Breaststroke How To Fix Common Faults - Learn How To Swim 101

It's not much good improving your breaststroke kick if you have other faults that interfere with a proficient breaststroke. This time we are going to deal with what I've called "Breaststroke How To Fix The Most Common Faults".

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Fortunately there are not that many common faults in breaststroke.

Breaststroke How To Fix: hands down to your hips; club foot; flutter kick

There are only three that immediately come to mind however.

1. Hands Down To Your Hips

Taking your breath at the end of a stroke that has involved you sweeping your hand down to your hips instead of your shoulders.

This is the most common fault of them all.

Remember this is wrong:

Hands To Hip Is Too Far

A breast stroke is a short stroke and should finish at your shoulders like this:

Breaststroke Breathing Arms Recover Under Chest

The solution is to shorten your stroke. It may take some practice but it should fix your problem.

2. Club Foot

What I've come to call a club foot. This is not the physical disorder that some people are borne with. I'm talking about the way some swimmers have one foot doing something other than what the other foot is doing. Both feet in breaststroke must be doing the same thing. Toes should be pointing towards the torso.

Breaststroke Kick Viewed From Above

This one can be difficult to fix because often swimmers can't feel that they are moving their foot in different directions. You need to get someone to look at your feet and get them to tell you if both feet are doing the same or different things.

Sometimes all you need to do is to tell the swimmer every time they do it wrong. For example someone stands on the edge and says "right, right, wrong, right, wrong, wrong, every time they kick. Eventually the swimmer gets more right than wrong. But it only works if you tell them every kick.

If that doesn't work one of the easiest ways to fix this - if it works - is for the student to do their frog kick with a pull boy between their legs. It's not easy to do but with practice it usually shortens the kick and fixes the club foot. Remember a good frog kick is not necessarily a wide frog kick.


If this doesn't work the only thing left that I know of to do, is to get someone in the pool with the swimmer and whilst holding both their feet working through the action of the frog kick until it becomes smooth and feels normal.

3. Flutter Kick

The swimmer does a flutter kick at some point during their frog kick.

The solution? I only have one. You need to tell the swimmer every time they do it wrong. For example someone stands on the edge and says "right, right, wrong, right, wrong, wrong, every time they kick. Eventually the swimmer gets more right than wrong but it only works if you tell them every kick.

Once you have fixed these little faults you may want to change your kick to a whip kick.

That's it

Enjoy
   Richard