Backstroke swimming is the only swim stroke in which the swimmer’s face actually emerges from the water at the start of the stroke cycle. When striving to refine your backstroke technique and cut some crucial seconds, or milliseconds, off your personal best, it creates a new set of difficulties to conquer.
Learning the perfect backstroke swimming technique is not impossible. You can easily float on your back with enough practice, and everything else will come naturally. However, mastering backstroke swimming can be a little trickery. Here we will provide provides you with the ultimate backstroke drills to optimise your swimming technique:
Build a solid base:
The base of backstroke swimming is a good body position. Your position should be parallel to the water’s surface. You will experience significant drag & waste energy if your chest is elevated and your legs are lowered. Maintain a straight line between your feet, thighs, head, and body.
By imagining yourself dragging your belly button into your spine, maintain your core tight while you push into the water with your head’s back and shoulder blades. Your legs will be raised as a result.
To find the right body position, practice kicking drills while lying on your back. Try twenty five counts with your arms at your sides, then by 25 counts with your arms streamlined. Your kick should lift your feet to the surface they are close to.
Lock Your Head Position Down:
You can optimise your backstroke swimming technique by locking your lead position down, as your head posture significantly affects your bodyline. Therefore it is critical to maintaining stillness. Keep your head from inclining too far back. Water should be just brushing your chin but not entering your mouth, and your chin should be slightly tucked. Avoid allowing your head to sway along with your shoulders.
Try to balance a Dixie cup full of water right above your goggles on your forehead for a good test. First, try kicking with it before adding your arms to the mix. The cup shouldn’t come off during the duration of your length. If not, you are shifting your head too far back or forward or tilting it.
Always Moving Arms:
While doing backstroke swimming, your arms should always be in motion. When one completes a stroke, the other must be prepared to begin the next. Pay attention to the path of your pull and your catch. Once your arm is in the water ahead of your shoulder, catch it by pressing your palm downward. You should pivot at the elbow by keeping your palm flat and joining to your forearm as one large paddle. The first part of your draw should be made using shallow-fingered fingers.
Consider that you are indicating the height of two brothers when you catch them. Your elbow pivot, your fingers are just below the surface, and you have a level palm. The tallest one is at your catch, and the middle one is in the middle of your pull. Slide your hand down from the tallest brother to the middle brother such that your palm is facing down and your hand ends up parallel to your ribs while keeping your elbow pointed back towards you. Have your arm emerge from the water after pushing the water past your hip. Practice this by doing several slow one-arm backstrokes.
Follow a Proper Breathing Pattern:
During backstroke swimming, it doesn’t imply you should breathe anytime you feel like it just because you’re on your back and have your face above the water. Like freestyle, breaststroke, and butterfly stroke, your backstroke swimming technique will benefit from synchronising your breaths with your strokes rather than breathing randomly.
You should follow a proper breathing pattern to prevent water from entering your mouth or nose. Keep your airways open by breathing at regular intervals when they’re in the least amount of water splashing around from your pull. Maintaining your rhythm and tempo is also simpler when you follow a proper breathing pattern.
Although backstroke swim is a lovely stroke, getting that effortless, flowing look requires some practice. After establishing a strong base, work on the individual parts of your arms and legs and master one at a time. The smoothness will emerge.
