breastroke help!?

Question

okay so I've been swimming for three years now. and I still can't do breastroke right what happens is my right foot won't turn out like its supposed to. think I'd have a good IM if I could just learn to swim breastroke. I will tell you that i did have a Stroke when I was 6 months old. the right foot was effected. do you think that I just can't do it? because of that. my left foot will thugh. I've been working on this for two years now trying to stranghten my ankels and now there pretty strong. I did things like ankel rotations. tracing the A'B'C's with my big toe. My coach is out of ideas. and I'm sick of being beat out my 7 year old's in breastroke simply because I can't kick. my two questions are:

1) do you think the stroke has something to do with the fact that I can't turn the foot out, or do you think its just weakness?

2) do you have any exersices that I can do to work on it?

thanks.

Answer 1

breaststroke is 80% kick, so having a weak or incorrect kick will definitely affect your speed more than a weak arm stroke. I have a friend on my team that had his ankle fused from an injury and also cannot turn his right foot out and his breaststroke suffers greatly. you can ceratainly, as the other answers indicate, work with a doctor or a physical therapist to work on creating correct muscle memory to perform the correct kick. in the end you may just have to concede that breaststroke just isn't going to be your thing. heck, i've known plenty of people who have given up on breaststroke and they have no issues performing the proper kick, it's just something they have struggled with and have decided to concentrate on other strokes. i can understand your desire to be a better IM'er. i have had the same problem as i pretty much have always been a terrible back-stroker. so even though i went to both junior and senior nationals in breaststroke, i never came close in IM and have competed in a straight backstroke event maybe twice in my whole life, probably as part of a pentathlon.

Answer 2

Don't let these people get you down. If you really want to fix it and your really serious about it, then you'll find a way. When your standing, do ballet positions. It will cause you to turn that foot out. The more you practice it, the more natural it will become. Don't get frustrated. If it's not working out don't loose hope. I have tendonitis in my right foot. When i first had it, it was sooo painful to kick. So for a few weeks at practice i only used my arms. I helped my upper arm strength and then i didn't have to kick as hard because my arms were working more. Yes, your kick is very important and does greatly effect your stroke, but there are other strokes. If you say you could have a really good IM if you were good at breast, then do more on the other strokes. Push yourself harder, so when you get to breast, your are ahead. You have to strokes to get you ahead, and then after breast you have free to just sprint the heck out of it. Have faith, and everything will be okay. The most important thing is that your having fun swimming.

Answer 3

I think your doctor would be the only one who could say for sure if the stroke affected your turnout. However it is certainly possible as loss of motion is common in stroke victims.

As for working it out, if the foot will not turn due to an anatomical abnormality there may be no easy way to correct this. Did you ever see a physical therapist? Perhaps call your docot'rs office and speak to him about it, you may be able to see a therapist once or twice who can give you exercises and drills that may help.

As for being beat by a "kid", don't sweat it. Little kids beat me at breast allll the time because I have knee and ankle issues as well. Since you can swim the other strokes, focus on strengthening your technique and speed there and don't put so much emphasis on the breast. There's no need to frustrate yourself, most people save their frustration for butterfly ( =

Good luck with the ankle!!!

Answer 4

it MIGHT be because of the fact that your foot was injured, but don't give up. you could practice excersices like turning your right foot out while laying o the ground. or have a friend stretch your foot out for you. if you think it is weakness, then go to a local walgreens or sports store and buy sports weights that you can strap around you ankel. then you can practice stretching your right ankel oe turning it to the right. also, the weights have different weights andi suggest you use a 2 pounder. all they are are padded things and you strap them around your ankel. and a great thing to do is to wear the weights all day long. and don't put them on your right ankel only, do it on both so that they both get stronger!! you can even put them on you r wrists if you want. but i don't know if you can buy them in waterproof(LOL)!!!!! good luck and i hope you nail your breaststroke!

Answer 5

Okay... I think that all your right foot needs is some therapy. Your foot is not use to streaching like it does in breaststroke. Try just streatching it out on a regular basis. Once it's flexability is okay it will be more comfortable in that position. If you can't move it at all on land, then you should really get it looked at by your doctor.

Answer 6

I would just practice it on the coach, like the kick, and everything! But what do I know, I have been on swimteam for a long time, and I still can't get it! LOL!