Start Breaststroke From A Standing Position?

Please tell me how to start breaststroke from a standing position to horizontal flat position. From near the wall and in middle of water around 3 or 4 feet depth water for persons of 5 feet height.

Starting from the middle of the water can sometimes be a scary thing, especially for a beginner or a swimmer that lacks confidence.

Starting from a couple of feet above the water surface can also be a scary thing too as there is the feeling of falling into the water rather than swimming through it.

It can be tricky sometimes getting the boost you need to generate some momentum but at the same time not sinking down in the water to a point that causes you to become alarmed.

The most important point is to not start from completely upright. Bend your knees and bring your height down to the water level, so that your shoulders are submerged. Then with your chin on the water push from the pool floor with along the water surface. I stress the point ‘along’ the water surface here. This is vital to getting a good confident start.

If you try to start from standing completely upright the first direction you must go in is down and this usually results in going down much further than you really wanted to. In other words you will partially sink down under the water briefly before coming to the surface again. A feeling that can make the most confident of beginners feel uneasy.

Start level with the water surface and push away from the pool floor along the water. Begin with a stretch and then an arm pull, the arm pull being the first part of the breaststroke sequence. A reminder of the breaststroke sequence: ‘pull, breathe, kick glide’.

Our 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.

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