Inverted Breaststroke

Superstrong

Hi Guys.I'm a full teacher and have been teaching swimming for years.Where I work we have a small dilemma regarding teaching inverted breaststroke.Some are of the opinion that it shiuld be taught with the child in forward position instead of lying back into the water.The reason being so the knees will be kept under the water and also it will aid them further down the line if they have to tow people in the rescue or pool lifeguard courses.i don't agree with this method of teaching.I think the kid should lying flat as in back crawl and that the teacher should still be able to perfect the kick and keep the knees under the surface.Whats your opinions?

Thanks

Clseeper

I always teach the stroke on their front. Mainly because its the position during full stroke brs, it also encourages them to drive and glide forward.

Having said that I find that inverted brs has it's advantages in correcting screwkick. You are much more aware of the position of your knees when you’re on your back and concentrating on keeping them underneath the water.

In inverted brs, as a drill for full stroke, I think it's actually quite important to keep the knees under the water. That way the swimmers get use to the inevitable frontal resistance provided by the thighs and legs during the recovery. They have to learn to optimise their kick to get enough power to move them forward and overcome the resistance in the stroke.

Inverted brs isn't a stroke; I'd only use it as a drill in special cases. I think the majority of the work should be done with an aim to improve your proper full stroke breaststroke i.e. on your front.

In relation to the advantages in lifesaving; is it not more effective to use a side stroke scissor kick to stop your knees digging into, and been obstructed by, the back of your casualty? That’s the way I’ve been taught and have taught it for long arm, cross chest etc. If your on your side then it’s not practical to do a large, strong brs kick. Having said that, I don’t think there’s a wrong way to save someone, get them out as quick as possible with minimum damage and danger to yourself ;-)

My post is a bit of a ramble, but just my thoughts. Hope this helps.

Superstrong

Thanks for the reply CLseeper.We teach the Irish water safety syllabus to the kids and inverted breastroke is a stroke that is tested in swim 3,4 and 5.The teachers are divided on the the way inverted breaststroke is taught.Some think leaning forward ir sitting uprights is the way to teach it but i don't agree and always teach with the kid lying flat in the water.

Clseeper

From your original post I assumed you may have been from the older generation and was still trying to teach the old backstroke [double arm & brs legs on back] Now that would have bugged me.

I'd agree with your thoughts then. The stroke should be done as flat as posibble on the back to reduce resistance while keeping the knees under the water.

AngryHippie

I teach it out flat same BP as backcrawl, but I get them to keep head up a little to sink the legs and stop the knees coming out of the water, I only use it as a leg drill for full Breaststroke, so they can see their own leg action, and it allows full advantage of mimic of my demonstrations, they can see their own mistakes, and feel the power of the kick when it works at the same time.
As a life saving stroke, I personally prefer Sidestroke, as it is faster and allows for swifter movement to safety, but again, If I had to tow someone more than 100yds, Sidestroke would leave me knackered with a long way to go, so the full stroke should be taught as well, just to cover the bases imo.
Unfortunately, Water safety in my area seems to have died a death, There is an RLSS course being run in the pool in July, which seems to be the only lifesaving activity on the calender. I've e-mailed the local WSO a few times, and tried ringin him another few, because I still haven't finished my stage 2, I have my ASA level 2 done in the meantime so I'm happy out teaching under Swim Ireland, but I remember water safety weeks being a big part of the Summer as a kid myself and it is a shame they've been allowed to fall into decline