Learning the Breaststroke Kick with Dry Land Exercises

Learning the breaststroke kick can be more complicated than it seems at first. To make it easier for you to learn this swimming technique, we have devised the following sequence of dry land exercises that you can practice at your leisure at home.

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Standing Individual Leg Kick

In this first dry land exercise, you learn to execute the different phases of the breaststroke kick, one leg at a time:

The initial position is simply standing upright with both feet close together and arms at your sides. Then execute the different phases of the kick with your right leg:

1. Recovery: Bend your right knee, so that you bring your heel towards your buttocks. At the same time, flex your foot towards your shin (dorsiflexion).
2. Catch: When your foot is close to the buttocks, raise your right leg sideways while keeping your knee bent and your foot in dorsiflexion.
3. Outsweep: When you have raised your leg about 45°, extend your leg and point your foot/toes (plantar flexion). But keep your leg lifted sideways.
4. Insweep: Bring your right leg back into the initial position at the end of the leg extension.

In the beginning, observe a slight pause between each phase. Afterwards execute all the kick phases’ in one fluid movement. Repeat this a few times with your right leg, then switch to your left leg.

Breaststroke Kick On A Chair

In the next dry land exercise, you simultaneously rehearse the kick movements with both legs. You need a chair for this exercise:

Here are the drill instructions:

• Sit close towards the chair’s front edge.
• Grab the seat of the chair on the side with both hands.
• Extend your legs forward, lifting them about 5 inches above the ground.
• Point your feet.

Now practice the different phases of the kick like you did in the previous exercise. But your legs should now move simultaneously:

1. Bend your knees and bring your feet towards the buttocks in dorsiflexion.
2. Spread your legs apart while keeping your knees bent and your feet in dorsiflexion.
3. Extend your legs and simultaneously point your feet.
4. Finally bring your extended legs back together into their initial position.

Repeat this exercise a few times, at first slowly and then in one continuous movement.

Breaststroke Kick On The Floor

Now you will practice the leg movements in a position close to the one you are in while swimming breaststroke, in a prone position:

The starting position is as follows:

• Lie down on the floor on your stomach.
• Place your arms in front of you in a comfortable position.
• Extend your legs with feet pointed.

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Now practice the breaststroke kick. It will most likely take a little bit of concentration as you are now turned downwards whereas in the previous exercise you were turned upwards. This is an excellent coordination exercise! 😉

Rehearsing the movements while lying on your stomach is also interesting because you can’t flex at your hips while bringing your feet towards the buttocks. Instead you learn to correctly fold your lower legs onto your upper legs to bring your feet towards the buttocks. Using this technique in the water allows to decrease drag.

Conclusion

After having practiced the breaststroke kick on dry land you can start to practice it in the water. By the way, besides being used in breaststroke, this swimming technique is also used in elementary backstroke and while treading water.

Have fun!

 Learn the Breaststroke – Overview Next – Breaststroke Kick Drills in the Water