Backstroke Water Skills

Float on Spine

THE PURPOSE OF THIS DRILL •

Achieving an advantageous backstroke floating position

• Feeling effective core tension and stability

• Being comfortable on the back

HOW TO DO THIS DRILL

Step 1: Lay horizontally in the water, face up, without attempting any forward motion, arms at sides, head leading.

Step 2: Focus on how your spine affects your floatation. First, round your spine so that your knees come up toward your chest, and your hips are low, as if you were sitting in the water. Notice that you have a hard time floating in this position. Your face may even submerge.

Step 3: Resume your horizontal position in the water, face up. Focus on your spine. Now, arch your back, so your belly button is the highest point of your body. Try to get it above the water. Notice that by doing so your face submerges, or nearly submerges in the water. Your legs may also sink.

Step 4: Again lay horizontally in the water, face up. Focus on your spine. Make it as absolutely straight as possible. This includes straightening the natural bends in the small of the back and at the neck. To accomplish this, rotate your pelvis forward, and press the back of your head into the water. Notice that in doing so, you contract your abdominal muscles, and actually relax your neck. Notice too that your body floats more horizontally. This is the advantageous floating position which you can build a good backstroke stroke upon.

Step 5: Practice several times until you achieve the feeling of balancing on your spine.

1 & 1

Put your left paddle and your right fin now swim normal freestyle, try to pull as much water as the hand with the paddle on, and try to have an effective kick with both legs. Engage the core to stabilize your stroke.

How will it help?

• Improve your coordination.
• Stabilize your core
• Improve your pull and kick

Glide Rotate Glide

Useful equipment: snorkel, fins.

Some of us don’t rotate enough. This goes hand in hand with the gliding. You need a good rotation in order to glide and to grab more water with each stroke. So practice gliding and rotating your shoulders, then come back and rotate again before taking your next stroke.

How will it help?

• Make your stroke more efficient.
• Swim smoother long distances

Low Pullbouy

How will it help?

Breakout

Break out drill there is really no margin of error in the sprint freestyle event carrying the momentum from the dive or the turn throughout the entire swims is critical for a good fast free a good transition from your underwater to your stroke will help you carry that beep practice kicking in a streamline and doing an explosive breakout leave one arm in front then pull strongly with the other and when the first one is about to finish falling engage the second one as well

How will it help?

• Keep the speed from the dive
• Fast transition

-Variations-

Dolphin Breakout

Finally the closer you are to the surface of the water when you do the breakout the better practice this kick and dive about a meter or yards deep slowly come up and try to break out very close to the surface adjust until the first stroke brings your head out of the water remember not to breathe and the first stroke

How will it help?

• Keep the speed from the dive
• Fast and better transition

Dolphin to flutter

streamline butterfly kick then change to flutter

How will it help?

optional

Use Snorkel

Steady Hand

Just do 1 stroke and stay

How will it help?

• Improve your coordination.
• Stabilize your core
• Improve your pull and kick

Rotate on Streamline

Rotate on Streamline

How will it help?

-Variations-

Pullbouy or band

How will it help?

Butterfly kick on back

or hands down 

How will it help?

optional

Use Snorkel front streamline

Socks

fly kick with socks

How will it help?

• Improve your coordination.
• Stabilize your core
• Improve your kick

Finger Tips

When doing the stroke on the recovery of the arm keep your fingers pointing down touching the surface of the water with your fingers on every stroke. Keeping your finger somewhat rigid.

By doing this drill you will see where and how you are entering the water.

How will it help?

• Have a relax recovery.
• Keep a high elbow.

Catch-Up

Do one normal arm stroke, keep the other arm still in the front waiting for the arm doing the stroke to catch up. Once the arm doing the stoke reaches the arm in the front do a stroke with the opposite arm.

How will it help?

• Help your distance per stroke
• Improve hand entry so it doesn’t cross over.
• Have a better glide

Underwater Freestyle Recovery

This will help you feel the frontal drag. It will help your body understand the importance of the pull and the recovery. Try to optimize your pull by grabbing all the water you can while reducing the frontal drag of your other arm by positioning your hand to be always pointing to the front. This drill makes it harder to recover since the recovery is underwater, but it will help you have a more relaxed recovery once you do normal freestyle.

How will it help?

• Improve hand speed
• Catch more water.
• Body line position

Freestyle with Dolphin Kicks

Do normal freestyle strokes but instead of doing a flutter kick you will you dolphin kicks, try to do them with some synchronization. Start with a normal pace, and as you get better try to increase the speed.

How will it help?

• Improve stroke rhythm and tempo.
• Improve your coordination.

Freestyle with Breaststroke legs

Do a breaststroke kick every 2 strokes with your arms (left & right) then breath to the front while doing the breastroke kick.

How will it help?

• Improve your coordination.

Freestyle Backwards

freestyle backwards

How will it help?

• Improve your coordination.
• Improve your flotation.

Zipper

touch your big finger yout body on recovery

How will it help?

• Improve your coordination.
•  

Arms streamline – on knee, standing, on block

1. Arms streamline on one knee,
2. Arms streamline standing
3. Arms streamline on block

How will it help?

Arms down – on knee, standing, on block

1. Arms down on one knee,
2. Arms down standing
3. Arms down on block

How will it help?

Body soldier in streamline

Jump in a streamline, feet first good tight streamline

How will it help?

Dolphins – shallow water

push from the floor and go in then repeat

How will it help?

Penguin jump

jump with the head first

How will it help?

Arms on streamline leg up

Kromowidjojo drill

How will it help?

run and jump *very cautious*

Kromowidjojo drill

How will it help?

Grab the block

Dive starting postion, do not grab the black with the hands, give the start command and grab the block asap

How will it help?

Escape the kickboard

While the swimmer is on the block, a partner stands directly behind with a kickboard. As soon as the start signal sounds, the partner swings the kickboard. The swimmer should be off the board before the kickboard catches how or her legs.

How will it help?

Circle worm or ula ula

make a circle in the water and jump to it

How will it help?

Jump past a noodle

put the noodle like a line where you have to jump farther

How will it help?

Bucitos

Bucitos saca el aire por la nariz

How will it help?

Dive for Rings

put objects on the surface of the pool and grab them (shallow water)

How will it help?

Breathing patterns

Change your breathing patterns in sets 9,7,5,3 etc

How will it help?

Longer walls

Every turn and push do an extra dolphin kick or and do not breath on the first stroke

How will it help?

Reduce Breaths

Reduce your breaths on sets

How will it help?

Reduce Resting Breaths 

count your breaths while you rest and reduce.

How will it help?

Grab the kickboard from end

grab the kickboard from the end, arms straight

How will it help?

Strokes and Glide

Gliding is an important part of the stroke, specially in distances over a 100. Doing 3 strokes and gliding for about 6 kicks will help you improve your gliding position. Notice the position of your hands and head and adjust if they’re causing frontal drag.

How will it help?

• Rotate better
• Make your stroke more efficient

Boiling

3: Try the same thing with your feet. Standing with your back supported at the side of the pool, bring your foot about twelve inches over the surface of the water and drop it down into the water. Notice the large splash. Listen to the distinct sound of your foot making a hole in the water. Now hold your foot twelve inches under the water, toes pointed, and force your

foot up towards the surface, but don’t allow any part of your foot to break the surface of the water. Make the water boil. Notice the feeling of the water against the top of your foot. Step 4: Now lay horizontally in the water, face up, straight spine and good water-line, arms at your sides, toes pointed. Drop the heel of your right foot down about twelve inches into the water. Force it up quickly and create a visible boil. Try it with your left foot. Now try it alternating feet. As the one foot forces the water up, the heel of the other foot drops down.

Single leg kick

just kick with 1 leg

How will it help?

Zero Kick

Doing a fast kick it’s essential while swimming sprints to do this drill float on the surface with your arms in a streamline and doing no kick, start by kicking as fast as possible. Feel how the kick should originate from the hips all the way down to your feet.

How will it help?

• Improve your kick reaction.
• Kick speed & explosiviness
• Have a more efficient kick

-Variations-

Kick Competition

Try this have you and another teammate race from the flags to the wall the rules are that you can only use your legs to move forward you cannot push up the floor and you can only do flutter kick have a third person side start the first one to the wall win you will find that it is incredibly difficult to start moving and you will have to move your legs extremely fast in order to move

How will it help?

• Go as fast as possible

Out Kick

Another way to improve the speed of your kick is to get it out of the water and kick as fast as possible without worrying about traction or bending your knees too much just focus on moving your legs fast.

How will it help?

• Kick speed & explosiviness

Vertical kick 

kick vertically on a deep pool

How will it help?

• Kick speed & explosiviness

-Variations-

weighted

Tombstone kicks

kick with your board vertically pushing all the wayer

How will it help?

• Kick power & endurance

Blow Bubbles

Blow bubbles thru your nose, so you can practice what you have to do when you turn, blow bubbles on you laying on your back

How will it help?

Biceps Curl

practice the curl that will help you turn

How will it help?

Hug Knees

Hug your knees so you can feel the position of your turn in the turn

How will it help?

Turn No Wall

Turn in the middle of the pool, you can push from the wall do 6 strokes then turn.

How will it help?

Wall Flip

Push with one foot of the wall while standing up

How will it help?

Push & rotate

Grab the wall, push underwater and rotate.

similiar to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhRo4I9wReA

How will it help?

Standing Turn

Jump from the floor, and turn.

How will it help?

Touch the Wall

Touch the wall with your hands and turn, make sure to bury your head

How will it help?

3 Sec Stop

do a normal flip turn, when your feet touches the wall stop for 3 seconds before pushing.

How will it help?

Kickboard Turn

do a normal flip turn but with the board in one of your hands.

How will it help?

Underwater Turn

Do a flip turn under water, one you are reaching the wall dive and turn underwater, not touching any surface.

How will it help?

Kick Fly on Back

Kick butterfly on your back 

Variations

Hands down, head up and watch your kick.

How will it help?

Biggest, smallest, medium.

Do a underwater kick really big dolphin kick , then do one very small narrow, and then do one in between.

How will it help?

Side Kick

kick on your side, arm up , back, front 

How will it help?

Caterpillas

Lead with your head and chest to make large dolphin kicks, arms down facing floor.

How will it help?

variations

arms up

Fish Kick

Overexagerated your ondulation, kick as big as you can with your whole body, on your side.

How will it help?

Vertical Kick

Grab the wall, push underwater and rotate.

similiar to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhRo4I9wReA

How will it help?

Inside out flip turn 

6 strokes, flip, then dolphin kicks to the wall

How will it help?