There are two main strokes in swimming, the breaststroke and the freestyle. Many people starting out may wonder which stroke is better to learn first.
For many people, breaststroke is the harder stroke to learn. To swim the breaststroke, there is a certain way to coordinate the arms, legs and head that can be difficult to grasp.
On top of that, the student must learn how to do an unfamiliar movement with the frog kick, by bending and flexing their legs. This action is something that they would never do on land, and most people need guidance and time to master it.
In contrast, freestyle is the straightforward stroke. The arms are mainly thrown straight forward. And the paddle kick is much easier to do, and most can do it immediately. Often times, it can look like progress is faster with freestyle.
Why Breaststroke First?
But at Friendly Otter, we think its important to teach breaststroke first.
Why?
Learning breaststroke is like learning how to do four important techniques at the same time. The breaststroke itself, threading water, swimming underwater, and swimming on your back.
Firstly, breaststroke takes much less effort to move in the water. While freestyle is faster, it also takes more energy. So for lifesaving situations where you need to stay stationary (to wait for rescue) or move long distances (to get to safety), breaststroke is a far more useful stroke.
Learning breaststroke imparts strong fundamentals, and lets you control your movement in the water 360 degrees. It teaches how to circle your hands and legs to “catch” the water and keep afloat or moving. You can move how you want. Freestyle is mostly used to move straight ahead, and doesn’t have as much flexibility.
Secondly, the breaststroke kick lets you thread water effectively, something that cannot be done with the freestyle kick. This is one of the most essential skills in swimming, especially when dealing in open water.
Thirdly, breaststroke is the best way to move underwater. While you can get by with the freestyle kick, breaststroke teaches us how to move through the water much easier and faster because we are using both our hands and legs. It is practically the same as swimming on the surface, except that you are holding your breath.
Finally, the easiest way to swim on your back, the survival backstroke, is almost like the breaststroke done upside down. Many kids can pick this up in a single lesson. It is a fun and energy-saving stroke, and can be used to swim great distances.
All these techniques are required of the SwimSafer 2.0 curriculum, and another reason for us to emphasize breaststroke as a strong foundation for all.
Why Freestyle?
That said, we also teach freestyle almost as soon as breaststroke. As mentioned, freestyle is a much faster stroke and a very good way to exercise. It lets us exercise different muscle groups, and allows us to reduce fatigue by moving in a different way. Many people simply enjoy the freestyle more because its fast and the way their body glides in the water, almost like they are flying.
We also need to cycle through different strokes to keep things fresh. It would be quite boring to go through life with just one stroke!
Summary
At the end of the day, while learning breaststroke is important, freestyle won’t be neglected. Learning how to do both, plus all the other swimming styles, lets you be a well-rounded and confident swimmer.
