While we’ve all worked on “fast hands” in breaststroke, slow, non-directed hands are still a norm with most swimmers.  Here’s a short progression that can help to get some direction back in your breaststroke.

First, put on some fins.  Using fins takes the focus off the kick and moves all the attention to the front, the hands.

Start by taking very quick strokes of breaststroke with the head high.  While this isn’t “head-up” breaststroke, the rhythm will require that you stay very close to the surface.

Do your best to reach FULL EXTENSION prior to the hands dipping under the surface.  This is where you’re going to have to really move your attention to the ATTACK of the hands.

One detail that can help is making sure you WATCH the hands going forward.  This will require your head being higher than normal.  This will also impact the depth that you land in the water, causing you to stay very shallow... which also allows you to get to the next stroke right away.

A Tempo-Trainer is great in this drill as well.  It helps you find out where you are now, and you can reduce the time between beeps over time to increase your stroke rate.  Just be careful that you understand the focus of this specific part of the progression... YOU MUST REACH FULL EXTENSION!

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Step 1 - Fin Fast Hands Breaststroke