Breaststroke Swimming Drills
Learn the Arm Stroke on Dry Land

These breaststroke swimming drill shows you how to practice the arm stroke on dry land. Learning the technique on dry land first is easier because you can solely concentrate on what the arms have to do and avoid struggle.

Arm Stroke Drill Video

Here's a video that demontrates how to practice the arm stroke:

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Drill Instructions

To practice breaststroke swimming's arm stroke, follow the instructions hereunder:

Initial Position

The initial position corresponds to the glide phase of the breaststroke. During this phase, arms and legs are fully extended. Do the following:

  • Stand upright and extend the arms overhead.
  • Keep the palms close together and rotated forward.

Outsweep

The outsweep starts the arm stroke. During the outsweep, the arms and hands are positioned perpendicular to the body. So do the following:

  • Rotate the palms outward and separate the arms to the side.
  • When the hands are about shoulder width apart, bend the elbows and rotate the palms toward the ground.
  • Start to move the arms downward, further bend the elbows until the forearms and hands are parallel to the ground and at shoulder level.

Insweep

The insweep is the arm's power phase. It's during that time that the arms provide propulsion in the breaststroke swimming's cycle. So do the following:

  • Rotate the elbows inward and so that they move closer to the rib cage.
  • The forearms and hands follow along until the palms face each other.
  • When the elbows have arrived at the rib cage, move the hands further toward each other until they are in a praying position.
  • This is the end of the insweep.

Recovery

During the recovery, the arms move back to their initial position:

  • Move the arms quickly overhead in a straight line towards the initial position.
  • At the same time, rotate the palms outwards so that they are turned forward when the arms are fully extended.

Breathing Technique

Once you have memorized the motions of the arm stroke, the breaststroke's breathing technique can be integrated. Basically, what you need to do is to breathe in at the end of the insweep, then exhale continuously for the rest of the arm stroke.

In fact, in breaststroke swimming, the upper body naturally rises out of the water during the insweep, allowing for a quick inhale. Then the upper body sinks down below the water surface during the arm's recovery in an extended position. That is the moment to start exhaling.

To sum up, practice the arm stroke on dry land as described above, and integrate breathing like this: inhale at the end of the insweep, then exhale continuously for the rest of the arm stroke.

Conclusion

Once you have memorized the arm stroke and breathing techniques on dry land, it will be much easier to integrate them with the rest of the breaststroke swimming technique, especially at the pool. So rehearse the arm stroke and breathing techniques at home for a few days until you can execute them automatically.

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Top of Breaststroke Swimming Drill - Dry Land Arm Stroke to Learn Swimming Breaststroke