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Breaststroke Breaststroke is one of the four competitive strokes. It is also a valuable survival stroke. When swimming the breaststroke the swimmer is prone in the water, and the arm and leg actions are symmetric. The swimmer breathes in at the beginning of each arm stroke.   Breaststroke is the only competitive stroke where the arm recovery is carried out under water and where a greater amount of frontal resistance is experienced. The arm action is an out sweep, down sweep, in sweep and up sweep with recovery in a streamline position.   The leg kick in breaststroke is probably the most difficult of all kicks for swimmers to master and may take some time. The leg action is simultaneous and is sometimes described as a "whip kick." In addition to the breathing, the correct timing of the arms and legs is very important.   Swimmers are encouraged to develop good streamlining skills when performing the breaststroke, and correct turns and finishes need to be reinforced. The teaching of a "split stroke" at the start and turn phase of the swim is very important.   Teaching the Breaststroke — Kick Practice the breaststroke kick on the pool deck   Teaching Points Swimmer lies face down on the pool deck. The legs are fully extended, knees and ankles together, toes pointed. Pull the heels straight up toward the buttocks. Turn the toes out. Keep heels about same width as hips. Kick straight back. Finish with toes pointed.     Practice the breaststroke kick on pool edge   Teaching Points Have the swimmer sit on the pool edge with legs together, heels to wall. Swimmer turns the feet out, making a "V" shape — dorsi-flexed. Keeping the knees together, move the heels along wall. Have the swimmer kick around — "whip" — till both feet are outstretched in front, toes pointed up. Return heels to wall.   Coaching Tips When the swimmer lies on his/her stomach on the pool deck, it will keep the knees from coming up under the stomach. Initially, you may have to hold the feet so that the toes are flexed out; bring the heels up to the buttocks. Help the swimmer maintain a 90-degree angle at the knees.     Practice the breaststroke kick while in the water   Teaching Points Standing in chest-deep water, grasp side of pool at water level if possible. Holding on to side of the pool, extend body to prone position. The legs are extended, knees and feet together.     Draw heels up to the buttocks. Turn feet out, with heels about the same width as the hips.     Kick backward, keeping the heels close to the surface of the water.     Breaststroke Kicking in Water (Dartfish)     Coaching Tips Swimmer stands in waist-deep water, grabs the side of the pool, holding onto the gutter. Assist the swimmer, if necessary, to keep hips up while practicing the kick. Make sure the knees are not coming up under the stomach by bringing the heels up to the buttocks. Turn the toes out. Hold the feet if needed, assisting the swimmer to feel the toes pointing out. With the heels at the buttocks, separated approximately the width of the hips, kick backward until the feet are  together with legs fully extended. Ensure that you do not over-rotate the knees when helping the swimmer to turn the feet out.     Practice the breaststroke kick for 15 meters Teaching Points     Swimmer stands in chest-deep water. Swimmer holds a kickboard with one hand on each side, arms fully extended.     Swimmer performs the breaststroke kick for 15 meters.     Swimmer executes two to three kicks in a row with his/her face in the water. Breaststroke Kick with Board (Dartfish)       Coaching Tips Swimmer stands in chest-deep water. Swimmer holds a kick board with hands on both sides, keeping the arms straight. Swimmer practices the breaststroke kick for 15 meters. Follow behind the swimmer, holding his/her feet and guiding them through the proper movement if needed. Swimmer kicks two to three kicks in a row with their face in the water. Two kickboards may be used, one under each arm for better balance. Swimmer may hold a board to his/her chest. This will help with buoyancy, keeping legs together. In a streamlined position, have swimmer push off wall, do two to three breaststroke kicks, then recover to a standing position. With the swimmer's hands at his/her side, have swimmer push off wall on his/her back and perform breaststroke kick on back. This is also known as survival backstroke kick.             OR   Have the swimmer bend knees bringing heels back toward buttocks. Turn feet out. Keeping knees together, perform a "whip" kick, bringing feet back together and finishing with the body in a streamlined position.     Practice the breaststroke arm stroke on dry land       Teaching Points   Standing on the pool deck, bend at the waist and extend the arms in front of the head. Keep palms of the hands facing downward. Flex wrists slightly, fingers pointing slightly down.   Begin stroke with the arms pressing outward and downward. As the press continues, the elbows bend to establish a high elbow position.   Push the arms and hands as far the shoulders. The hands are pitched inward and pressed together. With the arms and hands squeezed together, the arms are stretched forward, as far as possible, into a streamlined position. Breaststroke Breathing LD (Dartfish)     Coaching Tips Swimmer extends arms all the way forward in a streamline position. Stand on the deck behind the swimmer. Move his/her arms through the proper arm stroke pattern several times. Emphasis is placed on keeping the elbows high and close to the body during the backward press. The hands shoot forward to the recovery position, ready for the next pull. Swimmer stands in chest-deep water and practices the above technique. Encourage swimmer to "feel the water" with each arm pull.     Practice the breaststroke pull in chest-deep water without the kick   Teaching Points Swimmer stands in chest-deep water and places a kickboard or pull buoy between legs. Assume prone float position. Swimmer performs the breaststroke pull. Press the body forward with the hands. When the hands are at the shoulders, "let go" of the water and "shoot" the hands forward to the starting position. As the body slides up and forward, eye contact is made with the end of the pool. At the completion of the stroke, the eyes look back at the bottom of the pool. Chin is pushed forward to breathe.       Push hands out, slightly wider than shoulders.     Drive hands down, propelling body forward and out.     Hands come together, facing each other, completing the propulsive phase of stroke. Breaststroke Pull (Dartfish)     Coaching Tips To aid in developing correct arm action, have the swimmer wear fins and use a very gentle fly kick instead of a breaststroke kick. Fins can be used in breaststroke drills where the emphasis is placed on developing and maintaining good arm-stroke technique. Swimmer assumes the prone float position with a flotation device between the legs. Arms are fully extended, pressing against the ears with the back of the hands together; body is streamlined. Eyes are focused on the bottom of the pool. Swimmer presses the hands out, down and in, bringing the elbows to the side of the body, then pushing the arms forward, aligned with the shoulders, to a streamlined position. Swimmer can use a small dolphin kick, using fins, if available, to maintain balance. The coach can also hold the swimmer up at the waist, or have the swimmer use a flotation device. Encourage the swimmer to make three to five pulls to help develop rhythm and "feel for the water." Elbows touch the sides of the body when pulling forward. Encourage concentration on pressing with the hands, not leading with the elbows. Try to have the swimmer "feel the water."   Teaching Breaststroke Breathing — Timing Practice the breaststroke with regular breathing for 15M       Teaching Points     Stand in chest-deep water, bending at the waist. Take a breath. Put face in the water and take a streamline position.     As the arm stroke starts, push the chin forward just enough for the mouth to clear the surface, and take a breath as the hands come under the shoulders.     "Jump" the hands forward to recovery.     Perform the breaststroke, taking a breath every stroke, as described above, for 15 meters.       Breaststroke Complete (Dartfish)       Coaching Tips Have the swimmer assume the prone float position. Begin with the arms extended fully over the head — streamlined. Eyes are looking slightly forward at the bottom of the pool. Begin stroke with the back of the hands together and the palms of the hands facing down. Palms are pressed out and up to start, along with the elbows bending. "Jump" the hands forward to recovery. Heels begin their kick at the point where the hands begin their press. As the hands "jump" forward, the feet are thrust ("whipped") backward. The timing rhythm is — pull — kick — hands forward glide.   Faults & Fixes Chart   Error Correction Drill/Test Reference Timing of breathing/arm stroke incorrect. Check the position of the swimmer's arms in the pull. Generally, breathing timing will be incorrect because the hands/arms are being pulled to hips and not under chest. Using fins, practice correct arm action. Use gentle fly kick when performing this drill. Timing of breathing incorrect. Check position of head during recovery. Emphasize importance of placing face in water only to hair line. Do not to get top of head wet. Body position angled or pulling to one side. Check that both leg and arm kicks are simultaneous and same amount of pull/kick is being carried out on each side. Practice leg kick with/ without board; introduce specific kick drills. Practice correct arm pull with/without fins. Body not moving quickly or far enough under water on start/turn. Arms will be apart. Ensure that swimmer is in a streamlined position. Practice lots of push offs from wall in a streamlined position. Try to get swimmer to see how far he/she can go under water. Uneven leg kick/or hips higher on one side during swim. Ensure that both feet are turned out correctly and that leg kick is even and simultaneous. Practice specific drills to encourage correct leg kick and body position.   Coaches' Tips for Breaststroke — At-a-Glance Tips for Practice Ensure swimmer can maintain a good streamlined body position. Check that the swimmer is able to turn feet out without hurting. Check that the swimmer has good knee rotation. Use fins to help develop and maintain good arm action. Introduce specific drills to help with leg kick, arm action and whole stroke. Break the skill down. Check correct timing of leg kick/arm action and breathing. Encourage swimmer to always finish off on the wall touching with two hands.   Tips for Competition Practice lots of starts and finishes. Ensure that swimmer can perform a split stroke; if not, encourage good streamlining. Always practice finishing on a full stroke and touching wall with two hands. Remind swimmer not to look around while competing. Doing so may cause a disqualification and may cause hips to drop to one side.

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