PROGRESSIONS FOR BREASTSTROKE – PART 1

LEARNING THE BREASTSTROKE TECHNIQUE FOR NOVICE SWIMMERS

Teaching swimming strokes with correct technique is slower at first but leads to safer swimming and a love of the sport. Today what I witness when watching some swimming teachers is what I would call teaching survival swimming. The basics are not perfected. It does take time and parents say they just want their child to be safe if he/she should fall in the water. Teachers are then pressured to produce results quickly. By teaching the technique progressively and correctly the child will become a better swimmer and because swimming becomes easier with correct technique they learn to love the sport and do better at it.

This article is designed for the Novice swimmer learning their strokes. The child should be water born and confident in the water.

Do not be afraid to give teaching Breaststroke a try. It can be difficult, but not impossible. The main propulsive factor in Breaststroke is the leg kick, but the arm pull and timing are very critical too. I will be doing articles on the Arm pull, Breathing and Timing at a later stage.

I am sharing some ideas I use to introduce the stroke to the Novice learning from the “get go”. Where you see the abbreviation TP it stands for Teaching Point . TP is a way of describing an action that the swimmer can visualize and then put into practice.

Body position

The basic push and glide should be taught at the beginner level. Make it fun.

SOME DRY LAND EXERCISES TO SHOW THE CORRECT POSITION FOR A STREAMLINE THIS CAN BE DONE BEFORE THEY GET IN THE WATER.

Lying on a towel on front

Toes and legs must stay zipped together.
Arms straight, extended in front of head, squeezing the ears.
Hands one over the other. TP “ Make a turtle”

Have competitions between the swimmers “who can do the best streamline?”

Example 3 x cactus arms hold 10 seconds – into the streamline position hold 10 seconds.

This exercise should be done everyday before they swim to make sure this very important position becomes a habit in the water too. It is the basis for all strokes, turns and dives.

In the Water

Mushroom float . Tuck up in a tight ball. Knees to chest, heels to bottom, head on knees.

Make this fun. “How long can you hold the float before taking a breath. “

Keep the head down and open out in to a pencil position on the front.

Once the streamline position has been developed we can progress to the Breaststroke leg kick.

Brief Description of the breaststroke kick.

The swimmer starts from a streamlined position on the front. The heels are brought up towards the bottom with the knees hip width apart. The feet are turned out into a Dorsiflexed position where the catch of the water takes place. The swimmer continues by kicking slightly out and straight back with the heels and instep of the feet. The kick accelerates to finish together with the toes pointed and ankles together. TP “ Make the ankles kiss”. The legs can be lifted up together towards the surface in this position to get the body back into the streamline position ready for the next stroke. Make sure the swimmer does not kick down again after the up kick. This would be considered a dolphin kick which is not allowed. The kick is known as the WHIP KICK due to the speed the legs come together, like snapping a whip, quick and fast.

DRY LAND PRACTICES

Swimmers lay face down on a towel, legs hip with apart and straight to begin with. Ask the swimmer to bend their knees, keeping the upper leg flat on the ground. Soles of feet looking towards the ceiling. Take a kick board and place on the swimmers’ flat feet. Ask the swimmer to lift the board upwards using their legs only. I tell them to imagine they have a pot of tea, Cup and saucer on the board. Both feet push the legs upwards. You want the swimmers to think about lifting their heels up to their bottom and not bending at the hips. Practice this a few times so the swimmer can feel the process required.
Repeat position number 1 without the kick board on the soles of the feet and try to replicate the correct leg action.

“Heels to bottom, turn toes out, kick back with heels, squeeze legs together, ankles kiss.”

Teaching the Breaststroke kick In the water.

You can start in the water and manually go through the action of the kick while the child holds on to the side or holds two small kick boards, one under each arm pit.
For young swimmers and even adults I like to use 2 boards to begin with. Breaststroke rule is all movements must be simultaneous and symmetrical. This means the arms and legs move the same way on the same plain in opposite direction. They mirror image each other. Using the 2 boards to begin with helps the beginner find their balance in the water. Sometimes when only using 1 board the swimmer can lean to their dominant side and not remain on their front. This can lead to what is called a screw kick or uneven kick which is illegal.

With one board held under each arm pit they float on their front with legs held straight out behind them. The swimmer can keep their head up at this stage. Ask them to lift their heels up to their bottom, turn the toes out to face the lane ropes and then kick straight back and together. Try to keep the knees close together during the recovery, shoulder width apart. Ideally, you want the knees to be pointing towards the bottom of the pool. TP “Try to get the heels wider than the knees.”

You can try 2 boards held under the arms on the back too. Now they must try to keep their knees under the surface. There should be nominal flexing at the hips. With this drill the child can see the legs and you can correct them as they try the movement. The hands are kept by their legs and when they bend the knees they try to touch the fingers with their heels. The swimmer can progress to a streamline position of their back, keeping their knees under the surface.

When we are at the beginner level teaching this stroke do not get too dogmatic about keeping the knees together or hip with apart. It can be a very stressful movement to the knee joint for some pupils and they can experience pain or discomfort. This will put them off trying the stroke. At this stage do your best to make the kick legal. If the swimmer shows potential for the breaststroke you can modify the kick later in their career. TP” “ Make the letter W”

Once they can perform the kick comfortably with 2 boards they can try with 1 board. Recently I was introduced the ONECORE float designed by Jade Edmistone former Breaststroke World record holder.

I find them excellent aids for all strokes especially Breaststroke. I will put a link for her web site at the end of this post.

I, personally, find I have to introduce the breathing at this point in the swimmers learning process. This can help with the timing of the Breaststroke later on. Either using the one float or the Onecore float held in a streamline position the swimmer ‘s head lifts as the heels are recovering up towards the swimmer’s bottom. TP Heels up, head up”. The swimmer inhales then places the head between the arms as the legs kick back. Hold the glide here. You want the kick to take place when the head and arms are in the streamline position. TP “No gap between ears and arms.” “Hide the ears” “ squeeze the ears tight”

This will make the swimmer faster as there will be minimal drag from the head being kept up. This will take time and patience, but very beneficial later on when they start training Breaststroke.

The swimmer can follow with the above exercise, but not using and float, just keep the arms streamlined in advance of the head.

Now we can go to Part Two Introducing the Breaststroke Arm Pull

January 8, 2018January 8, 2018

COACHING THE BREASTSTROKE

Breaststroke is all about timing. When teaching the breaststroke to beginners all you need to do is make sure the stroke is legal. Do not get too bogged down with the fact that you want a narrow kick. As long as the legs are simultaneous and symmetrical. In other word they mirror image one another. It usually becomes very obvious when you come across a “Natural” breaststroker.

Body Position – streamlined and horizontal. During the streamline the head is balanced between the arms, eyes down looking at the floor, arms held in front of shoulders with elbows locked, hands together with thumbs ’ side slightly down. Do not put one hand on top of the other during the stroke cycle as the rule is the arms must be simultaneous and symmetrical. Again, they mirror image each other.

Drills to work the glide in front.

1 pull plus 2 leg kicks holding the streamline position until the 2^nd leg kick has finished. Can do same drill with multiple repeats of the leg kick but they cannot start their pull until the last kick has finished. Also, builds lung capacity.

LEG KICK

From the streamlined position the heels are brought up towards the buttocks with the knees close together. From here the toes are turned out towards the lane ropes and the feet are pushed backwards and together using the instep and lower inside leg accelerating until both ankles come together. Some swimmers have great ankle flexibility and can get both soles of their feet together at the end of the kick for extra streamlining. If you view the kick as the swimmer swims away from you it looks like the letter “W” showing the feet are wider than the knees.

Drills to work the leg kick

Kicking on the back with the hands by the thighs. Swimmer tries to touch their finger tips every time the heels recover. Keep the knees under the water.
As number 1 but with the arms extended in a streamline behind the shoulders.
Kicking on front with arms by thighs. Breathe; kick the head forwards and into the water. Try to make the fingers touch the fingertips.
As 3 but with arms held in front of shoulders in streamline position. Breathe, kick, and glide.
Kick with a Finnis yellow band above the knees to help keep the knees closer together. Or an old stocking tide above the knees. It must not restrict the swimmers ability to open their knees as this can cause knee problems sometimes. Can use a pull buoy with other, stronger swimmers only.

ARM PULL

It is important with the breaststroke pull to keep the head down in line with the body during the sweep out. The head weighs 4-5 kilos. If it is lifted up during the out sweep apart from causing huge frontal drag, it will, also, make the hips drop. Only as the hands sweep in can the swimmer initiate the breath. “Breathe in as you sweep in”. Eyeball the palm of your hand as you sweep in. The hands stay close to the surface as the move forwards into the recovery. I find it best to have the palms facing each other during the recovery ending in the streamlined position ready for the next stroke. Gradual sweep out into the out sweep, accelerate round the elbows and lunge into the recovery. “Slow, Fast, Faster”.

Drills for the arm pull

Pull with pully and paddles feet can balance the stroke with a small dolphins kick. Make sure the head is always moving forwards.
Breast pull with dolphins kick. You can use fins if necessary.
Sculling arms held wider than shoulders in front, head up, small free kick for balance. Wrist higher than fingers. Fingers point to floor. Sweep out and in ”windscreen wipers”
Closed fist swimming, or hold tennis balls in each hand to help with the feel.
To help encourage a fast pull use fins, breast pull with head up, free kick over short distances 15m -25m as fast as possible with lots of rest.

TIMING

Timing is everything in Breaststroke. From the streamlined, horizontal position the hands sweep out wider than the shoulders. Pinkie finger slighter higher than thumb. At this point the swimmer is in the “Y” position. The hands turn out, down and round as the head begins to lift. The press down helps the shoulders lift which aids the breath in as the face clears the water. As the hands sweep round the heels begin to recover towards the buttocks. The hands lunge forwards as the legs drive backwards, round and together. The whole body is back to a streamlined position. “Glide Breathe, kick, and glide.

Drills to help with timing.

Slowly perform the stroke but finish the pull, the do a kick with the arms still into the glide position. Making the emphasis on pull, stop, kick, stop. Then gradually fasten up the process.
The 1 pull with 2 kicks can help with the timing too. Just remember that they must finish the kick before they commence the pull.
Perform a single arm pull with the opposite arm straight, kick, and glide. Repeat using the other arm and then both arms together, normal breaststroke.

July 26, 2015

LEARNING THE STROKES

Learning to swim is a skill. What is a skill? Skill is a learned ability to repeat a given movement a number of times with the correct action. Skilful swimming has the characteristics of efficiency, using just as much effort as is needed, and permanence, can be repeated consistently. “Practice does not make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect”.

How is a skill learned?

The learning of skills for most individuals is a progression through definite stages and when teaching a skill it is important for the teacher to remember the following points:

Individuals will start at different points
Individuals will learn at different rates
Individuals will have different desires to learn
Individuals will have unique levels of potential
The teaching methods used will influence success

When teaching swimming it is quite easy to see evidence of all the points above. The class of beginners who arrive for their first lesson with differing background experience. The swimmer who moves through the classes very quickly, whilst others take a number of courses to progress. The swimmer who, regardless of how hard he/she tries, does not have the potential to make a swim team. The factor common to all these individuals is the process they go through in order to acquire a skill. Being told how to perform a skill is not enough on its own; the individual must also practice the skill. If the skill is practiced under the guidance of a qualified teacher he will provide the initial information of how to perform the skill, followed by an opportunity to practice. After the practice the teacher will provide feedback and possibly further information. The circle of learning is continuous. “Repeat and repeat.”

Feedback

Feedback provides motivation, e.g. praise combined with action for improvement and a focus for the teacher to draw attention on areas of performance to be considered during subsequent attempts.

For a skill learning to occur:

Activities must be appropriate to the individual (Ability groups)
Learners must see a good model (Demonstrations must be correct)
There must be ample opportunities to practice
Learners need to know how they have performed (Praise)
Learners must experience the enjoyment of success (Badges, awards etc)

Learning a new skill

In the initial stages of all physical activities muscle tension is high. As pupils begin to learn a new skill they are not aware of which muscles to use or the amount of effort to be exerted. The consequence of this is that he/she uses more muscles than necessary and creates a lot of tension in all the muscles.

Continued learning

The internal and external feedback, which the learner receives, enables him/her to establish which muscles need to be used and the amount of effort required to make the movements apparently effortless. The pupil now knows exactly which muscles to utilise and the precise amount of effort required. The pupil has now grooved the movements and is able to perform them repeatedly without apparent effort. The brain works like a video recorder. Each time the pupil performs a skill a recording is made of the movement. This recording continues as the skill is developed. Once the skill can be performed well the brain then stores this recording and replays it each time the skill is to be performed. As the performer becomes more competent at the skill he/she begins to feel as if he can do it without thinking about it. When a beginner first attends swimming lessons much of his attention is taken up with focusing on the surroundings and basic activities relating to water confidence. He finds it difficult to process any additional information related to acquiring the movement skills. As the pupil becomes accustomed to his new environment, and feels comfortable in his surroundings, he is then able to focus on the techniques required to swim.

Role of the teacher

The teacher needs to be aware of individual needs, watching and assessing participants carefully and continually. Set levels of work for each individual. The individual rather than the blanket approach.
Control the amount of information being processed by the teacher. Focus on one particular aspect of the skill and limit the quantity of information and feedback to an amount with which the learner can cope.
Select activities that are appropriate to the developmental stage of the learner. It is easy for the teacher to look at the techniques of a good swimmer and then try to teach the same style to a swimmer in the early stages of skill development, regardless of the fact that this skill may be wholly inappropriate at this stage.
The teacher is the swimmers’ eye and it is his feedback, which will motivate and inform.
Skill learning will be accelerated if the lesson is enjoyable. The learner may arrive screaming and crying but it is important they leave smiling and wanting to come back.

Muscle memory

When describing the Frontcrawl, Freestyle, Backcrawl, Breastroke or Butterfly there is an easy format or anagram that can help you with the development process and that is “BLABT”

B = Body position
L = Leg action
A = Arm action
B = Breathing
T = Timing

When teaching the strokes it is important to remember Newton’s Law of Action and Re-action. Every action has an equal and alternate re-action. If you remember this when looking at faults it will help you to correct the fault. For example if the legs are too low look for the opposite end of the body, the head, as it will probably be too high. When studying a swimmers’ stroke you must view it from all angles, front, side and back in order to get the overall picture. Sometimes it is necessary to ‘over correct’ in order to get the correct movement in the stroke, e.g. in backstroke hand entry a lot of swimmers ‘over reach’ and enter at the back of the head, if you imagine the face of the clock in relation to the head and body position the head being 12 o’clock you would ask the swimmer to enter their hand at 3 o’clock. The swimmer will do what he thinks is the right movement and will probably get near to the correct entry required.

Next time we will focus on each individual stroke.

March 21, 2013January 21, 2014

MAKING FREESTYLE BETTER

I am going to work on improving the Freestyle I teach and coach with various methods I have looked at. Some are from Karlyn Pipes-Neilson and the Dutch coaches Stewart Melton talked to at his British coach’s conference and Bill Furniss.

The body position must be horizontal and streamlined. The top of the head should be in the water and the eyes must look down.
The hands enter in advance of the head in a line with the shoulders ,kicking should be done with the arms stretched out in front , shoulder width apart.
Arm pull : Fingers enter the water first in advance of the head approximately a hand space away from fully stretched. Extend in front .The fingers slide forward and the back of the hand is as close to the surface as possible. The hand and forearm press slightly down to the catch position. Think about the area from forearm to fingertips. ( Press up action). At catch position the forearm and hand form one paddle, the elbow bends and the forearm and hand press downward to a position directly in line under elbow with the fingers pointing to the floor. It is a wide pull/press. Keep pressing the hand, forearm paddle with the fingers pointing down to a point where they feather out of the water, out and round in a relaxed recovery position. This is much more relaxed than the traditional elbow out first recovery. The later puts a lot of strain on the rotator cuff. There should not be too much rotation from side to side. It is the extension of the arm on entry that gives the body the rolling action from side to side.

TEACHING PRACTICES Use Beeper for tempo. Beep (hand in) Beep (other hand in)

DOG PADDLE DONE FAST HEAD UP GETTING THE ARM AND FOREARM TO ACT AS ONE PADDLE AND PRESS DIRECTLY DOWN AND FORWARDS AGAIN. ( Gives a fast catch)
WATER POLO STROKE HEAD UP TEACHING POINT FINGERS POINT TO FLOOR. WIDE PULL. RELAXED RECOVERY. FEATHER ARM OUT AND ROUND TO ENTRY.
SAILING STROKE FROM STEWART FOR OLDER SWIMMERS.
Have swimmers put finger tips on wall and keep forearm and fingers in a line. Lower arms level with forearms and fingers. Slow. Imagine a sheet of glass.
Think about putting fingers on a box and press up. Open hand helps to reduce tention. Learn to use lower palm and wrist instead of fingers. Try pushing against another person. They hold their hand up in front of you and you try and push them down using fingertips. You will feel the tension in forearm and shoulders. Then use the lower palm and wrist instead. The fulcrum is the wrist and you use the latimus muscles, much easier and stronger position.
1 Hand position 2 Fingertips placement 3 Wrist awareness 4 Umph at the front 5 Exiting the stroke (feathering out)
CATCH DRILL
Face down in the water left arm extended in front opposite arm at hip. Press forearm down under the water until directly under elbow, fingers pointing to the floor. Return to extended position and roll head towards side of arm on thigh. Upper arm must stay parallel to the surface. T.P. Centre elbow over hand must keep length.
FAULTS: Forearms pulling too wide or coming inside the elbow. MUST BE IN LINE WITH THE ARMPIT.. Keep hand on hip as still as possible. Don’t go for speed go for strength and feel.

November 8, 2012April 21, 2025

TO WEAR GOGGLES OR NOT TO WEAR GOGGLES…

THAT IS THE QUESTION?

These suggestions are my opinion after 50 plus years teaching and coaching swimming while living on 3 different Continents. There are always exceptions to every rule and the teacher must follow their beliefs and what works best for them.

Swimming goggles are a necessary part of competitive swimmers equipment. It enables the swimmer to put their face in the water for several hours at a time without developing sore eyes and their vision is clear and not marbled when underneath the water. You have to find the right goggles to fit comfortably over the eyes and the bridge of the nose. Ideally, the competitive swimmer should have at least 2 pairs in their kit bags at all times, just in case one pair break for some reason, and they should have at least one other pair that they keep especially for swim meets or diving practice. These should be kept extra tight in order to take the extra water pressure on the face which occurs during the dive. There is nothing more annoying than having ones goggles come off during a race. Swimmers must be taught how to put their goggles on for safety. The eye portion should be placed on the eyes first and the strap then pulled over to the back of the head. I have seen a swimmer put their goggles on putting the strap to the back of the head and then pulling the plastic eye portion to the front of the face. They accidentally let go too soon and the plastic portion sprang off their hand and straight in their eye which resulted in the swimmer being blinded for life in the one eye. It’s worth taking a little extra time to fit the goggles on.

After saying this I would strongly advise beginners to NOT wear goggles when starting lessons no matter what their age. It is a safety aspect when learning to swim that the beginner learns to open their eyes in and under the surface of the water. Most beginners hate to put their eyes and face in the water but with gradual instruction and encouragement they will achieve the desired results.

PROGRESSIONS:

With the beginner in the water have them cup the water in their hands and wash their faces.
Blowing ping pong balls on the surface with the hands held behind the back.
Gradually, encourage the beginner to put their eyes, nose and face in the water for a short time and when they surface to BLINK, BLINK, BLINK.
Going under the surface and blowing bubbles, surface and BLINK, BLINK,BLINK.
Start challenging the beginner to pick up objects from the floor. Large objects at first and then smaller hoops or rings with different colours, asking the beginner to pick up a certain colour ensuring they are opening their eyes underwater.
Placing hola hoops under the water and they have to swim through the hoops.
Push and glides on the surface progressing to push and glides to the bottom and resurfacing. This is an important learning instruction for starting the learn to dive process.

Once the beginner has got to this stage you can introduce goggles but every lesson the goggles should be taken off for a short period to ensure they do not lose the knowledge and feel of swimming without goggles. If they are ever in a situation where the fall into water, for whatever reason and they do not have their goggles on, they should not panic.

Another essential part of the learner’s equipment is the swimming cap. I notice today that this is not something that is insisted upon as it used to be. In these times where “kids rule “ children are allowed to swimming lessons without a swimming cap, usually because they do not like them! A swimming cap is as essential to a learner as the one piece swimming costume is.

It keeps the hair off the face and helps when learning to breathe. I have seen beginners develop throwing their head back in order to move the hair off the face. This disrupts the whole development of stroke technique.
It is more hygienic and helps the pool to keep cleaner. Hair is continually being lost in the water. This accumulates in the filter system and with the grease and other chemicals floating around can make huge blockages in the filtration system.
It makes teaching the strokes so much easier for teacher and learner without worrying about hair in their face and eyes.
For the competitive swimmer it makes for better streamlining and less drag.

I believe every child learning to swim should wear a swimming cap and no goggles in the initial stages. Parents will argue that their child has sensitive eyes or does not like wearing a swimming cap as it hurts their head. Get over it. You want them to learn correctly and maybe develop into a competitive swimmer one day. I can assure you if they depend on goggles and never wear a swimming cap from the get go they will NEVER develop to their full potential. Also, insist on a proper swimming costume and not baggies. Parents do not understand the concept of drag and how difficult it is for the beginner to learn to swim with swimming costumes that drag them down.

Well, good luck with this issue but where possible, stand your ground and insist on:

Swim cap
No goggles in the beginning
Proper swimming togs

September 25, 2012September 25, 2012

TEACHING THE BUTTERFLY STROKE

The World famous Michael Phelps shows good form in this picture. Chin on the water to breathe, arms carried laterally over the water with little finger on the top and thumb just brushing the surface.

This article is for teaching the butterfly stroke. I will do an article at a later stage to cover the coaching of the stroke. The double arm and leg movements demand a lot of strength and power from the swimmer and I do not recommend teaching the whole stroke to young swimmers. Get the other 3 main strokes under your belt first. Saying that, you can start teaching the dolphin leg kick at any time as it is now used in the flutter strokes underwater for faster performances. The children love to kick like a mermaid or a dolphin and can spice up a swimming lesson or are used as contrasting activity at the end of a lesson, wiggling through hoops etc.

BODY POSITION

As in all strokes the body must be horizontal and streamlined. The teacher/coach must make sure the swimmer can push off the wall in a streamlined position initially on the surface and progress to dropping down under the water and pushing off under water and maintaining a streamlined body position. This takes time and must be worked on continually. Apart from teaching the swimmer the position needed for their body it, also, develops the legs muscles needed for the push off’s in their turns and eventually the leg drive needed for their dives. You cannot practice this enough!

Body should be either in the prone or supine position. Legs together, toes pointed, arms extended in front of shoulders, head positioned between the arms, ears squashed between the arms, one hand on top of the other. There should be no gap between the arms and the ears. The top hand must be locked over the bottom hand, also, no gaps.

Teaching points:

Pretend you are swimming through a straw
Like a pencil
One hand on top of the other looks like a turtle
Hide the ears
Look at the floor (prone position)

In all your strokes, if you wish to swim fast, you have to maintain this streamlined body position.
How is this done? The kick maintains the body position.
Why? Kicking is an excellent conditioning exercise. Not only for the legs but for the abdominal and lower back muscles which help the swimmer’s streamlining ability, body position and alignment in the water.

The streamlined body position can be learnt from the learn to swim stage and be continually worked on throughout their swimming career. As their drive off the wall improves you can incorporate the butterfly kicks and flutter kicks allowed now in all competitive swimming events, except breaststroke. Always maintaining that streamlining position. Never allow sloppy push off’s. Peat and repeat until it becomes automatic for the swimmer.

BUTTERFLY KICK OR DOLPHIN KICK

FINA RULE

SW 8.3 All up and down movements of the legs must be simultaneous. The legs or the feet need not be on the same level, but they shall not alternate in relation to each other. A breaststroke kicking movement is not permitted.

Requirements needed

Core body strength
Good hip and pelvis flexibility
Good ankle plantar flexion

DESCRIPTION of the dolphins leg kick

The legs kick up and down in a symmetrical and simultaneous movement. The legs begin fairly straight during the up kick. The movement is initiated in the upper abdominals and thoracic spine (mid to upper spine) with the aid of the lower paraspinal muscles (muscles which run alongside the spine) which contract (tighten). This extends the thoracic and lumbar spine, which in turn posteriorly rotates the pelvis, extends the hips and flexes the knees and the feet are drawn up to the surface.
During the down kick the reverse action takes place. The abdominals contract and this makes the thoracic and lumbar spine flex making the pelvis rotate anteriorly, flexing the hips, extending the knees and the feet are drawn down ending with the legs in a hyper extended position (straight). The movement is rhythmic and fluid. It is a whip like action. The whole leg is used not just from the knees down.

TEACHING THE KICK

Personally, I start teaching the dolphin kick without using a kick board. In fact, I try never to use a kicker board when teaching or training dolphin kick. A few years back Professor Cameron from the ASA Olympic committee did a series of tests with butterfly swimmers and found that the use of a kick board, especially while using fins caused swimmers to develop injuries in the lower lumbar areas especially later in their careers and retirement. The whip like action on the down kick causes the energy generated to jar the lower area of the back when the swimmer is using a kick board especially when using fins as well. When no board is used the energy is allowed to travel out through the head and no jarring occurs.

Try it yourself and you will feel how there is a continuous pressure on the lower lumbar area when using a kickboard and fins.

METHOD

The swimmers lie on the tummy in their streamline position and tell them to push the chest down into the water and let their bottoms rise and then visa versa, chest up and bottoms down. They can do this with the hands by the side to begin. They continue the movement trying to get to the other side of the pool. They must do 3 – 4 movements without breathing and push the chin forwards to grab a quick breath and then the head returns to the streamlined position with the eyes looking towards the bottom. Do not tell them to do anything with the legs as this movement should make the legs do a gentle butterfly kick as long as the legs are relaxed.

Once this has been established try to extend the arms in front of the head in the streamlined position and perform the same movement breathing every fourth kick. Slowly build up the strength in the kick by doing short distances with short to moderate rest intervals.

The goal is for a quick movement from the legs and this take strength and practice. Your goal should be to execute 3 kicks per second! Yes, 3 kicks per second. Make sure the kick stays in the water. Ideally, the feet must not come out of the water during the kick except maybe the heel can break the surface. If the feet or lower leg are clearing the surface there is too much bend at the knee. Experiment with kicking underwater and trying to go further doing the dolphin kick underwater. Make sure they do not slow down to go further though. Start timing their breakouts and seeing how far they can go. All kicking practices can be done with and without fins.

Teaching points:

Legs together like a big fish’s tail. Kick up and kick down. Bang, bang fast with the feet.
Kick the head down, kick the head up.
Chest up, bottom down. Chest down , bottom up.
Like a wiggly worm.
Like a mermaid

Once the swimmer is kicking a good streamlined dolphin kick you can now introduce other aspects of the stroke. Scull with arms extended in front of shoulders in co-ordination with a down kick. Do 3 – 4 sculls then take a breathe. This is introducing the first kick in Butterfly stroke which is co-ordinated with the outward scull. Scull out, kick down, scull out, kick down etc. The scull inward is where the legs are kicking up getting ready for the next kick down. Get the timing of this first kick down to co-ordinate with the first scull out.

Place the hands at the hips and push back with both hands as you perform a down dolphin kick. This is for the timing of the 2nd downward kick in the Butterfly stroke. Again do several push backs timed with a down kick and take a breath. Try to keep the arms fairly straight doing this drill. You do not want them to bring the hands up past the belly button. It is just a push from the hips to the upper thighs.

Now you put the 2 kicks together. i.e. scull out in front as you do a downward dolphin kick, push back towards the hips with both arms as the upward kick takes place and perform a downward kick as the hands reach the hips. Recover the arms underwater towards the streamlined position back in front. This in known as underwater recovery drill. It teaches the swimmer the timing of the 2 kicks in Butterfly stroke. The chin is pushed forwards as the arms are pushing back to the hips to breathe and the head goes down as the arms are pushed forwards to start the next stroke with eyes looking down.

Teaching points.

Kick in, kick out.
Kick, pull, kick.
Accelerate arms past hips
Chin on water when you take a breathe.
Make a big white beard round your chin.
Eyes down

NOTICE THE WHITE BEARD AROUND THE CHIN WHEN A BREATH IS TAKEN.

BIONDI DRILL

The next progression is similar to underwater recovery drill but this time the swimmer does 4 streamlined dolphin kicks and then the push back to the thighs with a breathe. The swimmer recovers the hands towards the front underwater, and drives the head in on the first dolphin kick. Make sure the swimmer does not go too deep on this drill. Some part of the back must be dry at all times. There is some undulation in the butterfly stroke but you do not want the swimmers to submerge too deeply. The swimmer needs to be as horizontal as possible.

Next progression is to do 2 x Biondi drill followed by 4 dolphin kicks and a normal over the water butterfly arm stroke.

1 x Biondi drill followed by 4 dolphin kicks and a normal over the surface arm stroke.

You can progress with as many variations to this as you want to get the correct movements required.

You can do 25m with or without fins using a variety of kicks and arm movements. 6 streamlined dolphin kicks + 1 butterfly arm stroke landing the arms out in front for the next 6 kicks or 4 dolphin kicks + 1 normal butterfly arm pull land in front.

Once they can do the 4 kicks one pull they must try and get 2 arm pulls into the 4 kicks. Normal butterfly in other words, breathing on the 2nd pull only.
Always aim for great technique at all times. Hips must ride the surface. You need a strong leg drive to swim a great Butterfly stroke. Emphasise that the arms must be relaxed during the recovery. Enter the water softly with the fingers first, not the thumbs, about shoulder width.

FINA RULE FOR THE BUTTERFLY ARM PULL

SW 8.2 Both arms shall be brought forward together over the water and brought backward simultaneously through-out the race, subject to SW 8.5.

DESCRIPTION of the Butterfly arm pull

The Dolphin arm action is a continuous, simultaneous movement.

Entry: The hands enter the water, softly, fingers first in advance of the head in line with the shoulders. The arms should be stretched forward with a slight elbow bend to allow the soft, no splash entry.

Catch: The pitch of the hands changes to a down and out angle. The catch is made just outside the shoulder line. The palms remain facing in the direction of travel. The elbow bends to an angle around 90 degrees to aid the powerful push back. The hands sweep in a circular movement out, round and together, with the thumbs coming almost together around the throat and chest area.

Upsweep: The hands change to face out and up towards the surface. The elbows extend fully to straighten the arms and hands towards the thighs. The hands must accelerate towards the thighs.

Recovery: The hands, little finger first, exit the water and the arms are thrown laterally over the water back to the entry position, keeping the little finger on the top and the thumb just brushing the surface. The elbows bend slightly just before entry in order to make the entry smooth.

METHOD

Also, refer to previous paragraph on Biondi drill.

Angel drill

The swimmer lays in the prone position, eyes down, arms extended in front. The arms are kept straight and travel out, around and back towards the hips in a circular movement and then back in a circular movement to the front. The arms do not go under the water but stay on the surface throughout. They can do a gentle flutter kick to keep on the surface or lay on a kick board when they do the movement. If they do need to breathe they just life the chin and take a quick in breath but it is better if they can hold their breath during the circular movement.

Push up

Swimmers get into the water and face the side. Put their hands flat on the top of the pool surround and perform a push up. Try to push both hands and arms at the same time until the arms are fully extended. Hold this position. Explain to the swimmer that this is the underarm action needed to do the Butterfly. You will see that their hands are placed on the side about shoulder width apart for the easiest way to do their push up. The same principle applies when they swim Butterfly. The hands must be shoulder width apart as this is the easiest and most powerful way for them to push back.

Combine Angel drill and the push up drill

Do the Angel drill laying on the kick board. Arms do the circular pattern from outstretched in front and round to the back and return to the front. From the extended arm position they do a push up underwater to the thighs as they did at the side of the pool and recover the arms out of the water back to the front. Sometimes, the push back has such force that they FLY off their kick boards. This is fine and gives the swimmer the idea of the movement required.
All drills for Butterfly can be done with fins to help the swimmer get the rhythm and help keep the hips high.

Single arm butterfly drill

Left arm held straight in front while using the right arm to pull. Breathe to the side at this stage. Do the drill slowly and get the rhythm. Kick as hand goes in and kick as hand comes out. Emphasise to keep the hand moving. Do not dunk the head in. The head enters the water just before the hand.

Try with the other arm pulling. Progress to doing 2 single arm pulls with the right arm and the 2 with the left. Introduce alternate single arm pulls and then a double arm pull. You can use as many variations as you can think of to make the swimmer achieve the correct rhythm and co-ordination. Do not do a lot of full arm butterfly in the learning stage.

Good luck with teaching Butterfly. The swimmers love to swim this stroke and it is such a beautiful stroke to watch. This is only a few of the methods I have tried and used. I hope you find them useful.

September 18, 2012September 18, 2012

THE FIRST SWIMMING LESSON

The Beginner Swimmer - entry and exit into and from the pool

I have been teaching swimming for over 40 years and I have tried to study, read, explore and digest everything there is out there to make me a better teacher. I can tell you now there is NO right way or wrong way to teach swimming. There are as many methods as there are religions and no one can say which is the right one but everyone believes theirs’ is the right one!

Whatever works best for you but do not be dogmatic in your approach and always try something new. You never know it might just work on some children.

How do we approach our first swimming lesson? There are 5 basic steps to take to make sure you start the child off on the right road. This edition will discuss the first step.

ENTRY AND EXIT

A child will develop confidence and feel more secure once he/she knows they can get in and out without help.

POOL STEPS
No matter which way you look at it this is where everybody should start. The child must learn to get in and out of the pool safely and without hindrance to anybody else.
If you have steps leading down into the pool you can begin with those. Hold the child’s hand and walk them down into the pool. Songs are great i.e.” The Grand old Duke of York”. Children need to feel safe so hold their hands at first. The water moves and sways and can be quite scary and sometimes a child can lose their footing and be put off. Take it slow until the child becomes acclimatised with the motion and movement made with and in the water. As they become more confident you can progress to maybe running down and up again. Make it fun and gloss over any mess ups with a smile and a joke as if nothing really matters. Let them always see you smile or laugh.

FROM THE POOL SIDE
This is more tricky and the child may need a little help initially as they need to use the strength in their arms to undertake this approach. The child sits on the side facing the pool with their feet dangling in the water. They place one hand either side of their body. Take one hand over to the other and twist round to face away from the pool but try to keep the feet still in the water. “Who’s got muscles?” Keeping their hands in place the lower themselves down into the pool. Hopefully, the pool is shallow enough for them to stand. The relief on their faces when the find they can touch the bottom is a treat in itself. If the pool is not shallow enough maybe you should put some kind of swimming aid on to help them feel more secure. Just in case they do let go of the side! With this method ideally they should maintain holding the side as their bodies sink to maybe shoulder level. Hold on and let them feel the floating sensation as they bounce gently up and down, still holding on. That’s enough for now. Let them then try to push up and climb out of the pool using their arm muscles. At first some children will need a little help with this but as they get more secure and develop their strength they will get out easy enough. It is important that they learn to do this by themselves as quickly as possible. They have got to pull themselves out for safety sake and you do not want to be hurting your lower backs continually helping them. If mum or dad are around keep them away too. They love to help their little ones but, really, it is not helping!

You can make a game of this too. “Turn around, jump up and down 10 times and climb out. Who can do it the fastest?”

The muscles that the are beginning to use doing this exercise are the same arm muscles they will be using when they start to swim. Encourage this method in the early stages.

JUMPING IN
Children can be quite scared to jump in at first so do not rush this either. Always make sure the stance is right from the get go. Two feet placed on the edge of the pool with the toes curled over the edge. “Like a little bird holding onto a branch” and the feet slightly apart. You can hold their hand to start with and do not let them go under in the beginning. The shock of leaving the side is enough at first. Soon they begin to trust you a bit more and you can let them go under but keep holding the hand. Make sure the child jumps with 2 feet at the same time. You do not want them to step off one foot at a time. They will eventually progress to jumping in by themselves. Make sure they land on 2 feet and stand still. Children love it once they can jump in by themselves but they must learn to make sure the area is clear before they jump in. Accidents happen so quickly and they must be made aware that other swimmers might be in the water.

DIVING
The final entry of course if to Dive into the pool. I will do an article on diving and the progressions at a later stage as this is an exercise all on it’s own and I am sorry to say that I have witnessed a lot of bad methods from teachers who think diving is an exercise taught at the deep end of the pool and so the reluctant child is dragged to the deep end and force to dive with horrible repercussions. Watch this space for learning to dive.

September 8, 2012September 20, 2012

A BRIEF BREAKDOWN OF THE BREASTSTROKE FOR THE AGE GROUP SWIMMER

During training it is best for the coach to introduce components of the stroke rather than teaching/coaching long distances or repeats of the full stroke. There should be maybe a 20%-30% only of the full stroke. In modern Breaststroke the swimmer has to maintain high hand and heel speed which becomes very tiring if done for long distances. It is important to maintain proper stroke mechanics at all times.

BODY POSITION
As in all strokes the body position should be streamlined and horizontal. The swimmer must “ride the line” at the surface.

KICK
The rules of the stroke say that the legs must be simultaneous and symmetrical at all times. They “mirror” image each other in other words. In teaching the kick it is not always possible to get the learner to do the “Whip” kick due to their body structure or flexibility. Whatever the case always aim to make the stroke legal.

The kick begins in a streamlined, horizontal position, toes pointed. The knees bend and the heels are drawn up towards the buttocks with speed. There should be no bend from the hips. The knees are pointed towards the bottom of the pool about hip width apart with the soles of the feet looking at the ceiling. The feet flex out as if to look at the lane line and the heels kick back, down and together as fast as possible. At the end of the kick the feet are flexed so that the soles are together and pointed for a more streamlined effect.

ARM PULL
The arm stroke must always start and end in the full extended position no matter how brief. Stress extending into the “Outsweep”. There are 3 sweeps in the arm pull.

OUTSWEEP, INSWEEP, RECOVERY

Outsweep: starts off slow and arms must remain straight with even speed. This is where the set up is made for the most propulsive INSWEEP occurs. The arms sweep out to a position wider than the elbows, but not too wide, thumb down. The distance of the OUTSWEEP depends on the swimmer. Men usually can pull from a wider position than women.
Insweep: Speed increases, fast, insweep which is carried through to the recovery phase. The inside edge of the arms ”the blade” , thumbs down takes the lead. “The blade” extends from finger tips to elbows and sweeps out, down and round with the elbows remaining high and anchored in place. Keep the elbows high through out the insweep. The “blade” is like a propeller with the little fingers sweeping together, elbows trailing. The hands are higher than the elbows at this point. Through the insweep phase the shoulders and back lift while driving forwards. NOT BACKWARDS OR UPWARDS.
Recovery (faster): Hands are kept together with the elbows, also close together, through to the extension in front. The hands recover facing palm down. Hands must travel straight forwards – NOT DOWNWARD. As the arms recover the head is kept in line with the back and “settles” between the arms ending the stroke cycle in a streamlined position.

T.P.

Hands come up in to a “Cat’s Paw position”
Hands pull the forehead forwards and down to a streamlined position.

TIMING
The arms should almost be back in the streamlined position before kick.

T.P.

Pull, breathe, kick, glide
Heels high, knees point to floor.
Kick with the heels
Fast feet. Ankles kiss.

BREASTSTROKE DRILLS
KICKING

Use a board, hold the end of the board, fingers on top. Breathe, kick, glide let face full in.
8 x 25m kick 45secs at the wall 15secs rest interval.
3 Full strokes under/ 3 strokes on top.
2 kicks + 1 pull variations re numbers can be done.
Kick free or fly with breast arms.
Use a tennis ball under chin to get correct head position for the breathing.