What We Taught at Summer Swim Camp: Underwaters – Pullouts

The breaststroke pullout contains several of the most disruptive movements and positions in all of swimming. So when we teach this skill at summer camp, we separate each movement. The improvement can be dramatic.

**Monday**

**Breaststroke Underwater Pullout Progression: Step 1 - Streamline**

Step 1 is as simple as it gets. Push off in streamline and…hold.

<https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2143-step-1-underwater-pull> 

:14 - push off and glide

:22 - losing balance

:28 - better line

:34 - learn the right toe point

:36 - experiment with overlapped toes

:45 - point to point

:50 - point to point

**Tuesday**

**BR UW PO Prog: Step 2 – Single Dolphin**

Push off as in Step 1, add a single dolphin kick and…hold.

<https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2144-step-2-underwater-pull> 

:04 - adding the dolphin

:12 - adding the dolphin

:14 - Push off - glide - add the dolphin - continue the glide

:31 - Start the teaching process early

:48 - try to keep the line more parallel to the surface.

**Wednesday**

**BR UW PO Prog: Step 3 – Pull Down**

Push off in streamline, add a single dolphin, then pull arms down and…hold. Keep the head in line and moving forward.

<https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2145-step-3-underwater-pull> 

:07 - pull down

:15 - push and glide

:19 - dolphin back to line

:23 - keep the elbows in front of the shoulders

:26 - hide the hands at the end.

:27 - head is slightly down compared to body line

:46 - elevate the eyes slightly so the head doesn’t tuck

:54 - avoid the wide - straight arm pull

:57 - great head position

1:03 - chin extended slightly

1:09 - pull down - extend the chin

**Thursday**

**BR UW PO Prog: Step 4 – Recover the Arms**

You guessed it. Execute Steps 1, 2, and 3. Then recover JUST the hands and…hold.

<https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2146-step-4-underwater-pullout> 

:06 - the death position (for performance)

:18 - Watch the hips in relation to the lane-line

:27 - push and glide

:28 - add the underwater dolphin

:29 - stack the pulldown

:32 - recover the arms to streamline without the legs

:37 - hide the recovery as much as possible

:38 - fight the instinct of kicking here

:42 - watch the bottom while recovering to see if you are maintaining momentum

:45 - wish the hands would have been going more forward rather than up

1:05 - when learning the movements will have pauses between - when racing, the pauses are minimized

**Friday**

**BR UW PO Prog: Step 5 – Add the Kick**

The final movement. Be patient. Delay the kick until AFTER the hands have started to move forward.

<https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2147-step-5-underwater-pull> 

:08 - focus on the size of the kick

:17 - better line of the kick - half in front - half behind

:25 - slow motion - show the size of the kick

:29 - slow motion - .4% playback - 

:37 - point out that the bottom video has the legs initiating the kick a bit sooner

:50 - try to wait until the hands start to pierce to recover the legs

1:04 - the panic effect & knees a bit in front and feet a bit behind

1:21 - ending up in a shallow parallel line

Maintain the momentum off the wall

**Saturday**

**Brendan McHugh: Underwater Pull Details**

Brendan McHugh demos how to put all the steps together.

<https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2183-underwater-pull-details> 

:19 - Streamline!

:30 - big set up but very quick

:57 - focus on the stability of the hands as the kick finishes

1:08 - as soon as the kick finishes, the hands start

1:14 - power position and narrow pull

1:30 - hands down position

1:31 - toe point

1:49 - hands far forward prior to legs recovering

1:59 - the image you want to see

2:08 - hands by the ears - legs some in front some behind

2:21 - looking at the line break from hips to knees

2:36 - eyes down but just starting to come up

2:45 - shallow and parallel to the surface

2:58 - UP through the hole

**Sunday**

For some swimmers and for certain breaststroke or IM events, it can be advantageous NOT to do an underwater pullout. Here’s what that looks like – proof that it can be graceful, legal, and fast.

<https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2608-breaststroke-no-underwater-pullout> 

:14 - what we typically see

:35 - push - dolphin - pull

:47 - push off - dolphin - pull

1:03 - leave more shallow

1:18 - keep the head down until the first stroke

1:40 - masters swimmers

1:49 - masters skip it

2:09 - more strokes / more air / does it work?

**Bonus**

**Breast Drill: UW Pull Rate**

<https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2253-breaststroke-underwater-pull-rate> 

Start - 1:60

1:17 - 1:20


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Aug 29, 2023 - Breaststroke Pullouts - Summer Camp Zoom