The breaststroke is often the first of the basic swimming strokes taught to beginners. The modern breaststroke kick is in fact a whip kick. The arms stroke phases include a recovery forward, an out sweep, an in sweep where the hands meet below the chest, and again the recovery. All arm and leg movements occur below or at the water surface.
Young boy with fish-like swim cap doing breaststroke
Breaststroke is one of the first swim strokes taught to beginners
One of the advantages of the breaststroke is that at a basic level, the head can always stay above water. This gives excellent visibility while swimming and avoids breathing issues.
Another advantage is that both arms and both legs execute the same motion synchronously, which makes this swim stroke one of the easier ones to learn.
The main shortcoming of the breaststroke is that it’s slower and less efficient than the other strokes.
Backstroke
Backstroke is often the next stroke taught to swimmers. As its name suggests, it is swum on the back. The backstroke kick is a kind of flutter kick, which means that the legs alternatively kick up and down.
The arms execute kind of an alternate windmill-like motion. The straight arm recovers above the water in a circular motion from the hip to an extended to the front position, then catches and pulls under the water from the extended front position back to the hip.
The advantage of the backstroke is that as it is swum on the back, breathing issues are avoided once the swimmer has good balance. It is also more efficient than breaststroke and can be swum for long distances. As it gives the back an excellent workout, it is also often advised as a remedy against back problems.
The backstroke has also its shortcomings. It is slower than freestyle or butterfly. For novice swimmers, it can be difficult to find balance on the back and then breathing becomes an issue as the nose is up and water can easily enter the nose. Finally, it can be uncomfortable for beginners to not being able to see in which direction they are swimming.
The Freestyle Stroke
The freestyle stroke is swum flat on the stomach. The feet execute the same kind of flutter kick like in the backstroke. The arms execute an alternate motion where they recover from the hip to the front above the water, then catch and pull back to the hip under the swimmer’s body in the water.
The advantage of the freestyle stroke is that it’s the fastest and also most efficient swim stroke. The fastest event in a swimming competition is always the freestyle. And distance swimmers nearly always use the freestyle as it allows to cover long distances while wasting the least amount of energy.
The difficulty of freestyle is that as the face is submerged and turned towards the bottom of the pool, it must be rotated to the side at the right moment to allow for breathing. The coordination of breathing and swimming in the freestyle stroke makes it one of the more difficult swim strokes to master.
Source http://www.enjoy-swimming.com/basic-swimming-strokes.html