Kick and Hold
A breaststroke kick followed by a held streamline glide – teaches swimmers that the glide is part of the stroke.
- Stages
- Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Skills
- Streamlining, Breaststroke Kick, Coordination, Breaststroke Timing
- Equipment
- None, Float
- Age
- 7–99 years
- Group size
- 1–10 swimmers
- Time
- About 5 minutes
- In a lesson
- Skill Development 1, Skill Development 2
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Check swimmers can breathe comfortably between kicks.
What it develops
- Streamlined push and glide on front and back
- Show early actions for all four strokes
- Keep a flat, horizontal body position
- Show an effective breaststroke leg action
- Breaststroke with effective kick, glide and timing
How to run it
- Swimmers push and glide on the front, arms streamlined.
- Do one breaststroke kick, then hold the streamline for a count of 2.
- Repeat kick, hold, kick, hold across the width.
- Add a breath before each kick.
Teaching cues
- Kick, then hold.
- Arrow arms.
- Count two in your glide.
Make it easier
- Hold a float instead of streamlining.
- Count one instead of two.
Make it harder
- Add simple breaststroke arms: pull, breathe, kick, glide.
- Fewer kicks per width.
Common faults
- No hold – kicking continuously.
- Arms apart during the glide.
Corrections
- Teacher counts the hold out loud.
- 'Glue your hands together.'
Assistant / L1 role
- Walk alongside counting 'kick… one, two' so swimmers feel the timing.