The Difference Between Techniques of Short Course & Long Course Breaststroke Influences in my Thoughts Joszef Nagy Inventor of The Wave Breastststroke. My coach from 1989-1992. Mentor and Family since 1989. All my coaches: Jordi Murio, Doc Counsilman, Joszef Nagy, Andres Jonama, Frank Busch, Rick DeMont and Bob Grosseth. What I learned and my experiences as a swimmer and now as a coach. Breaststroke at Bolles I really feel that because the way we teach and understand breaststroke we have been able to be very successful as a group: Since 2007 we have had the following stats with high school swimmers between the age of 14-18 Boys: Between 55 33 and 1:00 we have had 30+ swimmers and many of them Breaststroke was their last stroke Girls: Between 1:02 and 1:08 we have had 20+ swimmers but in this case most of them Breaststrokers
Breaststroke at Bolles Breaststroke Components Straight Line Hands Pull Breathing Shoulders Lunging Forward Kick Timing Goal: Keep the center of gravity (navel-hips) always close to the surface of the water in order to keep the speed constant. STRAIGHT LINE This is the basic and most important position on Breaststroke. Swim Streamlined keeping the center of gravity always close to the surface of he water. Everything you do with the rest of the stroke components is to bring you back to this position every cycle.
BOTTOM LINE! What is the Shortest Distance between two points? STRAIGHT LINE That is what Breaststroke is all about. Keeping the Center of Gravity close to the surface of the water so the speed is constant throughout the race. SIMPLE DOES IT ;-) Why Two Types of Breaststrokes? To me there are many ways of swimming breaststroke but more in an Aesthetic way than a Technical way In my opinion there are two distinctive types of breaststroke that are defined by the way the swimmers pull: Turning-Pressing out (looks like a Y) Pressing down (hands perpendicular to bottom of pool) One For Short Course One for Long Course I totally believe that swimming in short course yards and swimming in long course meters are two different sports. In my opinion: The Pressing down pull stroke is more efficient for short course racing The Turning-Pressing out pull stroke is more efficient for long course racing or 200 breast and 200-400 IM in short course yards Many different ways of kicking to complement both ways of pulling above
HANDS Starting the Pull Turning Out Hands Thumb perpendicular to bottom of pool from the start of the pull. Pressing out helps the body slide out and helps the hips being steady. Generates more speed, but it is less powerful. Uses first forearm and the bicep. Pressing Down Hands Palm faces down from the start of the pull. Lifts the upperbody earlier and higher. It goes up not forward. Drops hips deeper. Generates more power. Starts using the Bicep right away. PULL Very important that when the swimmer is done pressing out that the swimmer pulls having the fingertips pointing to the bottom of the pool. Similar to butterfly. Then very quickly the swimmer slides the hands forward and squeezes the elbows together. Be as narrow as your shoulders!
BREATHING It is the most important component: Hold Breath until the last moment. Blow all the air at once right before lifting the head. Creates a vacuum system that fills out automatically the lungs. This will keep the center of gravity closer to the surface by giving more buoyancy to the body and will keep the speed constant. HOLD THE BREATH! NO BUBBLES! SHOULDERS The shoulders are very important ad the swimmer needs to squeeze and bring them to the ears when sliding out. Tip for the swimmers: later when lunging forward think about rotating shoulders over the ears
LUNGING FORWARD Very Important Head is the heaviest part of the body. Use it well. Head will lead the hips. Throw the head where the hands go. It is impossible but it helps the swimmer to think about it. Think of Jumping Forward. Hands travel forward right under the surface of the water. LUNGING FORWARD - pics LUNGING FORWARD pic sequence
LUNGING FORWARD pic sequence 1 LUNGING FORWARD pic sequence 2 LUNGING FORWARD pic sequence 3
LUNGING FORWARD pic sequence 4 KICK Feet together. Bring the feet inside butt/hips. Speed up heels towards butt. Keep knees as wide as shoulders, unless the swimmer places feet outside knees. Don t bring the knees forward, bring the heels in. Press straight back, impossible but think about it. When finishing the kick keep feet together and toes pointing back not down. Kick - pics
TIMING It is very Important! As the hands press down the swimmer should slightly push forward the hips. The kick should come a little after the pull and really accelerate right away when the lunging forward occurs. Thank You Jozsi! Pictures by Joszef Nagy Questions & Answers Questions & Answers THANK YOU! [PASO USA Swimming Logo and USOC Logo] sergiolopezmiro.com lopezs@bolles.org