breaststroke w flutter kick

tomatoey

any tips on doing it so it doesn't feel weird? i can't do a frog kick right now (am stuck with flutter kick bc knee issue) but also can't do the arm motions for front crawl (bc shoulder issue) so i have to find a way to do this. (this is on sports med's advice. the breaststroke stroke is ok for my rotator cuff, but the kick is bad for the knees. also, i am not amazing swimmer, would call myself adequate, as in when not injured can do an hour of laps without drowning.)

i found this vid, but any tips on ways to think about coordinating arms + legs with it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny7W2xdH7qo

cheshirecatastrophe

Breast arms with flutter kick is awkward because the two motions fight against each other. Flutter kick keeps you flat in the water moving straight forward. Breast stroke wants to dolphin dive your body up and down slightly. Did you ask your doctor if you can do dolphin (butterfly) kick? That's much more natural.

Otherwise, your best bet might be to alternate laps with a kickboard (flutter kick) and pull buoy (breaststroke pull).

tomatoey

cheshirecatastrophe wrote: »

Breast arms with flutter kick is awkward because the two motions fight against each other. Flutter kick keeps you flat in the water moving straight forward. Breast stroke wants to dolphin dive your body up and down slightly. Did you ask your doctor if you can do dolphin (butterfly) kick? That's much more natural.

Otherwise, your best bet might be to alternate laps with a kickboard (flutter kick) and pull buoy (breaststroke pull).

Ahaaaa! Thanks, @cheshirecatastrophe, that makes sense!

I didn't ask, but I would think that kick would be fine, because it's still just a normal knee bend (no sideways movements), right? I haven't done that since I was little and pretended I was a mermaid, lol, but ok, good to know it's a real kick I can give it a try, and will just stop if it hurts. And you've given me a great alternative. Thanks!

LovingLife_Erin

I do this all the time as I hate whip kick but like breast stroke to mix up my arms (I had knee issues when I was learning whip so I sort of never liked it). I think I've done it enough for it to feel OK, but I also tend to slow down my kicking when I pull down with my arms so that I can push my upper body up to breathe. For me, it was just finding the rhythm.