Breaststroke - Medball Narrow Kick

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In developing a narrow breaststroke kick, we typically default to using the strap to keep the legs together. Here’s another option.

Why do it:
The biggest problem with breaststroke is the recovery of the kick. With the athlete’s desire to feel a big push, too often, they recover the feet too high, or too wide. A narrow and small kick creates less resistance in the setup and requires less propulsion to keep things moving forward.

How to do it:
1 - We use a very small, sand-filled medball. The sand filled medballs sink if dropped and require a very tight squeeze to keep between the legs.
2 - Understand that this drill is NOT about body position, but just the squeeze of the legs while kicking.
3 - Maximum distance should be a 25, IF THAT.
4 - After the swimmer has done a 25 or two, have them just take a couple of kicks, and the drop the medball.
5 - After they release the medball, the squeeze required to hold it between the legs should also help them feel the narrow kick.

How to do it really well (the fine points):
First, this is NOT an easy drill. Have the swimmer push off easy, or the medball may pop out right away. Also, NO LOTION! If the swimmer has lotion on, it’s just not going to happen (or very slim chance).

Per usual with breaststroke kick, if there is any knee pain, stop doing it. Also pay specific attention to the groin, as this will require a lot of work... which is an additional benefit for breaststrokers.