Backstroke Tips

There are several different elements to swimming with a proper backstroke technique. Pay close attention to your body position and get your technique right before you work on your speed. Swimmer with good technique can swim faster and longer than more athletic swimmers with poor technique.

These basic tips can help you refine your backstroke:

• Keep your Head in line with your spine
• In longer events, look straight up. In shorter events look slightly back towards your feet
• Your shoulders and chest should rotate around central axis of your spine in same plane as your hips. Your upper shoulder is on recovery, while your lower shoulder pulling your arm through the water
• Your arms should always be 180-degrees from each other. Your arm speed is controlled by your kick speed. Your recovery arm is straight from wrist to shoulder and points straight up
• The propulsive surface of your arm (the line from fingertips through wrist and elbow) starts pointing towards the bottom and side of the pool, rotates more towards the side and surface of the pool, then finishes releasing the water towards the feet and under the hips; (1 )reach towards the bottom, (2) then arm-wrestle, (3)then throw something into your pocket.
• Your hips rotate around central axis of your spine in same plane as shoulders. Attempt to initiate body rotation from your hips
• Kick in a steady 6-beat tempo; a faster tempo results in faster hands
• Take one breath per cycle; inhale on one pull, exhale on the next pull

As always, the #1 thing you can do to improve your swimming is to practice.