Learn to Breastroke
Among the most easily distinguishable swimming strokes is the breaststroke. It is useful for slowly slinking through the water in your backyard pool, or it can be used to propel you to a win in a competitive race. The breastroke is also one of the most challenging for beginning swimmers to learn. It will take some time to learn, but once you do, you’ll be impressed at how much your general swimming skills have improved. You should definitely be comfortable with general water safety and have a basic set of swimming skills before trying to learn the breastroke, just as a general rule of thumb. Anyone attempting this stroke must be willing to put their entire body and face underwater. You should understand the principles of rhythmic breathing. Lessons should be available at your local public swimming pool about water safety and most offer swimming lessons as well, if you need help improving these skills, contact your local agency.
Because swimming is a skill best taught by a live instructor, it would b a sound idea to go ahead and take the basic swimming lessons anyway. All instructors should have their certification through the American Red Cross or some other national authority on water safety. Because learning the breastroke will require your instructor to be able to devote his or her entire attention to your form, private swimming lessons are the best recourse for this stroke, and the instructor will not have to worry about having his or her attention divided amongst the different students, the only downside is that private lessons usually run a little more.
For me, learning the breastroke was very enjoyable, and I consider myself an advanced beginner when it comes to swimming. It has become my most frequently used stroke. What follows is the way I learned this stroke. Read the directions first, and then try them while lying on the floor so you understand what to do before trying it in the water. It’s generally best to learn the kick first, then move onto the arms. After you have learned them individually, they can be brought together.
The breastroke Kicking movements
1. Lie prostrate on the floor or on a chair without arms, a bench, or a stool.
2. Draw your knees up as close to your chest as possible.
3. At this stage, imagine the form of a frog: kick both legs out to each side as broadly as possible, and then shift them into an arc to the point at which they are back together and directly behind you. This movement should be sharp and smooth.
4. Anyone experiencing difficulty with the kick should try standing while grasping a chair with the right hand. Then, draw the left knee upward to the chest and arc the knee in an outward direction. Your left knee will be pointing to the left. Hold and then lower your leg. Next, you will repeat this same exercise on the right side. This exercise is designed to help you get familiar with the feeling of having your legs wide open to the sides. Before too long, you will be able to coordinate these movements.
The breastroke pull (arm movements)
5. Again, while lying face down over a stool, bench or armless chair, bring your hands to your chest and hold them in the prayer position (palms together, thumbs up).
6. Keeping your palms together, extend your arms so they are above your head (similar to the exalted warrior pose in yoga). Hold this pose a moment (this will be part of your glide when you actually do the breastroke.
7. Turn the palms outward away from each other. In one quick smooth stroke, push your arms to your sides.
8. Just at the time your arms are reaching your sides, move you hands and your forearms upward, so that they come back into the prayer position once more.
Combining the TWO
9. Lie face down on the stool. Draw both legs and both hands as near to the chest area as you can as indicated above.
10. While you are kicking out with your legs, being a frog, bring your hands up into the exalted warrior position listed in number six.
11. Now that your legs have reached the prone position, long and straight out behind you, now hold slightly and bring your arms down and around as described above. When the arms are in their downward motion, draw the head and chest upward, in order to simulate the necessary breathing technique.
12. Bring your knees and hands to your chest to be ready for the next stroke. As I began to attempt the breastroke, I initially found it difficult to do the arm and leg movements simultaneously. That’s why my teacher had me first pretend on a stool. Your instructor will guide you into the correct positions so that you will become familiar with what they feel like.
Into the water
Once you have mastered these movements on dry land, you are ready to use them in the pool. You may consider doing a little warm up exercise, the standing leg exercise we did earlier would be great. That way, you will know what type of feeling to expect from the kicking movement once you enter the water.
13. Warm up with some floats and some freestyle or backstroke swimming until you feel loosened up and comfortable in the water.
14. Hold on to the side of the pool and practice the frog kicks.
15. When you feel comfortable, use a paddle board and practice the kicks: First with your head out of the water. Then practice them with your face in the water and your arms extended above your head (similar to the exalted warrior pose described earlier.) This will help you feel the glide, the portion of the breastroke where you will get the most power.
16. When you are comfortable with the kick portion and your instructor sees that you have the right movement, practice the arm movement while standing. When your arms move downward to each side, lift your chest as a way of simulating your breathing motions.
17. Once you have all these movements mastered, it’s time to put it all together. Initially, I found this difficult, though my teacher suggested that I envision myself as a dolphin projecting itself from the sea. That helped me to picture how to coordinate the arm motions and the breathing.
The hardest part of the breastroke is learning how to time the movements. The part of the breastroke in which you move forward the most is the glide portion of the stroke. Although the motions will slow you down a bit, the trick to this is to glide forward as far as you can before you begin your next stroke.
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