When we think about setting up the breaststroke pole, we want to make sure that we don't put so much power emphasis on the out sweep that we're just wasting energy. But at the same time, sometimes people put the timing of those things incorrectly. And that's the, when you lift the head, what point are the arms in the out sweep when the head starts to come up. And so many swimmers will initially lift the head as the arms are starting to separate, which is incorrect. So one exercise that we like to do is thumb lock breaststroke, with putting a lot of force on the out sweep or putting force against the fingers. So trying to separate them apart, at the same time, squeezing the head between the arms in the thumb lock position in the outstretched position, and then ripping the hands apart to make sure that the head is down before the hands go out. And so while this may seem like we're putting too much pressure on, this is really a timing exercise to teach people that the hands have to separate before the head comes up. And with some people making, this kind of quick action, it makes it automatic, because you cannot have the head blocked in there, sweep the hands out that quickly before the head comes up. So we're going to give it a shot here, again, really have the thumbs locked, but you're trying to push the arms apart so that once you separate them, they very quickly go out to the side, which makes it again really tough to have the head up while that's going on. So let's give it a shot.

As we increase the water speed and let's see what happens the same, same illustration, blocking the thumbs having them snap out while the head is locked in between them. Such a quick and easy exercise. Again, making sure that thumbs are locked and then almost trying to pull them apart and then releasing them makes for that very quick movement to the out sweep. But again, the point here is that the hands are going to go out before the head comes up. Which is much better timing for breaststroke works for swimmers of all levels and encourage you to give it a try.

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Breaststroke - Thumb-Lock Outsweep