)-Glide Kick- Good way to explain the kick sequence to younger swimmers. We think “back” sounds better as it conveys that you should kick back instead of to the side- there will be a natural curve anyway. “Heels to butt, toes out, kick back, glide”- seems to work pretty well. Glide part helps with timing with hands, even if you only glide for a split second. Most young swimmers don’t have very flexible ankles (can be corrected with stretching), but they should not be kicking with their toes first either!

Pull-Outs- Most momentum you have during breaststroke is going off the walls/block. Take advantage of it. Maintain the streamline during whole pull-out. Train to be able to hold your breath. Sneak the arms back up as close to the body at pull-outs as possible to decrease drag. Don’t lift the head too early at exit.

Hips High- The higher your hips stay during the whole cycle, the higher/flatter you stay, the less drag you create. Requires flexible lower spine, loose hip flexors and good core strength. Possibly the hardest part of breaststroke to master, but the top of your butt should stay (almost) dry.

Late Breath Technique- More Advanced. Some breaststrokers have lately started taking the breath a split second (0.1 or seconds) later than usual by keeping the head down a bit longer at the beginning of the pull and then making the breath fast and slamming it down again with force. Feels awkward at first and requires aggressive work from neck and back, but makes sense because it keeps the body in streamline a touch longer.