COACH LORIN’S BREASTSTROKE “RULES”

“BODY LEADS THE WAY”

Prioritize Body Motion for Fast/Efficient Swimming

(a.k.a. Body Dolphin (BD), undulation, serpent, body wave, pulsing)

Do basic BD drills - muscle memory and body power. Exaggerate during early learning. Later, lower amplitude, stretch out for power (swim inside air duct).

(Think: Push chest down, push hips down. Or, hunch, arch. Or, chest down, shoulder blades up.)

Start with fins – but do not do knee down “kick” – keep legs flexible.

Set rhythm at about one BD per second (faster later for strengthening).

Later do “Combos” – several arm-lead BDs, followed by one stroke, repeat.

As time goes on, add more strokes to Combos, and taper off of fins.

Still later, full-stroke becomes higher percentage of workouts. Body always sets rhythm.

MAINTAIN BODY ALIGNMENT

Ideally, “straight” line from tip of head to knees.

No “Chicken Head!!” Head stays in-line with your body, and chest moves up (hips moving under) and down (hips moving up).

Breathe with your “monkey bump” to avoid Chicken Head.

EXECUTE A “SMALL” STROKE

(pull and in-scull are in front of torso)

From Superman or streamlined position, hands drift wide (wider than shoulders).

Then, HARD pull (in-scull) to chin/neck, and

without pausing a FAST recovery forward at, right above, or right below the water surface. Arms pause out in front briefly before the next drift out.

KICK TO SUPPORT FULL STROKE

Kick is relatively small.

Heels come up “wide” toward butt, kick together finishing with feet “kissing” (do not bring heels up together and kick out). Remember to have finger tips touch heels to encourage “wide” kick recovery.

Do belly-up kick (no knees breaking H2O surface) to support body alignment (aligned from tip of head to knees). Do not hinge at waist.

WALLS – NEVER LOOK BACK!

Knees forward and up to chest as feet plant.

“Phone call” with hand coming out of the water and shooting by your ear/shoulder.

Body is a pendulum under your head – no bobbing at the wall. “Left ear never leaves the water surface.”

:09 Walls. During practice, 3 second streamline, 3 second pull-out hunching shoulders together, 3 second kick recovery. Body aligned the whole time, shove belly button to your spine. During competition, closer to 5 or 6 seconds.