The breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmers are on their chest and their torsos do not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style because the swimmers head is out of the water for a large portion of the time, and can swim comfortably at slow speeds.
At the competitive level, swimming breaststroke at speed requires a large amount of endurance and strength. It is challenging to earn, is full of nuance and is difficult to perfect. Source.
Consistent work is needed to master it and extra attention has to be given to every detail. The breaststroke is the slowest of the four strokes and extra diligence is needed to keep the resistance minimum throughout the stroke.
The breaststroke is fun and easy to learn swimming technique. It acts an efficient form of exercise as it engages the arms, legs, shoulders and neck.
Here are a few tips on how to ace the breaststroke:
- Always warm up before assuming the core position. Stretch your neck, arms, hips and legs while in the water.
- Practice the breaststroke kick on dry land by leaning against a wall and moving your leg.
- Ensure that your limbs are moving in sync with each other.
- Try to time your arm action and leg kick so its gets easier with propelling yourself through the water.
- Do not sweep your arms too wide. The propulsion comes from the legs and not the arms.
Your elbows should always remain under the surface of the water. Source.
- Your body position should be your head facing forward in line with your body. Always tuck your chin in.
- Your shoulders, hips and legs should be kept as horizontal as possible. Your body should slope slightly to allow the leg kick to stay underneath the water.
- Do not let your hips drop in the water as the leg kick uses your core and abdomen muscles.
- Your legs should be behind you and not under you.
- Keep your neck and shoulders as relaxed as possible to help the arm action and also reduce strain. Looking downwards while gliding also helps reduce the strain to your neck.
Your knees should be a little over hip-width apart. Source.
- Concentrate on bringing your feet to your bum and not on bringing your knees to your chest.
- Do not raise your head to breathe but lift your shoulder to bring your face out of the water for it. This reduces back pain and raising your head lowers your hips which leads to increased resistance.
- Breathe in through your mouth when you head is above water and exhale underwater while your hands are pushed forward.
- Improve your core strength.
- Focus your eyes at the bottom of the pool during the glide.
These are a few tips that can help you master the breaststroke. A lot of hard work and determination is required to ace this swimming style.
Just concentrate on improving your body line, head position, the front end, the back end and your hips while practising.
Seek your weak points and focus on improving them. You can ace the breaststroke with consistent hard work, motivation and with the guide of these tips.
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