What a timing overlap is
Breaststroke works in a fixed order: the arms pull and recover, then the legs kick. A timing overlap is when the kick starts before the arms have finished recovering.
The arms and legs end up working at the same time, instead of one after the other.
Why it costs you
Kicking into arms that are still in the way cancels part of the drive. The two halves of the stroke fight each other.
The kick also arrives before the body is long and narrow, so it pushes a bigger shape through the water.
How to fix it
Keep the order: pull and breathe, shoot the hands forward, then kick and stretch out.
The kick should finish as the arms reach full length, so you travel along a long, narrow line. Give that line a short moment before the next pull.
One drill to try
- Swim one pull, then two kicks with the arms stretched in front.
- Feel the kick arrive only once the hands are forward.
- Go back to one pull and one kick, keeping exactly the same order.
How to film it so Llyr can read it
Stand your phone on the pool deck, side-on to your lane, with your whole body in the frame. Llyr shows you how to frame the shot.
From the side, Llyr can follow both the arms and the legs through each stroke and see which starts first.
Already have a clip? You can import a video you filmed earlier. Read the full filming guide.
What you see in Llyr
When the kick starts early stroke after stroke, Llyr names it Timing overlap.
This one lives on the timeline strip under your video rather than on your body, with ticks marking the strokes where it happened.
The cue to take into your next set is Pull, breathe, kick, glide.
If your knees spread on the kick, read how to fix a wide breaststroke kick as well.
Llyr is a second set of eyes, not a coach. Check each correction on the replay, and if your coach sees it differently, go with your coach.