What makes it so hard? The answer is all of it. The timing of when to do each of the parts of it, shooting your arms and legs forward quickly, not taking too long or too short of a breathe, not inhaling water while you breathe, staying under water long enough to complete a pull out off of starts and each wall, and snapping your legs together painfully fast after each stroke. Only after putting all of these components together and more do you get a solid stroke.
In the book "Swimming for Exercise" by Greg Whyte having proper breaststroke technique is what is heavily encouraged. "Breathe out beneath the water during the glide phase, when you should be looking down at the bottom of the pool. Then, following the outsweep and insweep of the arms, lift your head as you squeeze your elbows together in the recovery."(Whyte 36). What this is saying is that timing your breathing during the stroke correctly is what can make or break your race, so you should have your head low and tilted more towards the water.
When I applied this technique to my stroke, I didn't notice much of a difference, since this was what I had been doing for several years. However, I do remember when I applied it several years ago that it was a completely different stroke. It made me feel faster and more powerful, as if tilting my head further up had made it a burden, and tilting my head downward had made me so streamlined that this burden was no longer an issue.
I would recommend doing trying this technique for any swimmer (specifically breaststrokers) in order to go faster on their stroke.
What stroke is your favorite? Or if you don't have one, which do you think looks most difficult?
Citation:
Whyte, Gregory P., and Eddie Jacob. Swimming for Exercise: Optimize Your Technique, Fitness and Enjoyment. Richmond Hill, Ont.: Firefly, 2011. Print.
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