Insweep and leg lift mistakes during the kick in breaststroke

This post concludes the mistakes that swimmers might do during the kick in breaststroke.

The most common mistakes made in this phase of the kick are (1) extending the feet back before the insweep is finished, (2) failing to lift the legs after the insweep is complete, and (3) keeping the legs too close together.

1. The most common mistake swimmers make in this phase of the kick is to extend the feet back before the insweep is completed. Swimmers should not point the toes backward and lift the legs to the surface until the feet are nearly together. They should, instead, keep the feet traveling in and down across the water with the soles of the feet facing inward.
2. Another common mistake that swimmers make is to delay lifting the legs after the insweep has been completed. When swimmers do that their legs remain below their trunk, where they increase form drag and reduce their forward velocity during the succeeding armstroke.
3. Another mistake, this one involving the entire kick, is for swimmers to keep the legs too close together as they extend the legs back. With a narrow kick, many swimmers cannot get the feet facing back for the catch until they have already extended the legs quite a bit, which reduces the length of their propulsive phase. In addition, holding the knees close together places greater stress on the ligaments and medial menisci as swimmers try to rotate the lower legs outward into position for the catch. A kick that is wide enough to prevent injury and loss of propulsive force, yet not too wide, is one in which the knees are separated to approximately shoulder width when swimmers recover the legs forward. They should rotate the feet outside the shoulders during the outsweep and the first part of the insweep, but the feet should be coming back inside the shoulders as the legs are near complete extension.