While backstroke maintains the body in a streamlined position, with the limbs able to apply constant propulsive forces due to the arms alternating action and the continuous flutter action of the legs, it is not as fast or efficient as freestyle. Backstroke is swum with arms out to the side of the body, meaning a swimmer cannot pull directly under their body, resulting in not reaching full potential power.
Hi, I’m Gary Barclay, and I’m going to give you a couple of tips in regards to how you can swim backstroke fast. The first tip is to make sure that when you swim backstroke that you keep your fingers together. You don’t want them too tight, just nicely together like that, so that when you swim through the water you’re pulling with the whole of your hand here and your forearm. Secondly, when you enter the water, you enter little finger first and then press up and keep a high elbow. You can actually pull around the side with your arm and pull yourself forward.
Remember in swimming, you actually move in the direction of the back of your hand, so you want the back of your hand facing in the direction that you want to go. And the final tip in backstroke is to make sure that as you’re pulling under water that you actually accelerate. So as your hands are pulling through, that you get faster, that you pull through faster through the water. To swim backstroke fast you need to start with the correct technique.
QUESTION Hi my name is Tito, I’m training to be a lifeguard but my only problems are my endurance due to my asthma and when it’s time to backstroke I have to use a ten pound weight and almost immediately I sink. What am I doing wrong? I try to keep my chest up as […]
Gary Barclay explains the correct position of the hand when entering in backstroke. Hi, I’m Gary Barclay, and today I’m going to talk to you in regards to the position of the hand on entry of the backstroke. Now the actual hand itself when it enters the water, you need to make sure that the […]
While backstroke maintains the body in a streamlined position, with the limbs able to apply constant propulsive forces due to the arms alternating action and the continuous flutter action of the legs, it is not as fast or efficient as freestyle. Backstroke is swum with arms out to the side of the body, meaning a […]
