Strapless Paddles has always been one of our favorite drills for developing a good feel for the water, but if you go too fast, they may fall off too frequently.

Why do it:
While this is technically "strapless", grabbing the paddle pushes the focus just a bit further down the arm to the forearm.  Developing the feel of press to this larger surface area will make for a better breaststroke.

How to do it:
1 - Get paddles without any straps on them, flat paddles work best.
2 - Turn them upside down, so the flat part that goes across the wrist makes it easier to grab.
3 - Grab the paddle with the tops of the fingers and pull fast breaststroke with a dolphin kick.

How to do it really well (the fine points):
If you keep the stroke rate high enough, you'll have no choice but to work the outsweep and press, but the additional focus is turning the hands to the recovery mode for a fast attack forward.

Remember, our demonstrator held the American Record for the 50 meter breaststroke for a while, so this specific exercise is NOT for developing swimmers.  If you're just learning these skills... revisit some standard Strapless Paddle Sculling that Brendan McHugh is showing here.

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Breaststroke - Aggressive Strapless Paddles