Breaststroke

Start long and flat, face down, arms stretched in front with hands together. Look down at the bottom while you are long. Keep your hips at or near the surface.

stretched out, hips up.

Slide your hands out to about shoulder width. This part is a setup, not a big pull, so don't rush it or force it.

a patient slide out.

Press your hands down and let your elbows stay high, fingertips pointing down, so your hands and forearms face back. Then squeeze hands and forearms in together as one unit toward your upper chest.

you hold the water with your whole forearm, not just your palms.

Stop the pull in front of your chest, with your elbows coming to your sides, not back to your hips. Keep your elbows behind your hands and shoot your hands straight forward, close together, just under or skimming the surface. Recover fast.

a short, quick pull and a fast spear forward.

Start your breath as your hands press down and in: lift your shoulders and chest forward so your chin just clears the water. Don't lift your head on its own; that drops the hips and strains the back. Go only as high as you need to breathe.

rise forward, not straight up.

Bring your head, chest and arms back down together as your hands shoot forward. Pressing the head and chest down helps your hips come back up. Breathe out under water while you are long.

head returns with the arms as one piece.

As your arms recover forward, bring your heels quickly toward your bottom. Think heels to bottom, not knees to chest. Your knees sit about hip width or a little wider, angled down behind the hips.

fast recovery, quiet knees.

Turn your feet out as far as you can, toes toward the side walls, ankles flexed, with your feet wider than your knees. The insides of your feet and shins are your paddles.

you feel water on the soles and inner shins.

Push the water back, not out to the sides, and speed up as your legs squeeze together, finishing long with toes pointed. Keep your knees steady; if they slide outward you are kicking around instead of back.

a whip that accelerates to the finish.

Kick as your arms reach full extension, then hold a short streamline before the next pull. Pull only once the kick has finished. The faster you swim, the shorter that streamline gets: elite breaststrokers glide for a smaller share of each stroke than slower swimmers, so don't hold it until you stall.

pull, breathe, kick, glide.

In a race, keep each cycle to one arm stroke then one leg kick, in that order, with both arms and both legs moving at the same time. Your elbows stay in the water, your hands don't go back past your hips (except the first pull after a start or turn), your head breaks the surface every cycle, your feet turn out during the kick, and you touch with both hands together. One downward dolphin kick is allowed only before the first breaststroke kick after a start or turn.

symmetrical and in order.