📗 Breaststroke Fundamentals

Table of Contents

• 🔑 The Key Components of Breaststroke

  • 🧘 Body Position

  • 💪 The Pull

  • 🦵 The Kick

  • ⏱️ Timing

  • 🔁 Turns & Breakouts

^{Body Position}

Your body should be as flat as possible on the water. The biggest mistake?
Letting your hips drop!

✅ Head down, eyes looking forward & slightly down
✅ Hips high - this reduces drag and keeps you in streamline
✅ Stay compact - arms and legs move together, not separately

🛠 Fix It: Try floating drills and sculling to fine-tune your positioning.

^{The Pull}

Breaststroke isn’t just about the kick, the pull sets the tempo. A weak pull means wasted energy.

✅ Sweep out, THEN in - “Turn the Corner”
✅ Accelerate the pull - Start slow, then build power as you scoop
✅ Fast recovery - Shoot hands forward aggressively for momentum

🚨 Common Mistake: Pulling too far down! Your hands should never pass your hips - that’ll get you DQ’d! (Except during the pullout)

^{The Kick}

Your kick is where most of your speed comes from, so it needs to be powerful and precise.

✅ Leg Strength & Flexibility - The width of the kick can be dependent on the swimmer’s strength and flexibility to optimize propulsion
✅ Snap the feet together - The finish of the kick generates momentum
✅ Minimize resistance - Draw the feet up quickly and keep them narrow

🚨 Common Mistake: A slow recovery in the kick slows everything down!

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^Timing

Breaststroke is all about rhythm. If your pull, kick, and glide aren’t in sync, you’ll waste energy and slow down.

Pull ➡️ Kick ➡️ Glide
 Don’t rush the glide - let momentum work for you
Think about timing, not just power

🚨 Common Mistake: Kicking too early or too late - you should be fully streamlined after each stroke.

🛠 Fix It: Try the “2 Kicks, 1 Pull” drill to improve stroke coordination

^{Turns & Breakouts}

Great breaststrokers don’t just swim fast - they turn fast.

✅ Quick touch, fast tuck—A slow turn = lost momentum
✅ Explosive push-off—Use the underwater pullout to gain distance
✅ Stay streamlined—Keep everything tight & compact

🚨 Common Mistake: Rushing the pullout - stay underwater until momentum slows before surfacing!

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