Many young breaststrokers search for power rather than finess when trying to go fast. Sometimes forcing them into a rate above what's comfortable can help them keep the hands quick, and where they should be.

**Why do it:**

Pulling back too far can get many swimmers stuck in breaststroke. If the hands are too far back, and the breath takes too long, many swimmers pause or stop in this position.

**How to do it:**

**1)** You're going to need a few tools for this. A) Finis Tempo Trainer, B) Big paddles, C) Fast fins.

**2)** Set the Tempo Trainer to a relatively slow speed, we'll say 1.50 for this exercise.

**3)** The swimmer pushes off and gets used to the pace. Take a single dolphin kick underwater on each beep.

**4)** Initiate a stroke of breaststroke on every other beep. Do this so the swimmer can start to feel how to get the hands forward.

**5)** Move to taking a stroke, with a dolphin kick on every beep. This should be a fairly quick pace, maybe even just a bit above what the swimmer's normal pace is.

**6)** Decrease the time by .10 on the Tempo Trainer and repeat.

**How to do it really well (the fine points):**

Keep pushing the time down until it's nearly impossible for the swimmer to keep up with the pace. We pushed this down to 1:00 on the Tempo Trainer. While not easy to keep up, it certainly should keep the hands a bit further out. Also, if you tuck up the legs for a dolphin kick, you'll create too much restance to keep this higher rate up.


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Breaststroke - Forced Hand Speed