Breaststroke pull sets

panhandle8

I can't figure out how to actually get moving! The pull buoy and I don't get along when attempting breast pulls.

juliet3455

Was waiting for Mac, Ms_J1, emmab, mpeters, ( the coaching crew ) etc to offer up their ideas.

The whole idea of the pull buoy is to isolate the stroke and improve your timing/technique so all I can offer up is maybe try 2-3 strokes of Front Crawl to start and then transition into the Breast Stroke technique until you are able to do the exercise with out a starter stroke.

If this is a struggle you are going to "Love" doing what I called Whip Kick with Breast Stroke extensions.
Can't remember what the instructor actually called them. Picture doing a normal Whip kick but when you go for the stroke pull you never actually pull. You push your hands out forward like normal ( but Stack your hands ) with the palm of your strong arm on top the knuckles of your weak arm. Now pull your hands back to your chin - keep the finger tips touching and then push your hands out forward again but switch which hand is on top the stack. Your hands offer no resistance to the water and no support for your upper body so breathing becomes very interesting. I found that at the start I had to add a little angle to my palms so they gave me a little lift/support until I got the Timing down.

Another one our instructor gave us was the Closed Fist version of the Breast Stroke. Just like the front crawl all the pulling force comes from the forearm. Really helps refine your arm positions for maximum pull resistance/efficiency.

juliet3455

Was waiting for Mac, Ms_J1, emmab, mpeters, ( the coaching crew ) etc to offer up their ideas.

The whole idea of the pull buoy is to isolate the stroke and improve your timing/technique so all I can offer up is maybe try 2-3 strokes of Front Crawl to start and then transition into the Breast Stroke technique until you are able to do the exercise with out a starter stroke.

If this is a struggle you are going to "Love" doing what I called Whip Kick with Breast Stroke extensions.
Can't remember what the instructor actually called them. Picture doing a normal Whip kick but when you go for the stroke pull you never actually pull. You push your hands out forward like normal ( but Stack your hands ) with the palm of your strong arm on top the knuckles of your weak arm. Now pull your hands back to your chin - keep the finger tips touching and then push your hands out forward again but switch which hand is on top the stack. Your hands offer no resistance to the water and no support for your upper body so breathing becomes very interesting. I found that at the start I had to add a little angle to my palms so they gave me a little lift/support until I got the Timing down.

Another one our instructor gave us was the Closed Fist version of the Breast Stroke. Just like the front crawl all the pulling force comes from the forearm. Really helps refine your arm positions for maximum pull resistance/efficiency.

juliet3455

Was waiting for Mac, Ms_J1, emmab, mpeters, ( the coaching crew ) etc to offer up their ideas.

The whole idea of the pull buoy is to isolate the stroke and improve your timing/technique so all I can offer up is maybe try 2-3 strokes of Front Crawl to start and then transition into the Breast Stroke technique until you are able to do the exercise with out a starter stroke.

If this is a struggle you are going to "Love" doing what I called Whip Kick with Breast Stroke extensions.
Can't remember what the instructor actually called them. Picture doing a normal Whip kick but when you go for the stroke pull you never actually pull. You push your hands out forward like normal ( but Stack your hands ) with the palm of your strong arm on top the knuckles of your weak arm. Now pull your hands back to your chin - keep the finger tips touching and then push your hands out forward again but switch which hand is on top the stack. Your hands offer no resistance to the water and no support for your upper body so breathing becomes very interesting. I found that at the start I had to add a little angle to my palms so they gave me a little lift/support until I got the Timing down.

Another one our instructor gave us was the Closed Fist version of the Breast Stroke. Just like the front crawl all the pulling force comes from the forearm. Really helps refine your arm positions for maximum pull resistance/efficiency.

mpeters1965

I am the worst breast-stroker ever (or nearly) so I cannot give any advice on this one!

Macstraw

Sorry I missed this thread - Juliet's exercise is probably the best way to do breast pull sets. The whole body is so involved in the stroke during breast, so it's really difficult to try to isolate just the kick. Juliet's exercise allows you to use the body to extend, yet only kick for propulsion. Trying to do the kick with just the kickboard leave you too stiff with no body motion, which is essential to the breast stroke. If you think the cadence "kick, glide, pull" during the breast stroke, pushing the hands out in front is what leads into the glide. During the glide & pull your legs have the chance to recover for the next kick, if you eliminate both then you don't really have the chance for that recovery for a good kick.....