Breaststroke and Backstroke Problems

Question
Hi,

My Problems are:
1. Breaststroke: I stop moving or stall during the breathing phase. When I lift my head, and recover my legs, I stall.
2. Backstroke: With each stroke, my direction changes.
3. I cannot swim more than 250 metres breaststroke. I have tried over and over again, but I fail at this. Breaststroke is the only stroke that I am good at a longer distance. How do I start increasing my distance?

I have watched youtube videos and articles on the internet, and applied their instructions but it didnt help.

Can you suggest what should I do? Or can you suggest some better articles for these problems?

Answer
Hello Rim,

Sorry for the late reply. Breaststroke is one of those strokes where when you pull your legs back they will stall. That is why in intensive and competitive swimming it is very important that athletes swimming breaststroke have to keep lunging forward as fast as they can. It is something that can't be avoided but can be overcome the faster you plummet back into the water. Breaststroke requires a lot of leg training so it is okay if you cannot go more than 250 meters at the moment. To increase distances, you will have to increase your leg strength and your overall stamina. Drills to do are basically sprint sets with breaststroke. These sprint sets don't have to be long ones, you could just do 50 meters to 100 meters. The more your legs become sore, the more they will develop and become stronger. Swimming longer comes with more practice, and swimming breaststroke can be very tiring. If you are swimming very long sets, then you should try lunging and taking longer strokes so you can save energy. It depends if you are swimming a sprint set or a very long set.

When it comes to Backstroke, when swimmers first start off, their arms are always uneven, which causes you to change directions. You must make sure your arms are pulling at the same strengths to swim in a straighter line. Since usually one arm is stronger than the other, you will tend to sway to one particular side, but it is something you will have to work on individually.

I hope this helps!