The four basic swimming styles II: breaststroke

Swimming brea<font style="background-color: yellow;">st</font>stroke is the polar opposite of swimming freestyle <font style="background-color: yellow;">(NB in British English the stroke is called "the crawl" or "crawl"):</font> freestyle is all about the arms while brea<font style="background-color: yellow;">st</font>stroke, despite <strike>it's</strike> <font style="background-color: yellow;">its</font>  name, is all about the legs. While swimming freestyle and backstroke your right and left arm and right and left leg take turns to provide continuous propulsion. While swimming breaststroke your right and left arm and your right and left leg work in synchrony and take turns with eachother. (I am very dissatisfied with this paragraph but I don't know how to say it better.)

The leg movement is called 'Grätsche' in German despite it being much more of a pushing movement not unlike doing knee-bends. The main difference lies in the very important foot positioning, the so called Charlie-Chaplin-position. Your arm pull is responsible for setting up your legs and for breathing. Brea<font style="background-color: yellow;">st</font>stroke alternates between the glide phase in which your body should be as close to a straight line as possible and the recovery phase which <font style="background-color: yellow;"><strike>let's</strike> lets</font> you breathe and sets up the next glide phase.

In Germany this is the first technique learned by beginners. The body positioning on the chest is more natural to most people than swimming on your back. Beginners usually don't submerge their head into the water which makes breathing a whole lot easier.
Compared to Freestyle and Backstroke Breaststoke is quite difficult to master. Unfortunately most Germans don't bother to master the technique at all. They seem to be satisfied to have mastered the skill of not drowning. And so you can't visit a German swimming pool without seeing adults swimming like children: head above the water for maximum back and neck pain, simultaneous leg and arm movement and no gliding phase at all for maximum inefficiency.

 

 NB a brief note about "it's" and "its":

"It's" is short for "it is".

"Its" (no apostrophe) is the possessive pronoun, e.g where you talk about breaststroke and "its name" you don't need an apostrophe as you are talking about the name that belongs to the thing (breaststroke).

 

 

 

 

 

The four basic swimming styles II: breaststroke

Swimming breast-stroke is the polar opposite of swimming freestyle. Freestyle is all about the arms while breaststroke, despite it's name, is all about the legs. While swimming freestyle and backstroke your right and left arm and right and left leg take turns to provide continuous propulsion. While swimming breaststroke all limbs work in synchrony together. (I am very dissatisfied with this paragraph but I don't know how to say it better.)

The leg movement is called 'Grätsche' in German despite it being much more of a pushing movement similar to knee-bends.* The main difference lies in the very important placing of the foot; the 'Charlie-Chaplin-position'. Your arm pull is responsible for setting up your legs and for breathing. Breastroke alternates between the glide phase where the body should be as close to a straight line as possible and the recovery phase which let's you breathe and prepares the next glide phase.

In Germany this is the first technique learned by beginners. The body positioning on the chest is more natural for most people than swimming on their back. Beginners usually don't submerge their head into the water which makes breathing much easier.
Compared to Freestyle and Backstroke, Breaststoke is quite difficult to master. Unfortunately most Germans don't bother to master the technique at all. They seem to be satisfied to have mastered the skill of not drowning. And so you can't visit a German swimming pool without seeing adults swimming like children: head above the water for maximum back and neck pain, simultaneous leg and arm movement and no gliding phase at all for maximum inefficiency.

*a double negative works, like you wrote, but it not as simple as a positive.

Very well written!