Swimming breaststroke question?

Question

I'm wondering what's the correct way to swim breaststroke since the method I'm taught from my coaches seem to be different from my swim instructors...

One says to move my arms in a big circular motion and kick widely with keeping the knees separate, but the other says to make the arm motion small and kick smaller too and to keep the knees close together while kicking. (sorry I'm sorta bad at explaining) So should I be making my arm/leg motions small or big in order for me to go faster

Answer 1

First the arms pull outward and around in a smaller circle and should not pull past the shoulders.  The kick is where all the propulsion is.  The knees do not stay together...that is the klck for elementary backstroke.  The hands also pull outward with your fingers pointed to the side but the pitch of the hand rotates to have the fingers pointing down as your arms come around and thencontinue to circle toward each other as you finish and extend them forward for the kick and glide.  As far as the kick is concerned, you need to flex your ankles in order to have the feet point outwards.  Draw your heels to your butt with your feet flexed and then circle them slightly down and around backwards until they are straight and together, placing most emphasis on whipping them together.  The kick is three dimensional, not two.  Be sure to pull and breathe and then kick and glide.  Not all of it at once.  Keep your head streamlined for the kick and glide and hips up to keep your body up in the water.  When you breathe, do not lift your head up but rather low and forward.   Also, breathe as you start your pull, not after you pull.  This is a common timing problem.  good luck

Answer 2

well... I think that whichever way is faster for you, you should do. I can't explain the right way to do it in text... it would take forever... If you really want me to explain it, then feel free to email me.

Answer 3

this will probably be too confusing to answer in words. i suggest asking someone that knows how to do it properly teach you in person. and arms and legs should neither be too wide or too narrow. they should be right in between and while you're swimming it, you should be able to feel that right time to initiate the pull and kick. so good luck with that and keep experimenting with it!

Answer 4

For breaststroke kick, just think 'quick and powerful'. It shouldn't be too big, because speed is the key. Pretend like you have to snap your legs together after you start kicking.

For the arms, you want to be fast also. The size of your pull doesn't really matter, just the speed and the force. If you can take a small stroke and push pretty hard, do that. If you can't, just pull as hard as you can until you're better at minimizing your stroke.

The reason for smaller strokes and kicks is that they create less drag. Drag is when water hits your body and slows you down. The more of your body that sticks out, the more drag you create.

In general, listen to your coach, not your instructors. Instructors are there to see that you don't drown, coaches want you to be able to get places fast.  

Answer 5

As my swim coach tells me, you should make a heart shape with your arms. (I don't know if you can understand that). For competitive swimming, you should do the smaller arm motions and smaller kick. I guess I'm bad at explaining, here's a link to what I consider a pretty good explanation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYuSMumlU...

Answer 6

what ever is faster for you use that, if you are tall, use your height to your advantage, i am tall and a breastroker, so i use my height with a long smooth stroke, if you are shot then use you speed to your advantage take small fast strokes

Answer 7

Do what ever makes you seem faster. If wide motions are faster do those and vis versa. It is usually better to have a smaller kick because that shows so much resistance.  

Answer 8

Well, your hands should not past your shoulders, and your elbows shouldnt be moving like crazy, almost staying in the same place. Your kick should not be too small and too wide. Experiment with a kickboard with breaststroke kicking and see what feels faster.

It all depends on what feels comfortable to you, and makes you fast. My breaststroke stroke is more of a gliding stroke, fast going up, fast going down, glide for some time. My freind's stroke is a up and down barley no glide. Her time is within the same second as me. It all depends on you, what feels comfortable.

Hope this helps :)