Breaststroke - Butt Head

To celebrate the birthday of my son and daughter, plus Father's Day, I put together this drill with my daughter.  While it's an old and standard drill, we gave it a more youthful and edgy name to encourage the kids to think about technique as FUN.  We hope you're not offended but, if you are, think of it as finally an honest description to what this drill has been all along.

 - Learn great breaststroke from the master - get Dave Denniston's DVD

Why Do It:
Butt Head is a simple way to think about exactly which part of your body you'd like to be showing at certain times in the stroke when you're working on body movement and timing.  This drill encourages good body undulation as well as maintaining proper timing.

How to Do It:
1.  You can do this drill with or without fins.  It starts with a small breaststroke pull with a dolphin kick.  While doing this, repeat to yourself either BUTT or HEAD depending on which part of your body is above the water.  Say it with me now... butt... head... butt... head... very good.
2.  Take 2 to 3 strokes, making sure you maintain constant rhythm (which is why we used the Swimp3 player) with the dolphin kick.
3.  After the 2nd or 3rd stroke, take a full stroke of breaststroke along with a full kick, only...
4.  Don't allow the full stroke or kick to slow or disrupt your rhythm.

How to Do It Really Well (the Fine Points):
Don't go too deep when trying to show off your butt.  Stay a bit more shallow, making sure your head is close to the surface.  Experiment with various rhythms, and various counts... for example, do 2, 3, or 4 BUTT HEADS prior to taking your full stroke of breaststroke.  The key focus is to maintain your rhythm when the full stroke comes around.

Have a good time, and even if you don't get a lot out of the drill, you'll at least get a good laugh.