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