Backstroke Propulsion

The other night while working on backstroke I went to a drill I haven't used this season. It is a drill prograssion where one part of the drill is also described in Bryan Dedeaux blog as well, and one I have used throughout my time coaching.

The Drill Progression begins with the swimmer just kicking on their side. Concentrate on the lead arm. Be sure the lead arm is straight and submerged and at a very slight downward angle. It is a backstroke kick on the side, so the eyes remain up at the sky at all times. We do this for about a 100 with the left arm.

Then, we move to holding the position, but followed with an underwater pull which the hand remains below the body, and be sure they are "Setting Their Elbow" and then pulling the water. The remains below the body due to no rotation. The finish of the pull is followed by an underwater recovery back to the side kick position. We did this with the left arm for about a 2 x 100's, making corrections and reminders after the first 100.

The next step is to have the swimmer do the same motion, but this time begin a hip rotation about half way through the pull. Emphasize that most of the pull is done on the side kick position and then the finish is done with a rotation that allows the shoulder to rise on the finish of the pull. After a short glide the swimmer will then rotate back and perform an under water recovery. We would do this for 2 x 100's with the left arm.

I then would go through the whole process with the right arm. I would conclude the whole progression with some 100's of regular backstroke on a slow interval as the focus is on a powerful pull. I always listen to the swimmers on the wall as they chat amongst themselves, and the direct feedback they give me. This process led to many of them feeling like they could feel themselves pressing more water. They added comments that made me realize that they were improving their Distance Per Stroke. Even the complaint about their stroke count being off and having to do a flip turn too close to the wall, helped me conclude that they were improving DPS and feeling the water better on backstroke.