Breaststroke Swim
Prone simultaneous-stroke swimming that pairs a wide sweeping arm pull with a whip kick driven by the inner thighs.
How to do it
- Float face down with your body straight and arms extended in front of you.
- Sweep both hands outward then back toward the midline in a circle, keeping the elbows high.
- Lift your head and shoulders to inhale as the arms complete the pull.
- Recover the hands together ahead of your shoulders, then shoot them forward.
- Draw your heels toward your seat, turn your feet out and whip them back together.
- Hold the streamlined glide until speed drops, then start the next cycle.
Key technique cue
Turn the feet out for the kick, then glide before the next stroke.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Pulling too wide and too far back, which stalls the stroke and overloads the shoulders.
- ✕ Kicking with the feet pointed instead of turned out, which removes most of the propulsion.
- ✕ Cutting the glide short, so stroke rate rises and efficiency falls.
- ✕ Lifting the head too early, which drops the hips and drags the body line.
Benefits
- ✓ Builds a low-impact aerobic pattern with a clear, teachable rhythm.
- ✓ Loads the inner thigh and hip musculature harder than the other strokes.
- ✓ Allows a breath every cycle, which makes pacing straightforward for beginners.
Progression: from easier to harder
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Step 1 -
Step 2 You are here - Breaststroke Swim
- Backstroke Swim
- Freestyle Swim
- Swim laps
- Butterfly Swim
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Step 3
About the exercise
Breaststroke runs on a repeating pull, breathe, kick and glide cycle. The arms sweep out and back in a circle with the elbows high, then recover in front of the shoulders, while the legs bend, turn the feet out and snap back together. Underwater EMG of the kick shows adductor longus and adductor magnus peaking through leg retraction and the whip, with the abdominals joining as the legs flip, so this is the one stroke where the lower body carries most of the propulsion. Head and shoulders lift to breathe once each cycle.
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