Fast Swimming Technique - The Kick For a Faster Breaststroke
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- Kicking breaststroke fast requires a different set of anatomical tools than freestyle or dolphin kick. In this video, you will learn the correct way of kicking breaststroke from Olympian Mike Alexandrov, which requires hip flexibility, ankle pronation and lower back flexibility. We also test a Race Club camper, Owen Matteson, using our velocity Meter technology to compare the wide knee kick with a narrower knee kick, showing how the narrower knee kick results in less deceleration.
Race Club Head Coach Devin Murphy then takes a larger group of campers through one of our favorite drills to teach a narrow and fast kick: two kicks with one pull while using a Finis Ankle strap over the knees. Though the Finis Ankle Strap was originally designed to go around the ankles during pulling sets, we have found that when placed over the knees, they are an excellent training aid in keeping the width of the kick just outside the frame of the shoulders!
Finally, Race Club Technical Director Gary Hall Sr will point out common mistakes that we see while working on breaststroke kick. If you want to swim the up-tempo breaststroke that is utilized by the world's best breaststrokers like Adam Peaty and Lily King, you need to watch this video to learn what it takes to have a lightning fast kick!
For more interesting videos on breaststroke and how to improve your speed with this challenging stroke, visit our website and sign up for a Lane 2 or 3 membership today!
If you would like to learn more about the nuances of the sport, be sure to visit theraceclub.com, and consider subscribing!
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If you would like to learn more about the nuances of the sport, be sure to visit theraceclub.com, and consider subscribing!
Thanks For Watching!
It’s amazing you’re posting all this for free on UA-cam. Some of the best swim technique content in the world right here on this channel
I appreciate that!
This man replied to every comment. You legend!
Never seen a big creator doing this, such a legend he is!
Thanks!
Still one of the most useful resource pages I've found,i reference it all the time for improving freediving pool techniques
Thanks!
Breaststroke is so underrated.
Even though front crawl is tiring in terms of high stroke rate, Breaststroke gets more tiring when you have to put power in.
So true! There's no vacation/rest time in breaststroke!
Great technique analysis. Thanks for sharing it. Looking forward to learning more from your channel. Subscribed!
Thank you! We appreciate your comment. Gary
Good video ! I'm a master swimmer from Argentina and every year I learn more and more...
Glad we can be a part of it, Alejandro!
“70-80% of propulsion comes from your legs”
Me: definitely been swimming incorrectly my whole life.
Yes. Build up those legs for breaststroke.
I am a Hong Kong 🇭🇰 coach . Your video very useful for Breast kicking .
Thanks, Raymond. I hope you will subscribe to our Lane 3 channel. Over 300 great videos in there! theraceclub.com/membership/
Time to beat my college’s record
go for it!
How did it go man?
Hw did it go
How did it go?
Did you do it?
Thank you- I’ve just started swimming to keep fit and was amazed at how slow I was going compare to others. Will try this technique next time!
Glad we could help! Good luck 👍
Excellent! Trying this out tonight and moving into usrpt entirely as a way of training
Great! You will find many more great breaststroke videos in Lane 2 and Lane 3 of our subscription. Hope you will become a member.
Needed this for my competition
Awesome! Glad it helped.
what are some dryland exercises to improve kick
Subscribe to our videos (Lane 3) which will show you.
Brilliant. Thank you 💎💎💎
You’re welcome 😊
Great video. From physics the bending of the torso up and backwards as your body get out of the water should be a very fast part of the motion forwards of the swimmer, in fact perhaps the fastest part of the motion in the stroke cycle for some swimmers and the more you bend it will give faster motion forward, the "shooting of your torso and arms down and forwards should slow you down somewhat, but a good timely kick will counter that and propel you forward. The faster the shooting the more you slow down the swimmer, however it also allows the swimmer to initiate the propulsion earlier which is a benefit. Again need to balance those segments of the stroke accordingly (swimmer dependent , etc.) faster motions of our bodies consume more energy and not always have positive forward propulsion.
The timing of non-propulsive motions (coupling motions) such as pressing the upper body and head downward in breaststroke, is critical. We want the peak kinetic energy and vector of the coupling motion to coincide with the peak propulsion, coming mostly from the hands and feet. Not always easy to attain.
Spinal flexors and extensor are vital powerful muscle groups for these actions. Strength training is the prerequisite to biomechanics and transfer of strength and force
Strength canon be transferred! The ability to assimilate loads is not a transmisible property, I am sure you do not mean that but perhaps a different concept with the wrong semantics. Thanks
@hqs9585 Yes, strength can transfer to force. Strength is the ability to exert a force against a resistance, so the stronger you are, the more force you can potentially generate. Force is a measure of the push or pull on an object, and your strength is a key factor in determining the amount of force you can apply in various situations. Where there is no strength, no force can be applied. That's common sense, yes? Thanks
With all due respect, you are wrong! Strength is ability to withstand applied forces, not transferable. If you are very strong you cannot make a weaker person stronger! Force can always be applied , however certain structures may not be able to withstand it, i.e.c, bending can happen, fractures, buckling etc. Time to defend the undefendable. again I think you are just using the wrong semantic. Thanks
I just had my first big meet for high school I’m on varsity and I’m the fastest and I went 1:03 on 100 breast and I’m a freshman and I was disappointed in myself because I wanted to go 1:01 so thank you for this I have my next one in a month and I’ll be trying this everyday
Great job! I'm sure that 1:01 is coming very very soon👍👍
Love the band drill kick, where can u get bands like that? I'm trying to drop down to 2:12 in my 200 BR but my legs die out in the race
We love the yellow band too! We sell them on our site here: theraceclub.com/product/pulling-ankle-strap/
What do you think of Shimanovich's kick technique he showed on ISL?
I haven't seen under water video of his kick yet but love the coupling motions he gets with his head and upper body.
@@theraceclub ua-cam.com/video/rfqnztVuaHw/v-deo.html
Second swimmer from camera.
He like half-kicking every time. I think it helps him not to create a lot of drag and use head and upper body to move him forward.
To me as a young swimming coach your videos like a holy grail of swimming technique knowledge. Thank you for sharing it.
@@KyTaLLl Thanks for putting this instructive video here.💐
Hi. Wonderful!
thanks for watching!
Hi, Ive a question: When you start the kick phase should the arms be fully straight?
The kick should be initiated towards the middle of the pull so the arms will not be straight out in front of you. If you wait until then you will miss out on a lot of that coupling power.
@@theraceclub thank you very much. Your channel is fantastic.
Thts me start kicking when arms out straight 😅
Internal rotating the hips before the kick, helps me to have a narrower kick
Oh, I’ll try it. Thanks
Great. Narrow kick is a faster kicking cycle
@@theraceclub huh thought narrow kick only helped in drag reduction never thought of it interms of stroke cycle
Thanks for the info
How do you rotate the hips ? Can you explain please:)
Very good vid 👍 good science too 👌 but what is with the health of your knee if do this small thigh kicks over a long time (many years) ? Think for professionals it is an long time problem.
Breaststroke kick is hard on all knees. It causes a torquing of the joint. We don't train more than 2 days of hard breaststroke sets because of that.
@@theraceclub The twisting of the knees is very much emphasized with the short tight kicks. Due to the higher frequency of the leg kick, this area of the body is overloaded very quickly. The high frequency promotes this negative effect. Do you provide rehabilitation measures for the long-term effects of professional athletes? i think you have to differentiate between professional swimmers and normal sports swimmers when it comes to breaststroke. A normal recreational swimmer should not learn tight short leg kicks.
What is the kicking direction, straight back, or with down motion like dolphin kick power, or with up motion fast to the surface?
Thx.
Backward and downward with an upward motion at the end of the kick.
@@theraceclub this helps a lot
What's the yellow circle tool name. Where can I buy it
You can order on our website, www.theraceclub.com.
@theraceclub so I'm back to this video because now my kick is too narrow and i can't get enough power and pretty much my whole power comes from my arms, and swimming 100m breast with only arms is really hard. After 50m my both arms burn while my legs feel nothing. Any advice on how to get a strong narrow kick?
Work on the internal rotation of your hips and your ankle pronation. To get good propulsion from you legs you need to have great flexibility in those areas.
I have the same problem as you!
How do I work on getting my heels outside of my knees and not in line with them
You need to increase your internal rotation of the hip and pronation of the ankle. You can see how to do that on our recently released video at www.theraceclub.com. Lane 2 or Lane 3 membership.
is this the same size band used on ankles?
We like to use the finis band for athletes with the flexibility to get strong kicks with narrow knees. It is the same one many people use around the ankles with a pull buoy!
Did you say " Not like the Red Cross"? What did you mean?
He's referring to the old RedCross method of teaching breaststroke with a wide sweeping motion of the feet!
I'm in mid school and my time is 42 in 50 m any tips
Keep working on your breaststroke kick propulsion & tempo... breaststroke is the MOST kick driven stroke in our sport
@@theraceclub thanks for the tip
Wait so should my 25m kick be faster than my 25m pull because right now it’s 21 for kick and 17 for the pull
No. Not usually. It is just that the kick occurs before the swimmer is in a streamlined position, whereas the pull occurs as the swimmer is elevating out of water. So the kick contributes much more to swimmer's speed.
Can you give some stretches/tips for flexibility? I can really catch water but only with wider knees. I go 2:07 now but my goal is to go 1:59 so I would like to master this.
Breaststroke sit or a good hip internal rotation stretch... we have a video of our favorite stretch for Hip IR on our website: theraceclub.com/video/breaststroke-internal-rotation/
Watching this when i have a meet tomorrow
Hope the meet went well and the video helped!
@@theraceclub really did and i very grateful🧡🙏
Thanks for the video! Just about to do 100m breaststroke
Good luck!!
Hi, I am really bad at breaststroke and I am so slow at it is there any tricks on getting faster thankyou
Work on your breaststroke tools! Internal rotation of the hips and pronation of the ankles is crucial to a fast breaststroke kick. Go to www.theraceclub.com to find videos on how to improve these tools.
@@theraceclub wow thankyou I have swimming sports tmr this will rlly help!!
I completed the kick before initiated... to squeeze out an extra 7.25% propulsive force
Not sure I understand?
Where to buy that type of rubber band ? Cheers
You can purchase the elastic band on our website at www.theraceclub.com
Either you know it or you don’t. Only competition will define it
Yes...but there are stretches for the hip and ankle that can definitely improve kick propulsion. Gary
If a laberal tear is suspected should we stop these kicks?
Might be best to do so. Definitely talk to your doctor about it!
With the last clip I feel like she needs to glid more or is that perfect?
In the new "power" breaststroke, we're seeing more swimmers with faster stroke rates and less glide. Watch Adam Peaty swim the 100m breaststroke and you will see very little glide, just a very fast turnover.
my best time 38 how to keep my breath steady from start to finish I want to set a new record for myself 34 seconds

I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you saying you get out of breath easily in your 50 breaststroke?
My son is 13 his 50 breaststroke time is 36.82 and 100 breaststroke is 1.21.16 now to improve his timings what he has to do
The answer kind of depends on what his timing currently looks like. One thing most swimmers can improve on though is lowering their kick cycle time.
@@theraceclub how to improve his Kick now he is practicing wide kicks do he needs to change the kick style
@@srajanadvocate he needs to master narrow kicks!
bộ phận nào trên cơ thể quyết định độ nhanh, độ lướt của bơi ếch, cảm ơn bạn
Breaststroke is a very kick driven stroke - so the majority of the speed you get is coming from the legs!
@@theraceclub thank you
ty man hopefully this gets me my divisonal cut in the 100 breast
We hope it does!
Narrow kick is one of the best kicks to improve speed in Breaststroke and is done by Adam!
You are right...but to kick effectively with narrow knees, one needs a lot of hip flexibility and ankle pronation
i know the correc technique but i can't do it😅
Takes certain tools to do breaststroke kick well. Pronation of ankles and internal rotation of hips. Work on those first.
A good teaser :))
Yes!
So weird to think the stroke has adapted since I last competitively swam in college in 09. And it ages me and I don't like that 😅
Me too!
I jus turned 14 my 50m breastroke is 33:28 but my 100m is 1:19 what should i do?
Hey Jonas. Sounds like you have a lot of talent for breaststroke. You probably have a strong kick. Work on your stamina, as breast is a tough stroke to sustain at high speed.
My Breaststroke is still slow, sometimes my legs come above the water whenever i do kick!
If you're talking about kicking on your stomach, you might not be drawing the knees forward far enough. Try thinking about getting them a little closer to being under the hips right before the kick!
@@theraceclub I'll try
@@eminem565 good luck!
There is still I secret technique it’s simple and not mentioned
Feel free to share!
@@theraceclub Saving it for Olympics
Omg ive always been really good in all the styles but ive always had problems with breastroke it always slows me down for some reason
Breast requires a whole different set of anatomical tools to do well. Not everyone has those.
new comment
You do people tell us wgat not to do
Don't do anything that reduces your kick propulsion in breaststroke, which is a kick-dependent stroke.
Video interessante, peccato che non si riesca a tradurre in italiano o spagnolo
Grazi!
3:55
👍
Disagree with the kick coach, the mechanics of the knee, flexion, and extension. The knee should never twist as seen with the young athletes putting joint health at risk. So what should be taught is femoral head internal rotation, so that the knee is then aligned for flexion and extension. This sets up all the gluteus muscles to align greater force production and reduce potential osteoarthritis 10 years down the line in swimming careers.
Femoral internal rotation is what we teach! Tibial torsion (twisting of the tibia in the knee capsule) is a bonus tool that some athletes simply possess & other's don't. You are right, the twisting of the knee will likely increase injury risk in a lot of other scenarios!
@@theraceclub Great that you do that for your swimmers and take their physiological health seriously. I replied to your video as I did not see any mention of that when the coach was teaching the biomechanics of the breaststroke kick.
We try to steer clear of getting too technical in some of these videos but dive a bit deeper into the science jargon in others. Thanks for watching & engaging!@@Stealth-InComing
ayyyy
Thanks for watching!