Breaststroke

Learning breaststroke with Dual Boards allows the swimmer to comfortably correct their body position and increases balance and buoyancy.

Example

With Dual Boards, the swimmer kicks their face into the water and holds a streamline-like position. Teaching patience, Dual Boards helps the swimmer glide more after kicking, allowing the momentum to carry the Boards and swimmer farther than otherwise would have occurred. Dual Boards can be used in a horizontal beginner position, where the Boards lie flat on the water’s surface, or at various intermediate and advanced angles, where the blades of the Boards can be partially or entirely under water; a position we like to call the “shark fin” position. When pressure is applied downwards on the Boards, especially in the “shark fin” position, the swimmer’s spine and feet more easily rise while the Boards go under the water’s surface and head goes forward eyes facing down; here the swimmer searches for optimal balance and buoyancy as they glide. As they increase the power of their kick and pick up their overall tempo, the swimmer gets closer and closer to the surface where the elite kicker feels like their hips are higher than they have ever been and their hands and head, in the streamline-like position, feel just slightly lower than their hips! The swimmer’s core is engaged, as they get the sensation of kicking downhill like a skier on a black diamond slope.

M Position

Dual Boards give the swimmer the ability to watch their legs, and to study and understand their kick. Additionally, the swimmer can pause in the pre-kick position to analyze themselves, and to observe the proximity of their knees and the flexion and angle of their ankles. Regular kickboards would not help the swimmer to perform this task; the kickboards are typically too big, the swimmers’ hands would not be fixed to the board, and their balance, position and comfort would likely be negatively impacted.