Breaststroke Kick

The sternum thrust is learned with a land exercise called the mountain and the moon. The mountain is the bent knees and the moon is the synchronized semi-circular movement performed with both legs. The exercise works as follows: Sit on the floor opposite your child and demonstrate the steps, your child should then copy you: Step 1: The legs are fully extended, the feet are also extended and point forward. You can use your hands to support yourself on the floor at the back. Step 2: The legs are pulled up, the feet are still next to each other and stretched out. Your knees are touching. This is the mountain. Step 3: Turn your feet outwards. The knees should only be slightly apart. The heels continue to touch. Step 4 Slowly move your feet forward in a synchronized circular motion. Imagine a large circle (moon) on the floor, which you move along with your feet. Halfway along the circle, start to turn your outwardly turned feet inwards again. As soon as your legs are stretched out and closed again, your feet are also stretched out again. Repeat this exercise dozens of times. Very slowly at first, then with more speed. More speed means that the circular movement is performed faster and the feet are brought together. As soon as the legs are stretched after the circular movement, wait at least two seconds before starting the next leg kick. The focus of the exercise is on the circular movement and the correct foot position. Once you have performed the exercise several times on land and have mastered it, you can sit on a swimming board at the edge of the pool and try the same exercise with your legs in the water. When doing the exercise in the water, you should try to displace as much water as possible with the circular movement and correct foot position.