1. BYU Swim Camps 2014

2. What percentage of your power in
Breaststroke comes from the legs?

3. What percentage of your power in
Breaststroke comes from the legs?
80%

4. Who is the current American Record Holder in the Men’s 100
Breaststroke?
Who is the current American Record Holder in the Women’s
100 Breaststroke?

5. Who is the current American Record Holder in the Men’s 100
Breaststroke?
Kevin Cordes
Who is the current American Record Holder in the Women’s
100 Breaststroke?
Breeja Larson

6. Science of Sport performance
Rebecca Soni / Breaststroke

7. 1. Pull
2. Kick
3. Timing
4. Pulldowns

8. Breaststroke Pull
There are four parts
1. Outsweep
2. Insweep (Catch)
3. Setup for Recovery
4. Recovery

9. 1. Outsweep
Palms face out
Set up for the catch
The rest of your body remains in a tight line
Don’t lift the head yet, that comes next

10. 2. Insweep / Catch
Hands sweep down and inward
Keep Elbows high and fingertips low (have we heard this before?)
Thumbs up
As we start our insweep, we also start our breath

11. 3. Setup for Recovery
Elbows come in next to the body
Hands come up toward the surface (naturally face up)
Elbows stay wide. They don’t squeeze together in
front

12. 4. Recovery
Hands shoot forward FAST
Press with the elbows
Rotate palms down for a full extension during the
shoot

13. Hand Pattern

14. Kick
Heels Up:
-Heels come up toward bottom.
-Knees separate SLIGHTLY. About shoulder width.
-Fast heels so we don’t have a long resistance.
Toes Out:
-Feet turn out; toes point to the side.
-Feet should set up at about the width of knees.
Pushback:
-Push with the inside (arch) of foot.

16. Timing
Start your Breath on the Insweep.
Bring heels up as your arms start recovery.
Kick legs back as your upper body gets into
streamline.
Pull and Breath, Kick and Shoot

18. Kevin Cordes
Kitajima
Rebecca Soni

19. Key Points to remember!
Shoot into a straight line between each stroke.
Don’t breath until the Insweep of the stroke.
Fast heels up then turn your toes out.
Don’t let knees go more than shoulder width apart.
Finish every Kick!

20. Coach McAllister’s Drills for Breaststroke
Breaststroke kick on your back in a streamline- don’t let knees come
out of the water.
Slide and Glide- this is a kicking drill. Arms stay on top of one
another. As you start to bring the heels you will slide your hands in
and then shoot together into a streamline fast.
I Y Drill- Start in a streamline. Start outsweep and pause for one
second, then Insweep and breath at the same time. Legs will come up
as you recover. This drill will help you breath at the right time.
Piece by Piece- Pull. Pause 1 second. Kick. Pause 1 second. Focus on
each component separately.
Progressive drill- Start with Piece by piece. By the end of the 50 let
your legs begin sooner and sooner until you feel the correct timing.
2 Kick/ 1 Pull- 1 Full cycle. Pause in ‘I’ position, then do 1 additional
kick. This drill will help you feel your momentum between strokes.

21. Body line is the absolute priority
•Put kick where the line stays best
–For most people, it’s after hand separation and before pull
down
•A big dolphin kick isn’t necessarily best
–Kick from the knees

22. Pulldown Video

23. “A great turn is a momentum maker, but a poor turn is a
momentum breaker.” -Coach Charlie Kennedy

24. Open Turns
The Set-up:
-Touch wall with palms & outstretched arms
-Count your strokes to get timing correct
The Pivot:
-Snap knees to chest as you rotate toward one side.
-Plant feet on wall.
-Drop bottom arm, bring top arm right past ear and
meet in a streamline.
The Pushoff:
-Power position pushoff and rotate to stomach. Start
pullout

25. -In control of your emotions
-Being poised when challenged and under pressure
-Maintains focus
-Resilient though intimidation
-Ability to bounce back from adversity
-Learning how to deal with the fear of failure

26. The problem is NEVER the problem.
The problem is ALWAYS how you REACT to the problem.

27. Bob Bowman, Michael Phelps' coach, wanted to teach
his then-young swimmer that a lot of upsetting things
can happen to you over the course of your career and
during a meet or race that can send your confidence
and performance spiraling downward.
How you handle these mishaps, either before or
during your event can make or break your race
performance. So Bowman would sometimes
purposely step on Michael's goggles without him
knowing about it before a race to insure that they
would leak, and Phelps had to figure out how to
maintain his composure under pressure when these
things suddenly happened.

28. As a result, Michael got really good at effectively
handling these unforeseen, oftentimes upsetting
events. His approach was that you can look at these
unexpected upsets as a “disaster,” and an excuse to
get emotional and not do well, or you can look at
them as a “challenge,” and figure out ways of rising
above them so that they actually make you a stronger,
mentally tougher swimmer. And that's exactly what
Phelps got incredibly good at! He would practice
racing with his goggles leaking and figured out
different strategies of coping with this so that if it ever
happened in a big race, he would know exactly how to
handle it.
Story of Michaels 2008 200 Butterfly

29. What do you think he did?

30. He simply counted his strokes
on the way to the wall. He
ended up winning his record
setting 8th
Gold medal.