7/15/05 BREASTSTROKE - Strong Hands and Wrists
Text, photos, and video by Glenn Mills
Demonstrated by Amanda Beard

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To have a great breaststroke, you need to create a large pulling surface with your arms. The best way to do this is to develop strong hands and wrists.

In these photos, and in the two-cycle video clip, watch how Amanda Beard creates a maximum pulling surface by turning her fingers, palm, wrist, and forearm into a single unit.

	During the initial outsweep, Amanda lengthens her pulling surface by keeping her wrists rigid and her fingertips in a straight line. Her pulling surface extends from her shoul-ders, through the elbows, across the wrists, and along the hands.
	As she continues the outsweep, Amanda’s hands continue to lengthen the arms. Al-though she angles the wrists a bit to leverage them against the muscles in her forearms, she still works the forearms, wrists, and palms as a single unit.
	When Amanda turns her hands in, she continues to use the arms and hands as a long paddle, or blade, while being careful NOT to allow the wrists to collapse, or break when they sweep in.