Breathing Technique While Learning to Swim Breaststroke

I would like to know how develop proper breathing technique while learning to swim breaststroke.

Breathing technique for breaststroke involves raising the head to face forward and it is important to get the timing to this correct for it to be smooth and easy.

The first part is to ensure you have correct coordination of the arm pull and leg kick so that the breathing can fit effortlessly in-between.

One of the most common breaststroke mistakes is to pull and kick at the same time. The arms pull in a circular motion and then the legs kick with power just after. The legs therefore kick as the arms extend forwards again and the whole body then momentarily glides. The breathing technique has to fit the middle of all of this.

As the arms pull back, the head rises to breathe in. Then as the legs kick around and back the head and face submerges again to breathe out. Think to yourself to pull your head up and then kick your head down again. This should occur with every stroke cycle.

As for the actual act of breathing, the golden rule is not to hold your breath. Breath out into the water while your face is submerged. This makes the act of breathing in again more comfortable. The natural body lift of breaststroke allows a breath to be taken every stroke so only minimal breaths are needed. Therefore there is no need to take in huge amounts of air as you swim.

Combine the above with slow relaxed movements and with practice and patience you should have a smooth and easy breaststroke.

My best-selling book 'The Complete Guide to Swimming Breaststroke' contains over 20 separate swimming exercises to help all parts of breaststroke, including breathing and timing. You can download it, print out the parts you need and take them to your pool to try out. Click the link below for more information.

Click back to the homepage