Breast Stroke Training Programme

NOTE: These are scratch notes that need iterative review and formatting!

Swimming is an activity I truly enjoy. I used to swim competitively when I was younger but due to a very long break I've lost touch with the sport.

I've recently picked it up again and it was pretty clear that I was out of form. The goal right now is to take up one stroke and practice till I master it.

I plan to start by mastering breast-stroke. This document will serve as a plan on how I should approach training. This document will keep changing as I keep learning more about the intricacies of the art.

I found this video to be very informative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsjyLPvFuaM. I'll implement a lot of techniques mentioned in the view into my training program.

Discipline

The most important thing for any kind of training is discipline. We should mentally prepare our-self to stick to a goal.

And remember, repetition is key. Do the same thing again and again till it becomes a habit. Do not try new things just yet. Take the current plan to heart and follow it.

Plan - Beginner

Warm up

Start by warming up your body before getting into the pool.

Exercise Reps
Clockwise Shoulder Rolls 10
Anti-Clockwise Shoulder Rolls 10
Back stretch 10
Toe touch 10

Once you get into the pool

Exercise Laps
Slow Breast Stroke 2

Timing

We will start by practicing our timing the breast-stroke. You should narrate the exercise in your mind while doing it.

Breast stroke involves:

  • PULL
  • KICK
  • GLIDE

Important to note:

  • Take your breath when you do the PULL.
  • Do not pause when you take the breath.
  • Hit the streamline & hold the streamline.
Exercise Laps
Hold the streamline for 2 seconds 2
2 kicks, 1 pull 2
Normal breast stroke 2

Kick

  • Don't have a very wide kick.
  • Knees and legs should stay withing your body line.
  • Knees should not go wider than your shoulders.
  • Heels in your feet should stick out.
Exercise Laps
Streamline on back 2
Normal breast stroke 2

Streamline on back

  • Knees should stay underneath the surface of the water.
  • Put your hands outward or underneath your body.
  • Get your heels all the way back to your bum.

Amplitude

  • Stay out of the water for a fraction of a second.
  • Stay low, don't come too high out of the water.
  • Try to be at the surface level of the water when the hands are coming forward.
Exercise Laps
Streamline on front 2
Normal breast stroke 2

Elbows

  • Early vertical form (EVF) catch.
  • Pull water with all of your hand.
Exercise Laps
Front skull 2
Normal breast stroke 2

Front skull

  • Hand moment should be similar to when you're treading the water.
  • Think of it like icing the cake.

Swim fast

  • More efficient when you swim fast.
Exercise Laps
Flutter kick with breast stroke pull 2
Normal breast stroke 2

Stroke Count

  • Start with a normal pace and count your strokes.
  • Keep decreasing the number of strokes by 1 for every lap.
  • The idea is if you want to reach the end of the pool with lesser number of stokes then you need to be more efficient with the timing and your kicks should be powerful.
  • Then slowly increase the number of strokes back to normal.

If you assume that the normal pace stoke count is 8. Your laps should look like the following.

Lap number Stroke count
1 8
2 7
3 6
4 5
5 5
6 6
7 7
8 8