Breaststroke Drill Progression

Kick isolation

Drill 2: Whip Kick on Back

Float on your back, arms at your sides or crossed on your chest, and execute the breaststroke kick with full visibility. On your back, the swimmer — and the coach — can see exactly what is happening with both legs. Does one heel come up higher than the other? Are the knees splaying wide instead of staying hip-width apart? Is there a scissor kick hiding in the recovery? The back position exposes all of it.

The most critical mechanical correction at this stage is the heel-to-butt recovery, not knees-to-chest. When knees pull toward the chest, the hips sink, the drag spikes, and the kick loses its whip. The heels should track directly toward the glutes, with the knees no wider than hip-width. Toes flex out and rotate at the moment of the kick, then snap together like a dolphin tail driving water backward.

Kick + glide

Drill 3: Kick on Front with Board

Same kick as Drill 2, now executed prone with hands resting on a kickboard. The prone position adds the element of body position management — the swimmer must now hold hips near the surface while executing the kick, which is harder than it sounds. More importantly, this drill introduces the glide: after every kick, the swimmer must hold a full two to three second pause before initiating the next recovery.

This is where breaststroke patience is built. Swimmers who rush through the glide are almost always reacting to a kick that doesn't feel powerful enough to earn a rest. If that's the case, back up to Drill 2 and fix the kick. The glide is not wasted time — it's where the speed from the kick is being used. Killing it early means throwing away free distance.

Arm isolation

Drill 4: Sculling

Arms only, no kick. The swimmer sculls in place or moves slowly forward using small figure-eight sweeps of the hands and forearms. The goal is to build pressure sensitivity — the ability to feel water loading on the palm and forearm during the outsweep and insweep. This is the foundation of the breaststroke catch, and it cannot be skipped.

Most age-group swimmers have never been taught to scull. They are taught to pull, which often means dropping the elbow and pushing water down instead of back. Sculling forces the elbows to stay near the surface and teaches the hands to press against a "wall" of water rather than slicing through it. If a swimmer cannot scull competently, their pull will never generate meaningful propulsion regardless of how strong they are.

Pull + recovery

Drill 5: Pull with a Buoy

Place a pull buoy between the thighs. Push off the wall in streamline, then execute only the arm stroke — no kick. The buoy stabilizes the lower body and removes the coordination challenge of timing the kick, allowing the swimmer to focus entirely on the mechanics of the pull and, most critically, the speed of the hand recovery.

The single most important technical element at this stage is fast hands forward. After the insweep brings the hands under the chin, the recovery must be explosive — shoot the hands forward toward the streamline position as fast as possible. Slow hands forward create drag: the forearms act like a brake while the body is still moving. Fast hands forward slice through the water and complete the streamline before speed dissipates.

Integration

Drill 6: Two Kicks, One Pull

Execute one full pull cycle followed by two kicks before initiating the next pull. The sequence is: pull — breathe — kick — kick — hold the line — pull again. This overloaded kick ratio is one of the most effective tools in the breaststroke coaching toolkit because it makes the glide mandatory. There is simply no way to rush into the next stroke when a second kick must occur first.

The second kick is intentional and nearly as powerful as the first. This is where many swimmers fail — they treat it as a lazy flick of the legs rather than a real propulsive kick. Coaches should watch for this immediately. If the second kick is weak, stop the set and require the swimmer to execute two strong, identical kicks before continuing. The drill loses its value if the second kick is used as a timing trick rather than a genuine kick.

This drill also exposes swimmers who collapse their streamline between the two kicks. After the first kick, the body should hold a perfect streamline through the second kick and into the glide. Any sag in the hips, any bend at the knees, or any drift of the arms means the body line is not yet automatic enough for race-pace timing work.

This drill sequence forces the swimmer to feel the glide phase as an earned rest — not a pause, but a moment of speed. The cue is simple: pull, kick, kick, hold the line. Say it on every cycle until it becomes automatic.

Race application

Drill 7: Full Stroke, Lowest Stroke Count

Swim full breaststroke and count strokes per length. Then repeat the set with one goal: reduce the stroke count by one or two strokes per length without reducing speed. This drill is the payoff for every technical investment made in Drills 1 through 7. It rewards distance per stroke — the fundamental efficiency metric of breaststroke — over stroke rate, which is a common amateur tendency.

A swimmer who spins their arms fast is working hard. A swimmer who takes three fewer strokes per length at the same speed is swimming smarter. At the competitive level, distance per stroke is the primary separator between good breaststrokers and elite ones. Stroke rate can always be increased at race pace. Distance per stroke, once lost in the race plan, cannot be recovered.

The cue for this drill — kick your hands forward — is one of the most effective imagery cues in breaststroke coaching. It connects the power of the kick to the urgency of the hand recovery. The kick should feel like it's launching the hands into streamline. When swimmers internalize this image, the glide phase appears naturally and the stroke count drops without conscious effort.