Fernanda

Time key frames:

0:00 – 0:10

You have a good frequency with your arms but you need to grab and pull the water strong every time, the more strokes doesn’t mean you will go faster on the contrary, you will go slower and get more tired.

You are pulling with your arm straight, the arm needs to be bend while pulling underwater like grabbing and pulling from the lane line. Put attention on pushing the water down instead of backwards. 

You are pulling with your fingers a bit separated and loose, make sure you have them just a bit separated and more tense.

Your lower body is sinking a bit, engage your core and bring your hips and legs closer to the surface. 

Your kick frequency is too high, you are kicking too much and is not in sync with your arms, slow down a bit your kick, and make sure your legs are higher closer to the surface, your toes should be breaking the surface.

0:10 – 0:23

You have a very good position of your head, take advantage of that and exaggerate your rotation of your shoulders. 

Keep your arms straight at all times when you are in the recovery phase, now you are bending a bit your elbow. 

When your leg is going down keep it straight. You want to bring your feet closer to the surface, the toes should touch the surface when you kick up.

0:23 – 0:42

Much better with your frequency!

You want your arms to alternate during the pull; when one arm is up getting ready to pull, the other one should be finishing the pull. Notice how this is not reflected on your stroke, you wait until one of your arms finishes the pull completely before even bringing the other one up to begin the pull. Again, alternate is the key word here.

You still have your knees slightly bent, the kick should be a coordinated movement from the hip to the tip of your toes. 

Take your time with each stroke, remember to keep your elbows straight. 

Areas to work on, in general:

• Work on one thing at the time, Focus one day on one thing, then the next day another point, do not try to correct it all at once.
• You can work slowly 2 times a week on your ankle flexibility, here is a video that can help you link
• Work on your kick, you can do it on your side or on your back but with your arms on your sides. Focus on keeping your knees straight and maintaining a small kicks.
• Do flotation exercises to get familiar with being on the water’s surface. Link 

Backstroke examples:

Time key frames:

0:00 – 0:21

Very nice rhythm of your strokes, continue like that and step by step you can reach the velocity and distance. 

The strength of the kick does not comes from just bending your knees it starts with your glute, hamstring, and a small bend of the knee.

Focus on is bringing your kick closer to the surface and having your legs straighter when going up, you want your toes to touch the surface when you kick.

Good pull! Just don’t forget you need to finish your pull all the way back, do not bring it out before. Search touch the side of your leg. 

0:21 – 0:36

You are kind of bending your lower back, which make your hips to sink a bit, make sure to have the hips touching the surface at all times. 

Try keeping less oxygen on your lungs and push your chest down so your lower body comes higher.

Keep your head more steady, rotate breath then come back to a neutral position, you sometime move your head up and down.

Decrease the speed of your kick a bit, but maintain the strength. 

Try to start your stroke just before your opposite arm reaches your other hand, this will help you achieve a smoother stroke.

Areas to work on, in general:

• Work on one thing at the time. Focus on one thing, then once you correct it go to the next point.
• Work short distances keeping the best possible technique, as you improve, increase the swimming distances without changing your technique.
• Work on your ankle flexibility, do dryland training these videos can help you: videos

Free examples: