mastering breastroke??

[swimmer]

I seem to notice that there are more "breastroke help" or related threads than any other stroke help ones, so you think breastroke is the hardest stroke to master??

[Bazza]

Of course it is.

[swimusa]

it's complicated...requires the most coordination

[lane4]

More energy is expended doing breaststroke than any other stroke. Also its the most technical of all the strokes. Thus, all those who are good at it are clearly better (in terms of skill level and efficiency) than good swimmers of other strokes!!

[ktcute]

errr.... and how much faster was my breastroke than my front crawl????

It does seem like some people are naturally more able to swim it than others. For those who don't swim it naturally it seems to be really very difficult to learn.

I wonder if it has more to do with peoples ability to sense where their body needs to be for the best streamlining? Breastoke must put up more resistance through the stroke than any of the others, therefore one would have thought the more you could cut it down the better you would be...?

Its an interesting problem tho...

[DangerMouse]

lane 4 i kinda have to disagree as my breastroke technique is awful yet i'm still one of the quickest in the county, all my breastroke is my kick i have barely any pull, so i wouldn't say that is as skillfull, the times i do i think are more down to do with determination, i would agree in most cases though as i can see how if i worked alot on my pull i could go quicker

[rogant stard]

Originally posted by lane4
More energy is expended doing breaststroke than any other stroke. Also its the most technical of all the strokes. Thus, all those who are good at it are clearly better (in terms of skill level and efficiency) than good swimmers of other strokes!!

Perhaps then you could explain why the majority of breaststrokers are so appallingly skilled at the remaining strokes.

This observation is in no way connected to having trained alongside you for 3 or 4 years and don't bother listing the exceptions because I'm well aware of them. My point is a very valid one and one I'm sure you can answer.

[DangerMouse]

I would class myself as being a breastroker but I don't really like it. I'm good at fly which i think is technically my best stroke, but I'm awful at freestyle, the freestyle i think is down to the breastroke as my freestyle kick is real bad which i think is down to the fact that you have to point your toes for the whole time you swim it whereas in breaststroke the only time they point is right at the end of the kick, also i notice the effects of breaststroke just in the way i walk as my feet point outwards and i wear down the outside backs of my shoes pretty quick! Also my pull is quite good on freestyle but the technique is bad and my coach has said before you can tell the people who do alot of breaststroke from their freestyle pull

[swimusa]

My question is, you swim fly (which you point your toes the whole time) but not free because you point your toes the whole time?:confused:

[Dreama]

From what I can gather, what I've read and been told by various people, you can either do it or you can't. A lot of it is to do with the way your muscles work, especially in your legs, am guessing you are either made to push with those legs or you're made to move them up and down, personally I think am made to push, hence am a breaststroker whereas my up and down kick for free/back/fly is shocking!

[DangerMouse]

well my kick for fly isn't any good but somehow when you put the arms in with it i move, but i don't move anywhere on any of the kicks apart from breastroke, give me pull in any stroke apart from breaststroke i'm fine, kinda weriod i know!

[swimmer]

hehe, i'm the opposite, i'm really fast at kick, but really slow at pull in comparison! especially for f/c! my back pull quite near as fast as my fc pull in training! i think i must have a bad fc technique on the arms or something

[swimusa]

I don't know the gender of Dangermouse, but typically, most men are upperbody swimmers, aka more arms than legs, and females are typically lower body swimmers, ore more legs than arms.

[swimchick152]

yea...i think it is b/c u have to get your timing down perfectly! :D

[DangerMouse]

yep u'd b right swimusa, thats what my fly mainly is i think, but my breaststroke is all kick

[nsswimmer]

i'm rubbish at breast, mainly because the kick is really difficult for me. my feet point inward, and i believe it has been mentioned before by pete [?] that good breastrokers' feet turn outward. also, i have very bad knees and breastroke is really hard on them.. after a 100, i cant walk because my knees and hips hurt too much. i'm not sure why...~ the doctor sed that if i continue to be too hard on my knees, i'll hafta get surgery o.O and i'm really scared of surgery so i certainly dont want that!

[lane4]

Apologies to those who already know but it is a very common mistake and particularly annoying that people get it wrong given that it is one of the four most important words in the sport we are discussing; but, just so we all know and are clear on the matter, the stroke we are talking about is spelt as follows...

B R E A S T S T R O K E

as in Breast-Stroke,
breaststroke,
geddit?

[Katie]

er... no. Only joking :p

[Dreama]

so is it back stroke or back crawl then?

also
I know we say freestyle which is usually a variation of front crawl, but why is front crawl not a recognised competitive stroke?

and why is butterfly so called when it could easily have been called 'dolphin' or something, it has likenesses to the movement of both butterflys and dolphins?

sorry, just questions that have bugged me for a while, can anyone shed any light?

[swimusa]

FINA recognizes it as Backstroke and Freestyle, because FINA is a Francophonic organization, and they call it "Libre" or Free. As for butterfly, they call it "Papillon" which means butterfly. So blame the French.

[nsswimmer]

my apologies lane4 =)

[matt]

Originally posted by swimmer
I seem to notice that there are more "breastroke help" or related threads than any other stroke help ones, so you think breastroke is the hardest stroke to master??
:p Looks like I have mastered the stroke that's hardest, demands co-ordination, skill, strength and uses up the most energy. I beginning to think I have achieved something at last. @ to think I had never noticed this thread that praised me so well.......I LOVE u all :p

[shsassy]

Originally posted by swimmer
I seem to notice that there are more "breastroke help" or related threads than any other stroke help ones, so you think breastroke is the hardest stroke to master??

For me? No. I'm definitely going to have to go with butterfly. I have a hard time getting that whole motion to be nice and smooth.

[ktcute]

Well, I'm just upside down and back to front or something.

I have a strong front crawl pull, but my kick is pretty embarassing. I will be behind everyone by at least a length on front crawl kick over 100m, but probably at the front of a lane doing pull?

Yet my breastroke pull is no where near as good as my kick.

A lot of it probably has to do with the fact my front crawl kick is seriously out of practise, my leg strength and fitness for it just isn't there, and I haven't been training on it. At least thats my excuse.

My butterfly seems to be coming together just at the minute, which is thrilling for me! I think butterfly is almost all about timing, strength and fitness however... I'd have to say in terms of things to think about I find breastroke probably harder.

[nsswimmer]

yea, i think that butterfly's all about timing.. once you get it the first time, its soo much fun to swim!! :D

if you're having trouble with the coordination, think of it the way my friend so nicely put it one practice.. [lol if this is too racy you can delete it chris/etc]

"to swim fly, pretend you're on top of [your favorite celebrity's name here] and undulate!!"

:p :D

[GettingFaster]

Butterfly?? Fun?? Surely those two words don't fit in the same paragraph let alone sentence (unless "It's so funny watching GF trying to do butterfly" counts)!

[swimmer]

butterfly is fun!!! i love it when i can get into the rythmn but some days i have off days and its hell!!!

[shsassy]

Originally posted by nsswimmer
yea, i think that butterfly's all about timing.. once you get it the first time, its soo much fun to swim!! :D

if you're having trouble with the coordination, think of it the way my friend so nicely put it one practice.. [lol if this is too racy you can delete it chris/etc]

"to swim fly, pretend you're on top of [your favorite celebrity's name here] and undulate!!"

:p :D


Wow...definitely have to try that next time. :devil:

[mad4it]

i no xactly wot u mean 'swimmer', my main stroke is fly but if im havin a bad day and we r doin a huge fly set it is total hell, but i do agree, that if im in the mood (which doesn't happen 2 b that often!!) fly can be enjoyable!

to 'nsswimmer' that's a new quote i ain't heard before!, but i suppose if it works!

[matt]

Does it have to be a celebrity? Couldn't it just be someone one who doesn't have that type of status or wouldn't that give the desired effect?

[shsassy]

Originally posted by nsswimmer
yea, i think that butterfly's all about timing.. once you get it the first time, its soo much fun to swim!! :D

if you're having trouble with the coordination, think of it the way my friend so nicely put it one practice.. [lol if this is too racy you can delete it chris/etc]

"to swim fly, pretend you're on top of [your favorite celebrity's name here] and undulate!!"

:p :D


Could this be used as justification for "dryland?"

'But I have to practice my butterfly!'

[nsswimmer]

LOL shsassy!!!! that would be HILARIOUS :D :D :D

and hahah matt i suppose you could def think of any girl you want :p

but me, i'd definitely pick johnny depp :D

[super_fish88]

Or Brad Pitt :D

I'll have to try that technique next time i'm swimming fly!!

[shsassy]

Originally posted by nsswimmer
LOL shsassy!!!! that would be HILARIOUS :D :D :D

and hahah matt i suppose you could def think of any girl you want :p

but me, i'd definitely pick johnny depp :D

Johnny Depp as a pirate kiss ass!!!

[nsswimmer]

i thought his performance in POTC def merits at least a nod from the high and mighty ones with an Oscar nomination!

[AznsSwim4Life]

I swim breaststroke...I love it to death! I do think it does require correct timing & everything! But it's weird i'm good @ that but i am HORRIBLE at backstroke...i always hit the lane lines & idk how to fix it!!!

[matt]

I swim breaststroke...I love it to death! I do think it does require correct timing & everything! But it's weird i'm good @ that but i am HORRIBLE at backstroke...i always hit the lane lines & idk how to fix it!!!

Hmmmmmmmm that sounds really familiar, give up backstroke it's the best way....trust me

[Pete]

Hmmmmmmmm that sounds really familiar, give up backstroke it's the best way....trust me
Matt quite a number of swimmers find one stroke more difficult but want to impove it, even if it is to improve IM times. As Breaststroke is a very important leg of the IM, being too far behind after the Backstroke leaves too much for a good Breaststroker to pick up.
One of the most important elements of Backstroke is keeping the head still. Doing this allows the swimmer to follow a line on the ceiling and not move about the lane. This being so the swimmer is moving directly forward rather than snaking and therefore swimming further to complete each length. This can also be applied to Freestyle so that you follow the line on the bottom of the pool. :) Try it and see!

[matt]

So Pete have any remedies to stop me going dizzy on my back? Apart from having new ears?

[matt]

Doing this allows the swimmer to follow a line on the ceiling and not move about the lane.
We aren't allowed to have straight lines on the ceiling at Beau Sejour

[GettingFaster]

And that assumes you can actually see the lines on the ceiling (or the ceiling itself, for that matter). Steamed up goggles and myopia combine to make me blinder than a bat. Backstroke's still better than breaststroke though.

[breast_STROKER]

"to swim fly, pretend you're on top of [your favorite celebrity's name here] and undulate!!"


it feels awkward to swim when you are aroused LOL!

:)

[blueshots]

I've always been better at breaststroke than any of my other strokes since i was a boy. Could it be something to do with the attention and enthusiam of a teacher early on that set me on this track or not? As a teacher myself there are definatly kids who pick up breast stroke really easy and those that struggle, i guess some give up early on and those who are gd at it perfect it?
blu

"Hard work beats talent when talent stops working hard"