Can A Flamingo Fly? How To Create & Maintain Speed In Breaststroke
Can A Flamingo Fly? How To Create & Maintain Speed In Breaststroke
Abbie Fish of Ritter Sports Performance analyzes the breaststroke kick in swimming and the techniques used to make it more efficient and help you swim breaststroke faster.
FUN FACT: Flamingos can fly up to 40 mph but need a significant amount of momentum before their feet can leave the ground. Have you ever seen a flamingo start running before it takes flight?
Last week, we covered the flamingo drill and what muscle strength is needed for a successful breaststroke kick. In case you missed Part I of this series, visit here.
This week, we take the drill into the pool and discuss how to create and maintain high speed while swimming breaststroke.
A breaststroke kick requires strength from a bunch of different muscle groups. In fact, the entire stroke itself is probably one of the most technique-sensitive strokes. If you watch race footage of Kosuke Kitajima, Rebecca Soni, Brendan Hansen, or Adam Peaty -- you will see an array of different techniques.
Most of the technical differences seen deal with one of the three aspects below:
1.) Fast Recovery vs. Delayed Recovery
2.) Eyes Forward vs. Eyes Down
3.) Upper Body Elevation vs. Staying Flat
Taking into account the common technical differences shown in the breaststroke technique, we will continue to focus solely on the kick -- with the assumption that the only real technical difference with the kick is knee width. We will focus on what the hips do later…
Going back to our flamingo drill -- if you have your swimmers get into the pool with their chests facing the wall, they can perform the drill the same way as they did on land. The wall is a great tool as it keeps swimmers from bringing their knees too far forward (and/or creating an excess amount of drag when swimming in the horizontal position). Here are the steps to follow:
Have your swimmer hold onto the gutter (if available) and bring the heel up toward the bottom. Foot relaxed.
From there, flex toes away from the body and abduct the hip. Also, externally rotate the tibia and keep knees close to each other.
Finish the kick by drawing a semicircular motion (toes drawing away from body) with the lower leg and snapping the feet together until you finished with three points of contact: ankles, thighs, and knees,
Additionally, the best part of this drill being performed in the water is that swimmers are able to add finishing the kick with pointed toes (or plantar flexion of their ankles).
Now that we understand the mechanics of the breaststroke kick, how do we take this technique and kick breaststroke at a high speed?
Step #2 is what I referred to as the "catch" phase in Part I of this series. In Step #2, the inside/bottoms of the feet are pointing toward the bottom of the pool. The more ankle flexibility a swimmer has, the more his or her foot will be perpendicular to the body and the more speed he or she will be able to create. The insides/bottoms of the feet are responsible for creating the speed that propels a swimmer down the pool (when horizontal). So in conclusion, the more a swimmer can quickly complete Steps #1-3, the faster he or she will swim breaststroke.
Seems easy enough, right?
So just like flamingos, swimmers must bring the heels up to their bottoms as quickly as possible over and over again -- before they "take off" or "take flight."
Want a FREE stroke technique lesson from Abbie? -- HEAD HERE.
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Abbie Fish has been in the competitive swimming realm for over 20 years. After capping off a successful career at University of Georgia, Abbie soon found herself back on the deck as a coach.
Currently, Abbie is a Technique Swim Coach at Ritter Sports Performance. She spends her time analyzing race videos and studying different style of stroke technique. If you'd like your stroke analyzed, or a swimmer of yours -- visit their website: www.rittersp.com/video for more information or email Abbie at abbie@rittersp.com.
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Last week, we covered the flamingo drill and what muscle strength is needed for a successful breaststroke kick. In case you missed Part I of this series, visit here.
This week, we take the drill into the pool and discuss how to create and maintain high speed while swimming breaststroke.
A breaststroke kick requires strength from a bunch of different muscle groups. In fact, the entire stroke itself is probably one of the most technique-sensitive strokes. If you watch race footage of Kosuke Kitajima, Rebecca Soni, Brendan Hansen, or Adam Peaty -- you will see an array of different techniques.
Most of the technical differences seen deal with one of the three aspects below:
1.) Fast Recovery vs. Delayed Recovery
2.) Eyes Forward vs. Eyes Down
3.) Upper Body Elevation vs. Staying Flat
Taking into account the common technical differences shown in the breaststroke technique, we will continue to focus solely on the kick -- with the assumption that the only real technical difference with the kick is knee width. We will focus on what the hips do later…
Going back to our flamingo drill -- if you have your swimmers get into the pool with their chests facing the wall, they can perform the drill the same way as they did on land. The wall is a great tool as it keeps swimmers from bringing their knees too far forward (and/or creating an excess amount of drag when swimming in the horizontal position). Here are the steps to follow:
Step #1:
Have your swimmer hold onto the gutter (if available) and bring the heel up toward the bottom. Foot relaxed.
Step #2:
From there, flex toes away from the body and abduct the hip. Also, externally rotate the tibia and keep knees close to each other.
Step #3:
Finish the kick by drawing a semicircular motion (toes drawing away from body) with the lower leg and snapping the feet together until you finished with three points of contact: ankles, thighs, and knees,
Additionally, the best part of this drill being performed in the water is that swimmers are able to add finishing the kick with pointed toes (or plantar flexion of their ankles).
Now that we understand the mechanics of the breaststroke kick, how do we take this technique and kick breaststroke at a high speed?
Here's where the Flamingo comes in:
If you look back at Step #2 -- that is the key step. A lot of times, younger swimmers like to try to muscle through breaststroke and pull with their arms as fast as they can to get down the pool. But the magic in breaststroke happens when a swimmer gets his or her heels up faster and goes from a streamlined, horizontal position to Step #2 as quickly as possible.Step #2 is what I referred to as the "catch" phase in Part I of this series. In Step #2, the inside/bottoms of the feet are pointing toward the bottom of the pool. The more ankle flexibility a swimmer has, the more his or her foot will be perpendicular to the body and the more speed he or she will be able to create. The insides/bottoms of the feet are responsible for creating the speed that propels a swimmer down the pool (when horizontal). So in conclusion, the more a swimmer can quickly complete Steps #1-3, the faster he or she will swim breaststroke.
Seems easy enough, right?
So just like flamingos, swimmers must bring the heels up to their bottoms as quickly as possible over and over again -- before they "take off" or "take flight."
Want a FREE stroke technique lesson from Abbie? -- HEAD HERE.
---
Abbie Fish has been in the competitive swimming realm for over 20 years. After capping off a successful career at University of Georgia, Abbie soon found herself back on the deck as a coach.
Currently, Abbie is a Technique Swim Coach at Ritter Sports Performance. She spends her time analyzing race videos and studying different style of stroke technique. If you'd like your stroke analyzed, or a swimmer of yours -- visit their website: www.rittersp.com/video for more information or email Abbie at abbie@rittersp.com.
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