**Hand, Head, Eye, and Hip Position**
Whether your breaststroke is flat, wave-style, or somewhere in between (like Karlyn), the goal is to minimize drag and maintain momentum. 

The best way to do this is to get into an almost streamlined body position on every stroke.  

If we stop it here, you can see Karlyn’s breaststroke streamline -- arms extended, head between arms, eyes down, hips high, legs long, and toes pointed.   Here it is again...streamline.

It’s a simple thing, but getting into “breaststroke streamline” on every stroke is the easiest way to go faster.

**Use a High-Elbow Catch**
From her streamlined position, Karlyn points her hands to the corners of the lane.  She tries to slide the hands out with almost no effort, as if she were parting the water.  

With the arms in a “V,” and hands pointed to the corners, Karlyn pops the elbows and points her fingertips down to initiate the catch.  

Here it is in slow motion.  She parts the water...points to the corners...POPS the elbows, and points her fingertips down to start the catch.

Here’s another angle where you can see how she moves from streamline arms, to arms in a “V,” to lifting the elbows and aiming the fingertips toward the bottom.

**Know Where and How to Apply Power**
Karlyn’s pull is small, quick, and compact.  Her hands describe a “U” shape during the insweep, and she puts the umph -- the power -- at the bottom of the “U.”

If we slow it down, you can see that Karlyn creates an unbroken surface from fingertips to elbows, and maintains a firm wrist all the way through the press.

Karlyn begins the press when her hands are about half way down the “U.”   But the real press -- the UMPH -- comes as the hands press through the bottom of the “U.”  

Karlyn’s pull is small, quick, and compact.  She pulls the hands just under the chin and not to her chest.  And she never lets the hands get stuck under her chin.  

As she takes a quick breath, the hands keep moving as they come together and shoot forward into streamline.

**Keep the Kick Small and Quick**
In the next few clips, focus just on Karlyn’s kick.  To minimize drag, and because she’s more of a puller than a kicker, Karlyn uses a small, narrow kick, and tries to push water back with her feet.

Instead of slamming the feet together, Karlyn thinks about staying narrow with her knees... and kicking back with her feet.  

From the side, you can see another important way that Karlyn minimizes drag.  When she sets up for the kick, Karlyn draws her heels up toward her butt...rather than drawing her knees up to her chest. 

As Karlyn sets up for the kick, she keeps her feet and legs hidden behind her body, and this minimizes drag.

**Practice Relaxed Breathing**
In all four strokes, Karlyn uses breathing as part of her technique.

If you watch the bubbles near Karlyn’s face, you can see that she exhales almost continuously from the moment her face enters the water...to the moment she rises to air.

She tries not to push her air out -- or force it out.  Instead, she hums her air out.  She hums to the surface, releasing most but not ALL of her air... takes a “soft” inhale... and starts humming again as her face enters the water.

A relaxed breathing pattern helps her stay in rhythm and stay focused on bringing each stroke back to streamline.


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Breaststroke - Applying The Six Principles