Underwater Flow gives you a heightened awareness of balance and alignment.

It allows you to focus more completely on initiating power from your chest and body rather than from you legs.  You kick should be big…but it should start from the chest and not from the knees.  Notice how Dave drives himself forward from the front of his body – with his hands and chest.  This is the most important body motion for breaststroke.    The idea is to flow through the water and to feel little or no resistance.  

Stay completely submerged as you practice this drill.  Allow yourself to feel the flow and the rhythm as you slip through one hole in the water.   Try to imagine a sine wave, a dolphin, a sea serpent, or even a mermaid, flowing effortlessly through the water.    The rhythm moves seamlessly from fingertips to toes.

Separating the hands like this makes it easier to move your body in a dolphin-like wave.

If you swim in an outdoor pool, watch your shadow on the bottom to see if your hand position is correct and if you’re maintaining a steady rhythm.

Focus on your chest and hips rather than on your legs.  Feel how the chest rises…and falls…and see how much height or vertical movement you can get in your hips.  

Notice how Staciana leads with her hands and chest, and how that “wave” travels all the way through her back …is transferred to her hips…and finally snaps out through the feet.  It’s as if she’s snapping a whip…from the front…to the back.

Dave also uses this snapping motion to move forward.   His hands initiate the direction.  His head and chest press in.  His hips go up…and the feet crack down.


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Underwater Flow