Breaststroke is a very old and traditional stroke.
It is also a very popular stroke with many people who like to swim for fitness.
It is the slowest stroke but this does not mean it can not be swum powerfully and at speed.
First of all you need to decide what standard of breaststroke swimmer you are, Basic, Intermediate or Advanced.
The most important thing about breaststroke is to keep you body level at the surface.
This means that both of your shoulders need to be in line and your hips also need to be flat in the water.
Now move your feet and legs together like a frog.
This is usually the most troublesome area of breaststroke.
It is the only stroke which uses these movements and can be difficult to get both legs to do the same thing at the same time.
This is what you need to do:
You can try this sitting on the side of the pool with your legs dangling in the water.
Alternatively, you can do it in the water holding on to the rail with your legs stretched behind you.
It will be much better if you can practice this with a friend so that you can watch each other and see if it looks right.
Remember, both legs must do the same at the same time.
We will now move onto your arms.
A good tip is to take long stretches between each stroke.
Every time you have pulled with your arms and kicked with your legs you need to stretch your body out to make it long and thin.
Drawing circles with your hands
It is much easier to get your hands and arms to move correctly because you can see them.
A really good tip for breaststroke arms is to make sure you can always see your hands, if you do this it will help to get the arm action right.
Start by stretching your arms out in front of you, just under the surface of the water.
Then press both hands out and round to draw a full circle, making sure your hands stay in front of your shoulders.
Your hands should finish by stretching forwards again.
Everything happens in the water
It is important to remember that your legs and arms should stay in the water all of the time.
This means that you should not be making any splash at all.
Breathe in as you finish the circle.
It is quite easy to get the breathing action on breaststroke.
Start by learning the arms and legs with your face out of the water.
When you have got these sorted, start to put your face in as you stretch your arms forward and lift it out to breathe as you draw the circle with your hands.
Now it is time to get it all in the right order.
You will finally have cracked the basic breaststroke when you get all of the actions put together in the right order.
This is what you need to do:
Try doing this by practicing one or two strokes first and building up to a whole width.
Remember, try to improve one bit at a time.
Once you think you have done all of these things spend a few sessions practicing them and then have a look at Intermediate Breaststroke.
