This post is courtesy of Abbie Fish of RITTER Sports Performance. From qualifying for the Olympic Trials to working at USA Swimming’s headquarters, Abbie has been on all sides of swimming. Abbie is a stroke mechanics guru and believes anyone with the heart to train can benefit from technical advice! [CLICK HERE] for a FREE stroke technique lesson from Coach Abbie!

Welcome back to Part II of our series on the Breaststroke pullout. In this post, we plan to dive in on where you should put your dolphin kick during the Breaststroke pullout and why this placement is important.

In case you missed Part I of this series, [CLICK HERE] to catch up.

As we discussed in our latest blog post, there are really two places swimmers can put their dolphin kick in during a Breaststroke Pullout:

• At the end of your glide phase
• At the end of the pull-down phase

Once again, here’s the velocity chart for a swimmer’s average speed generation during a pullout without a dolphin kick:

In reality, the speed is at a swimmer’s highest point at entry, BUT it is at its’ second highest point during the glide (3 m/s). While the peak velocity of the arm pulldown gets close (at 2.5 m/s), it still doesn’t quite get as high as it is during the glide phase.

What this means is essentially placing the dolphin kick at the end of the arm pull down phase will cause an INCREASE in velocity, but not as significant as if we initiated the kick during the glide phase (where the starting speed is already higher). Here’s an example:

Velocity Pattern with Kick at end of Arm Pulldown:

Velocity Pattern with Kick at end of Glide Phase:

The easiest way to understand why the dolphin kick placement makes sense during the glide phase is to look at a swimmer’s average speed:

Average speed with Dolphin Kick initiated at the end of the Arm Pulldown Phase: 2 m/s

Average speed with Dolphin Kick initiated at the end of the Glide Phase: 2.5 m/s

Average OVERALL speed with Dolphin Kick initiated at end of the Arm Pulldown Phase: 2.16 m/s

Average OVERALL speed with Dolphin Kick initiated at end of Pulldown Phase: 2.2 m/s

What these four metrics tell you is that is better for swimmers to perform their dolphin kick at the end of the glide phase, while their speed is slowing down from their second highest peak velocity. By performing the dolphin kick at this point, they will not only increase their speed during that portion of the pullout, but their average speed throughout entire pullout increases too!

Stay tuned for next week where we discuss how to minimize your drag components during your Breaststroke pullouts to give you the HIGHEST, average speed possible!

Until Next Time,

Abbie Fish

But wait, there's more! You can nail the perfect breaststroke pullout with a little more help. Sign up below and we'll send you Part III of this Breaststroke Pullout Technique Series. You'll be a master in no time! 

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