Breaststroke Technique

As an amateur swimmer, it is normal to be overwhelmed after learning that there are so many different types of swimming styles. And the one question that comes to mind is - how and where to begin. How about learning the breaststroke technique? It is one of the easiest and the toughest swimming style that you can learn and understand the concepts of swimming properly. If you have enrolled yourself in swimming classes, you will quickly learn that your instructor or coach will begin with the breaststroke or the front crawl style. Even though this stroke will seem to be the easiest, it requires a lot of leg strength and endurance. Keeping this in mind, we have put together this article which concentrates on teaching you the breaststroke properly.

Tips to Swimming the Breaststroke

If you have ever seen, on television or real life, someone doing the breaststroke, you will know that it is different from the other swimming styles. How? If you notice carefully, you will see that in breaststroke, the limbs are not alternatively used but are applied at the same time. The movements are done simultaneously, as in both the arms will move symmetrically and then both legs will follow suit. To understand the swimming style, let's go over some specific and easy breaststroke tips.

The Position of Body
While doing the breaststroke, the use of your abdominal muscles is vital. At the time of thrusting your legs backward, your core muscles will get tightened and when the legs come together, you release the muscles. Throughout the stroke, keep your shoulders and neck as relaxed as possible. Don't tighten the shoulders and neck and also, try not to tense up. This will make it difficult for your arms to move freely and breathe normally. As far as the head's position is concerned, keep your head and eyes downwards as you glide through the water. When you want to take a breath, keep the head tilted downwards only, but out of the water. If you lift your head too high, you will have to move a lot during each stroke; just rest your chin on the surface of the water.

The Movement of Arms
At first, your arms should stretch out in front of you, under the surface of water. As we already discussed, the arms will have a simultaneous movement, as in mirror effect. You will try to make a circle with your arms in front of the shoulders. Make sure both hands do this movement together. The hands will be the reason to help you move forward. As you do so, your upper body will lean slightly forward but be careful as to not do the diving pose here. Keep your palms almost touching each other in the namaste pose and extend it in front of you. Here, you will begin to make the circle with both arms.

When you are trying to propel yourself forward, your arms will come backward. At this point, your palms will face outward and slightly above the water. This way, you get to push yourself ahead. Then bring your arms to the front, completing the circle. The entire movement will finish one stroke.

The Movement of Legs
Similar to the arms, the movement of your legs will be easy. Just as the frog swims in water, your legs will imitate this action. Bend your knees and bring your feet close to one another. Now kick your legs outward, trying to make a circle. When your legs are extended, touch the soles of your feet with one another. Recover your legs back up, swooping them in, completing the circle. Throughout the stroke, your hips will remain high in the water so that you can move forward quickly and do the flip-turn swiftly.

Breathing Pattern
The breathing pattern during the breaststroke will depend on each cycle or each stroke. So you will take a breath at every stroke. Let me be more clear to explain this. When your hands and elbows do the sweep in, your chest (trunk) will rise a bit higher, and this gives you the opportunity to take a breath. At the time when your trunk is high, your mouth will be out of the water and clear to breathe. You won't have enough time to breathe in and out, so just take a deep breath before your trunk lowers back inside the water.

Now many a time, beginner swimmers think that they have to breathe through their nose. Well that is not accurate. You will breathe through your mouth because your mouth can take in more oxygen than your nose at the time of swimming. So keep this in mind and you are golden.

To get better with this swimming style, I would suggest you to do some breaststroke drills. The drills mentioned are not only going to teach you the fundamentals, but will also help you improve your body's alignment while in water, balance, and speed while doing the strokes. Once you master this swimming style, you can easily move on to the other styles and become a good swimmer.