Breaststroke - Heel Touch Kick

While we’ve spent years focusing on a narrow breaststroke kick, we can’t forget that we need to make sure the feet are connecting correctly no matter where the push initiates.

Why do it:
Toes out is the most important part of the breaststroke kick propulsion phase, so learning how high you’re able to grab the water is very important.

How to do it:
1)  Push off underwater, with your hands behind you and start kicking breaststroke.
2)  Lift your heels up to touch your hands on each kick.
3)  Flip over on your back to continue working on this for longer periods.

How to do it really well (the fine points):
Make sure you’re not crunching up to draw the feet up, but lift the heels first when initiating the recovery.  When your heels touch your fingers, shift the focus to pointing the toes OUT to the walls.  This is the part that works the catch of the kick, and learning to turn out during the press down is as important as limiting the resistance of the recovery.

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