Is Anybody Out There A Master of Backstroke?

Triathlon Forum
1

I decided yesterday to do about 400 yards of backstroke. A guy, in the another lane by me, regularly does 100 yards freestyle, then turns around and does 100 backstroke. Just back and forth, no resting, for about a mile and a half. I have been under a very wrong impression that he was able to maintain his speed and not fatigue because of that stupid backstroke he did. I thought that he just used that backstroke to rest, for his next freestyle lap.

Wrong. Wrong. Very wrong.

Strangely enough, after almost 2 years of freestyle (front crawl), and associated drills, I haven’t tried to swim backstroke since childhood. I have seen some triathletes resort to backstroke to regain composure or even energy in the swim. Normally, if a triathlete panics in the swim, he or she, much to the chagrin of those behind that person, resorts to a breast stroke.

For some reason, backstroking, to me, neurlogically makes me kick like a fiend. I honestly think it improves your kick. I was just screwing around waiting to catch my breath for another freestyle set, and started backstroking, trying to see how hard or easy it was, and noticed, “hey, I’m kicking like a fiend.”

The thing was that I couldn’t hardly do 2 backstroke laps, without dying for some reason. Different muscles, a lot of kicking for some reason. Water flying into your nose and mouth from all sides. There’s a lot of commotion visible during a backstroke.

I was completely wrong about the guy swimming next to me.

I think it forces you to more naturally kick than the front crawl, because if you don’t kick, you have really get those arms going, pushing water forward, so as not to sink and swallow water. That pushing forward of water to me is probably more fatigueing, if done powerfully, than the scooping and pushing backward, on front crawl.

Another art in all of this in backstroking is guessing where the wall is. There is nothing more educational, about making you familiarize yourself with landmarks, in the pool, after you hit your wall with your head, doing a backstroke lap.

I always thought it was a “loafer’s” stroke. It’s not to me anymore.

2

Watch for the backstroke flags or the red markers on the lane lines and count two or three strokes and turn.

Backstroke might help your balance a bit for freestyle since it requires a solid position and a smooth stroke. Back will help you learn to kick from the hips because if you don’t, you end up swimming under water.

Smoooooooth, smooth, smooth.

Watch the top girls at age group meets and they look like they are just loafing until the clock hits 58 for the 100. :slight_smile: I use to race my daughter in the water. Her back to my freestyle. Bwuahahahahaha. I never came close…

-Robert

3

Wouldn’t say that after 23 and a bit years of swimming I’m a master of backstroke but I don’t think my stroke is too bad. You maybe need to tip your head further back if you are having problems sinking and swallowing water (chin too low and your feet will descend towards the bottom of the pool). I physically can’t float in water due to low body fat but I don’t sink on backstroke. Also, keep your head totally still otherwise you won’t be able to hold a straight line in the pool. Quite a lot of pools I’ve swum in have straight lines in the ceiling above the lanes you can keep your eyes fixed on. The unfortunate exception to this is Leeds International which used to have a nice artistic zigzag pattern in the ceiling :slight_smile: You should try and enter the water with your little finger first each time (brushing past your ear). As you pull your arm downwards from above your head you bend the elbow and sweep inwards somewhere around shoulder level. If you don’t have flags marking the last 5m of the pool then you’ll have to spot something on the pool deck and count your number of strokes from there in to the wall either that or take a quick look by arching your neck as you begin a stroke with your arm. Not sure if that’s a help though there are probably better responses to come from others.

John

4

I agree with Robert.

Do some backstroke to help your freestyle. Some things backstroke helps you focus on–

Head position–you must keep your head steady while the shoulders rotate.

Shoulder rotation–backstroke forces much greater shoulder rotation than freestyle.

Kick–you already mentioned it–backstroke kick will help strengthen your freestyle kick.

Having said all this–I’ll admit I don’t do it enough.

5

my backstroke is pretty darn good, but according to the ladies I’m a master at breaststroke ;}
.

6

my backstroke is pretty darn good, but according to the ladies I’m a master at breaststroke ;}
Oh dear oh dear ohdear…

7

I think most unfamiliar with backstroke do many things wrong. You gotta have your head back. If you are looking at your feet or trying to sight off of something back there, your legs will sink or you’ll have to kick real hard to keep them afloat. Having your head back will also help make it easier to breathe without a mouth or nose full of water. Just like freestyle, the body needs to rotate and a shoulder drop with each hand entry, but keeping the head looking up. The pinkie enters first. Many also overreach the entry, your hands don’t have to enter directly above your head - not much pulling force from that position. Angling out a little allows a better pull. That pull should be pretty much a straight arm until your arm is about straight out from the shoulder - perpendicular to the body line. You then drop the elbow, bending it about 90 degrees, bringing the hand closer to the body and literally pushing the water down your side towards your feet. This is a combined with rotation along the humorus. It’s all in feel how you place your hand angle - just like in freestyle.

For approaching the wall, if there are no markers (well, even if there are), I drop my head back to look at the wall underwater while blowing air out my nose. With one stroke left, I flip on my stomach to either grab the wall or flip turn depending on what’s next.

If you really want a workout, try butterfly!

8

a couple suggestions…

-keep your head straight and up…stare at the ceiling right above you

-stretch out on every stroke and almost reach fro the wall eachtime(but stay streamline)

-roll your shoulders down into the water a bit with every stroke(don’t stay flat on your back)

-keep your lungs inflated (this will help you stay on top of the water even with the low body fat that comest with our sport)

…i am like the guy in the lane next to you, and i use backstroke to keep from fatigue and practice resting on the move. Backstroke is good because it is the only swim stroke where you don’t have to regulate you breathing. It also feels great after doing freestyle because your arms are rotating the opposite way, so it is a great option when your arms start feeling tired.

9

In addition to the tips stated, you need to keep your hips up. If they sink, you will have a lot of drag, which makes it very hard to swim.

My HS swim coach told us that backstroke and freestyle were both actually side stroke if you are rolling properly in each stroke. Little exageration, but it makes the point.

I’m not sure if you are kicking correctly if your backstroke kick seems like a lot of work. But, maybe you’re right, and my former life as a swimmer makes me used to how much you are supposed to kick so it just doesn’t seem like a lot of kicking to me.

If you are doing it right, the slightly different muscles used in backstroke does make it a nice rest from freestyle.

10

I don’t believe your stroke should be straight arm at all under the water. Some people can get away with it, but it is not efficient, nor is it good for your shoulders. Catch with your hand, and pull, bending your elbow. Do use your forearm to catch water, just not straight armed. Keep your hand near the water’s surface.

My first master’s caoch was an Olympic medalist in backstroke. He used to make me share a lane with him, since I was the skinniest. He shared with me a few things:

  • You cannot roll too much, unless you roll onto your stomach. Basically let your body roll till it is perpendicular with the water.

  • Don’t cup your hand, but let the fingers spread out just a bit.

  • Don’t waste your time doing curls, swimmers don’t need biceps.

The guys was amazing. I could just feel his hand rip the water next to me when he passed me. He used to tell me about his main set when training for the Olympics, 100x100 back on about 58 seconds. He said he would hit the wall, count 2 and go. That is a 10,000 meter set! He also told me about training with custom pull paddles bigger than clipboards. He said he almost blew out his shoulders, but he got really strong. In college his team used to use boards with wheels on them, and they would pull themselves along with their hands. They used to do sets up the circular ramps in the football stadium. He held the record until a swimmer that later became a pro triathlete beat it.

Anyways, like freestyle, the backstroke is all about technique. Watch some national level swimmers and try to copy if nothing else.

11

I have seen some triathletes resort to backstroke to regain composure or even energy in the swim.

I do that in long course swims for a minute or so. I do some backstroke after 5-7 minutes when the field has thinned out a little, and before we run into the previous waves of swimmers. It helps me get settled down and regroup a little. I never seem to lose any ground on the people around me.

I don’t ever do any backstroke in the pool though.

12

Agreed. I do bend my arm a bit after entry. I’d say my elbow is perhaps 135 degrees bent.

I’ve also heard about not cupping the hands, and I don’t. It’s really fatiguing to keep those fingers closed. I’ve heard the turbulance created with slightly open fingers acts as a web, so in essence you have a larger hand and can grab more water.

I’ve done a some backstroke in Tris, but it can be tough in the ocean - swells, etc. End up doing that water polo kind of backstroke!

13

That’s cool. I really love hearing these kinds of stories.

What does your coach say about freestyle?

14

He was my first master’s coach. Sadly I have not seen him in over 10 years. One of the few comments I can remember about freestyle from him is to roll as much as possible. Roll just like a log. He always said you can swim faster on your side than you can flat.

15

I’ve been told by a very good masters swimmer that the kick for backstroke should feel more like you are pushing the water away from you with the top of your foot. I used to just kick like in front-crawl just upside-down, but now I’m trying this other kick it does feel better (although harder to do). Can any of you backstrokers comment on that?

D.

16

As others have said, head position is really the key. Throw that chin back, and don’t let your head bob as you swim. Torso should be relatively stiff- you want to arch your back a little to moderate amount to get those hips up far enough. As one old coach of mine used to say, backstroke is like shish kebob- body rotating on a still axis (the skewer) and the head (the cherry tomato at the end of the kebab) never moves.

Body roll- exaggerate it. Think of shrugging your shoulder in the middle of the recovery part of the stroke. Hands should feel like they’re entering the water at 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock, then after the hand goes in, body roll pushes the arm to where it’s supposed to be when you’ve fully extended the arm.

Kick- you need to kick more than you do with freestyle, but you shouldn’t feel like you’re killing yourself. Small, tight amplitude, efficient kicking is the name of the game. Kicking on your back is an easy way of determining if you’re kicking too much from the knees and not from the hips. If you’re kicking from the knees, it’s going to make your hips sink and push your butt down in the water.

Crashing- if your pool doesn’t have backstroke flags, a chair or stack of kickboards at the side of the pool can serve as the “turn in two strokes” visual cue. And since it’s not competition, if you aren’t sure where you are, just go ahead and roll over early. Better to have to take a stroke or two of freestyle before you get to the wall than ending up getting too close and slamming your heels onto the gutter during a flip turn.

I like to work backstroke into my practices on a semi-regular basis. Uses muscles in slightly different way, and is also something of a drill for a couple of freestyle points of emphasis- go 50 back/ 50 freestyle, and when you roll over for the free, you’re going to be extremely aware of body roll in your stroke.

17

I know I will get slagged for saying this but I come from a competitive swimming background and I always viewed backstroke and breaststroke in the same light as race walking. My goal is to get to the finish line as fast as possible…why would I want to use a different style (race walking, backstroke etc) to slow me down?

This opinion is guaranteed to bring responses.

18

Self-defense: I was sick of getting stuck swimming the 1000 every meet, and hey, coach needs someone who can throw down a decent 50-100 back for the medley relay, and the medley relay’s the event right before the 1000 so,

Hi I’m Jill, and I’ll be leading off the medley relay doing backstroke today.

19

botthrand,

I’m certainly not a master of backstroke. But when I used to fish, I was pretty good a baiting a hook and thought I was a master baiter.

On backstroke, however, I agree with many others that backstroke will improve your freestyle kick if it is not already good. Backstroke will also improve your sense for proper body position in the water which may also help your freestyle.

Your impression that the backstroke was a resting stroke may have come from observing a good backstroker. They almost look like they are stretched out for a sleep, almost perfectly horizontal in the water very much like a float.

You should also have a similar body position in the water. If you are not flat in the water then a component of your stroke is either being wasted on trying to lift you out of the water or trying to submerge you for lying back too far, think diving submarine.

When properly executed, the backstroke can be a rest or relaxing stroke for many reasons. The sensation of floating. your face being out of the water and you are able to take a breath whenever the urge motivates you, the length of the arm stroke (the pull and the push) and finally because you are using different muscles and giving some of the muscles you use for freestyle a rest.

You definitely will improve with practice.

20

Yep! Here’s a response.

In a long race, one may elect to give the freestyle muscles a bit of a break. This may actually improve the overall time. Its sort of like changing riding position on the bike to invoke other muscles or walking breaks in a marathon which may improve the overall time. Not for everyone, maybe not you, but I’m sure breaks like this help many.