How in the heck do the best get such an advantage off of the breakout?

How in the heck do the best get such an advantage off of the breakout? The answer is simple and teachable.

1. Push off of the wall with an excellent stream line. 

2. Use your push off and your underwater dolphin kicks to get under the wake created on the surface of the water. 

3. Begin to breakout by pulling with the bottom arm on the second to last dolphin kick. 

4. Continue your arm pull with an additional dolphin kick 

5. When the hand has reached the hip, conclude your dolphin kick and begin your flutter kick.

For any race, the breakout is crucial to maintaining speed during the transition from the underwater to the swimming portion. For backstroke and freestyle, it is also the time when swimmers must change from dolphin kick to flutter kick. Conventional wisdom says that this change should happen when the swimmer initiates his or her first arm stroke. However, many of our best National Team athletes have found great success using a technique we call the “Bonus Kick.”

The bonus kick is an extra dolphin kick used during the first arm pull on either backstroke or freestyle to help the swimmer “pop-up” through the surface of the water before they begin the flutter kick. As seen in the video clip below, the flutter kick does not begin until the first arm pull has finished down at the swimmer’s side