swimming tips

[PJay]

I could use some advice with how to kick properly in breastroke, if there are any good swimmers out there. Actually i could prolly do with a lot more advice than that with it but one thing at a time ;).
So when I kick most of the time it doesn't seem to be powerful. Sometimes (mostly) it feels like it isn't doing that much but sometimes i get a good kick in and I can feel it give me a boost.

The annoying thing is there are all these fat old women who seem to be able to do breast stroke way faster than me and they don't even get there hair wet lmao.

Please, help me beat the fat women :whoops:

[JackOfClubs]

Well its very hard to put into words but here we go...

Pull your legs in towards your butt, in a straight line, then kick both legs out and around in a big "circle." Here's an animation of breaststroke, its not the best, but I'm not great at describing it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Breaststroke3.gif

[PJay]

Thanks that actually does help. So basically I thought i should keep my knees together and sort of whip my legs but that shows you kind of spread your legs and kick quite wide compared to what I thought.
So i've been working on timing when you stretch your arms because I realised i'd been doing it all wrong before. that guy is kind of bringing his legs in almost at the end of doing the superman thing (maybe thats just how I think about it lol). That seems a bit late - i mean won't bringing your legs in create drag? I thought you were supposed to kind of do the hands thing to counter act the legs?

[JackOfClubs]

When you are pulling up to breathe, and your arms are in by your chest, you should kick your legs to help push your arms back out into streamline fashion. It should be pull, breathe, kick, pull, breathe, kick, repeat. That animation is actually pretty dead on to what I've been taught.

[fallen xxi]

My Suggestion To You for Breaststroke is to do a pull/breath (pull your arms to the point that they are almost touching your chest while breathing, then shoot them vertically outward) and THEN kick. It helps you glide much faster and actually got me so good at breast stroke when I taught myself this technique it got me on the state team for breast.

As far as kicks, the easiest way to describe it is "Up-Out-and Around" that means bend your knees so your feet are close to your butt, push your legs outward, and than come all the way around and in.

Another thing to remember is to GIVE YOURSELF TIME TO GLIDE! Sometimes people think they are kicking/pulling wrong in the stroke but they're really just going slow because they aren't giving themselves time to glide! The glide in breast is actually where you get the most speed momentum, pulling and kicking KILL your momentum but gliding regains it.

I'm a swim team coach over the summer as well as an all-state swimmer...if little kids and idiots like me can get it down, you can haha.

[PJay]

Thanks theres some good tips. Yeah i realised i'd got the sequence wrong somewhere a few months back, i dont know if i was taught wrong on what. What i've found with the kicks on Friday is i seem to need to get the soles of my feet pushing the water and then i get a really good thrust of speed when i kick. So tomorrow i'll think about what you said about the glide. I guess you should aim to be totally under water for that part?
I noticed some of the faster swimmers who i guess are club swimmers kind of do a whole body ripple thing. i can't work out what that is meant to do or how you do it. looks kind of cool though :D

[marksdenials]

Initially, you should look for more time looking for the swimming session in terms of its rhythm. It is advisable to keep a slow and comfortable pace to start. Do not swim for more than 15-20 minutes early. As a beginner, swimming three or four times a week, that even 15-20 minutes in a row, you get the best results. For your swimming session, you should constantly monitor your heart rate. This is to ensure that you are not over-emphasized herself the area and are entitled to training. If you feel tired and fatigue, switch to low intensity shots, like the sidestroke or breaststroke. You can also swim a few laps in search of support for scooters.

[Mr. Awesome]

As the above have said, bring youg legs in towards your chest with knees together, push them out to the side and around, make sure your arms make a wide circle motion when your doingh your arms, make sure you give time to glide, if you have not had classes before and it really bugs you, you should enroll in lessons even a ten week programme, one of the most common mistakes in breaststroke is the "screw kick", which is when both feet face the same direction when doing the legs in breaststroke

[PJay]

Thanks, yeah i had considered whether i should get lessons. I'm doing this mainly for fitness but I want to do it right, so if i stop making progress i might think about it again.
I'm a lot faster than the fat women and old guys now, so thats been good for my motivation.
What i'm finding is there is so much to think about with this stroke it makes sessions go really fast, i'd never realised how technical swimming is.
I'm not doing the screw kick, but my left leg does want to go go stray the more tired i get through a session but i'm getting there.

[amberthomas]

Swimming, self-propulsion through water, often as a form of recreation or exercise or as a Swimming Tipscompetitive sport. Swimming is one of the best workouts for maintaining your overall fitness level as well as for relaxing your mind.