Breaststroke Pull

Breaststroke Pull

I am in the very fortunate position of visiting many coaching programs around Australia.  These range from high performance programs to small country and metropolitan programs. During my visits, I like to take the opportunity to observe the various levels of teaching and coaching being conducted which support the development pathway for swimmers to the highest performing squad. It has become very obvious to me that there are many interpretations on how the breaststroke pull is performed and as a consequence how it is taught. (more…)

Teaching and Correcting Breaststroke

Teaching and Correcting Breaststroke

Jerome coaches and teaches swimming to children of various age groups and asks the following questions about breaststroke.

“What I find is that there is an inconsistency in the style of breaststroke taught. Although I feel confident in the type of stroke that I want, I feel that some coaches are more focused on teaching a legal breaststroke rather then a legal and fast breaststroke. I often do stroke correction where there is a problem with the arms or the legs. Often the swimmer thinks that they are doing what you’ve asked when they are in fact not. I find it is a case of getting the mind to recognise which muscle group to work and when. Is there an easier method to correcting screw kicks. Secondly I find it hard to get the swimmers to lunge forward when they take a breath. Only the few grasp the idea. How can I get it through to the majority?”

(more…)