You can control your pace and build endurance for your heart and lungs with this frog-like movement. When executed correctly, it is easy and smooth. However, all skills require practise and familiarity with the right technique. Whether you are a beginner or seasoned swimmer, check out whether you make these common mistakes so as to improve your strokes!

Lifting The Head Too Much

It is easy to form a habit of keeping your head up as you execute your catch and take in a breath. More notably, a fair number of ladies keep their heads above the water to protect their hair. But, assuming this position will make you sink. Your hips will drop low as you try to push your head up in a see-saw motion, instead of going forwards.

Staying in this position for a prolonged amount of time can also lead to overstraining of the neck muscles. A solution to fixing this bad habit includes practising freestyle, in which you have to look down between strokes.

Kicking Way Too Wide

You might think that by spreading your legs wide, you are generating more power for the kick. Yet, you just can’t seem to get that extra push. This is because you will face resistance on your quads as you are essentially floating on the surface. With a more narrow stance, you will use less energy to kick forwards (instead of outwards). This will also force you to use your hips to propel you forward.

Use your adductors(inner thigh) muscles to bring your legs closer together with drills such as wall vertical kick, in which you practise the motion with your body pressed flat against a wall surface. This ensures that you kick backwards and downwards without opening your hips wide.

Sticking Out The Butt In Streamline

The perfect streamline position, with the least water resistance, is when you can position your body into being as straight as a board. You will have to train to straighten your back with holding in your core as this goes against the natural curvature of your spine. Indeed, it is a good core exercise for training those abs.

To memorize the feel of a completely flat back, lie down on a flat surface. Push your back to the floor such that there is no empty space between your body and the surface. Then, lift your hands overhead to assume the streamline position. Alternatively, you can do this in the water. While standing, put a hand behind your back and the wall. As you lean back, try pulling your hand out. Your back should be reasonably flat if you can’t pull it out.

Don’t Drop Those Elbows

In pulling your elbows too far back, you will throw yourself off balance and lose power. Keep your elbows high and within peripheral range so that you do not drop those elbows. Some swimmers train this by holding balls in their hands, so that they can be more aware of where their arms are and have something to look at. The breaststroke is highly dependent on the legs for power so you don’t have to stretch those arms too wide too!

Timing Is Everything

To bring it all together, you have to know exactly when to catch, breathe, kick and streamline. And, no they aren’t all done at the same time. A quick tip would be to ‘pull, kick, glide’. You want to complete your arms pull before kicking, and complete the kick before pulling again without pausing too long at any stage.

Separation drills are great for training your timing such as pulling in one time for every two weeks. While you don’t want to go too slow, do slow down to work completing your movements with proper timing.

A swimmer may rush the movement cycles due to feelings of being anxious. This can be soothed by working on breathing techniques and relaxing into the rhythm. Everyone makes mistakes, especially when they first start, so you don’t have to beat yourself up over them. With just a bit of mindfulness towards these common mistakes, you will be correcting your habits and improving your strokes in no time!

Find out more about Breastroke from our One to One Swimming Lessons!

Hi Readers! A peek into my life consists of figure skating, traveling, writing and doing many things to keep up my fitness like yoga and swimming. As a skating coach and former music & movement instructor, I hope to shed some light on how fitness and swimming in particular, can benefit and aid you. Cheers!