As you know it is used in warm-down exercise, basically double arm backstroke swim (rotating both your arms backwards at same time with normal freestyle kick or breaststroke kick). A constant leg motion is required. Another common mistake is to have an angle between your torso and your legs, which makes the whole body sink. The flutter kick is a simple yet efficient swimming technique where you keep your legs parallel and alternatively kick upward and downward with each leg. You are probably blessed with excellent ankle flexibility which makes the backstroke kick much easier. Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. A good way to check on your kick is to tilt your eye gaze down while you’re on your back. Simply drop your heel into the water. Try to flick your toes up and put propulsion in the upward swing of the foot. All you need is to be on your back while doing basic arm stroke in combination with the breaststroke frog kick for propulsion It highly mimics the motions of a starfish as you open your body then close it again to gain momentum. Your email address will not be published. Additionally, make sure you are not kicking down with force. This is a progression from having a float held under each arm. The three-pull, 10-kick drill is executed just as it sounds. Leila Vaziri is a former World Record Holder, World Champion, and member of the US National team. When athletes change tempo during a race, the easy speed comes from the hips, not just the stroke rate. As the swimmer … The backstroke uses the flutter kick, just like in freestyle. Learn To Swim Backstroke: Drills and Exercises, Learn How to Flutter Kick in the Backstroke, Backstroke Swimming Drills – Head-Lead Supine Balance, Backstroke Swimming Drills – Head-Lead Side Balance, Backstroke Technique: Arm Stroke Drills on Dry Land, Backstroke Swimming Drills – Hand-Lead Side balance, Backstroke Swimming Drills – Under Water Arm Sweeps, Backstroke Swimming Drills – Single-Arm Backstroke, Backstroke Swimming Drills – Slide and Glide Backstroke, Overview of Common Swimming Strokes / Styles, Freestyle Swimming – 10 Tips to Improve Your Technique, Freestyle Stroke: Overview and Swimming Technique, Breaststroke: Overview and Swimming Technique, Backstroke: Overview and Swimming Technique, Butterfly Stroke: Overview and Swimming Technique, Breathing While Swimming: Basic Tips and Exercises, How to Swim Faster – The Six Principles of Fast Swimming, Learn Basic Swimming Techniques to Feel Safe in the Water. You must maintain the streamlined position. Here is everything you ever wanted to know about the backstroke, from its history, how to swim it properly, and much more. Turn your back toward the pool border, crouch down, and grab the edge of the wall over your shoulders (you can also use a pool lane marker). Your stroke should be a straight line, pulling you directly forward. Hi, I'm Christophe! Complements freestyle: As … You also might be kicking too deep. To do this you must have your head, torso, and legs perfectly aligned. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimmers not being able to see where they are going. Man swimming backstroke. How to have a better pull. Rest: 3-5 minutes rest between sets and exercises. Simply drop your heel into the water. For example, he often has swimmers do 25 strokes with the left arm, then 25 with the right arm. © 2010-2020 Enjoy-Swimming.com. Each article includes one or several drills/exercises to be mastered. As you kick, reach one arm up towards the sky and bring it down to the side of your head and into the water. https://blog.arenaswim.com/en/training-technique/master-backstroke-kick If the kick stops, the whole lower half of the body sinks, so a steady kick is vital to keeping a long buoyant position on your back. To ensure that the efficiency is present throughout the kick, hip rotation is essential. The lunge is another excellent dry-land exercise for developing stronger legs, and ultimately a better breaststroke kick. Keep kicking and enjoy the feeling of floating in a perfectly balanced position. Imagine you are kicking a soccer ball, you are bending into your knee and focusing on the power coming off your foot. Learn to swim backstroke Exercise # 3: Shoulder touching chin without moving the head, with fins, combined with breathing. Their knees and toes should be pointing forward. The current article, which is part of this series, is highlighted: By completing the different steps of this learning path, you should soon be able to swim the backstroke. Kick with force only in the upward direction. The reality is though you DO NOTwant a swimmer’s knees to break through the surface of the water in Backst… Taking a deep breath to fill your lungs with air before the exercise also helps. Divided in 4 stages: the entrance, middle pull, finishing and recover. Your legs should be relaxed and bent slightly. Your whole leg should be moving with each kick, not just your lower leg. Don’t think of kicking downward into the water. The flutter kick is used in the backstroke but also in the front crawl stroke to provide balance and propulsion. Good hip rotation helps backstrokers change gears without spinning their arms. 20 x 25’s @ :10 1- right arm only backstroke 2 – left arm only backstroke 3 – 3 right arm, 3 left arm backstroke 4 – perfect stroke 5 – build to a fast finish. If you are looking to improve your leg endurance, focus on pure kick sets whilst on your back. This drill helps you achieve the high hip position desired in backstroke. Finally extend your arms, still holding the pool edge, until your body is completely extended. Additionally, make sure you are not kicking down with force. Your email address will not be published. Here are some tips to master the flutter kick: Keep your legs close together. Try to push your head and chest a little more into the water. 500 yards 1300 cumulative yards. Having a strong and steady kick is essential to backstroke. While personal experience will vary, by average speed the backstroke is actually the second slowest of all the strokes, with the butterfly and freestyle quicker, and the breaststroke slower.. Flutter kick. If your hips and legs still drop while you kick, it could be that your upper body is too high in the water. One of the cornerstones of backstroke is hip speed through the rotation. Hanging Leg Raises (or other core exercise), 4 sets of 10-15 reps. Rest: 2-3 minutes between exercises and sets When kicking, bend into your knees. It also has a different start from the other three competition swimming styles. Think of your legs as battle ropes, moving fluidly up and down. How to improve your backstroke – kick technique, 10 drills all budding backstroke swimmers should try, 10 drills that will improve your butterfly, Top 10 exercises to improve your breaststroke, Butterfly: the importance of the leg kick, 6 mistakes to avoid if you want to improve your breaststroke, Breaststroke: it’s all about the leg kick. The flutter kick is used in the backstroke but also in the front crawl stroke to provide balance and propulsion. Enjoy-Swimming.com does not sell any personal information. Kick with force only in the upward direction. Required fields are marked *. Backstroke kick momentum is upward. A misconception is that your legs must remain straight. The ability to bend and point your ankle allows for a snapper motion. For more tips, like how to position your hands while swimming the backstroke, read on! Backstroke uses a combination of two types of kick, the flutter kick and the underwater dolphin kick. Leg strength is one of the most important aspects of backstroke. Breaststrokers will therefore benefit most from the exercise. Push off the ground and start kicking up and down with your legs in an alternate fashion. Knowing how to do the flutter kick in a supine position (on the back) is an important prerequisite to learn how to swim backstroke. Sign up for the newsletter. Coaches need to recognise when the use of fins is required. The following exercises can be used to learn the flutter kick: Below you will find an overview of our series of articles to learn the backstroke. Natural breaststrokers with stiff ankles may well have to initially do all of these drills/kick exercises using fins. Ankle flexibility – When kicking, the ankle should remain relaxed but pointed, not flexed. Hips are long and straight but you shouldn’t lock out at the knees. Repeat the previous exercise, and when you are at the point where you are holding the edge of the wall with your fingertips, just let go. Lunges are a good single-leg exercise for strengthening the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. “This exercise targets a select group of muscles that are responsible for internal rotation of the hips, a movement that is primarily seen in swimming during the recovery phase of the breaststroke kick as the heels are brought toward the buttocks. “The 100 backstroke is an extremely leg-dominant event,” he says. Go to the shallow area of the pool. 200 flutter kick 100 free pull 100 back pull. Make your kick count, stay up in the surface and have less resistance. Learn The Flutter Kick In Backstroke: Knowing how to maintain balance in the supine position (on the back) and how to perform the flutter kick are important prerequisites for learning the backstroke. Pease goes through drills one arm at a time to keep the focus singular. The backstroke kick is only about twelve inches at its deepest. Your little finger should enter the water first with your arm straight and your palm facing outwards. Please find additional instructions further below. Getty Images. In Freestyle though, it’s harder to tell–unless you do some sort of underwater filming to see whether a swimmer is bending their knees too much. Try ankle stretches on land or kicking sets using fins. I'm the owner of and main contributor to Enjoy-Swimming.com. Out of all of the strokes, backstroke requires the most vigorous and continuous of kicks. This article teaches you this basic swimming technique. You will be the first to hear any news and find out about exclusive deals for members only. Increasing your ankle flexibility will benefit your kick greatly. Currently Leila is a private Swim Coach based out of New York City and South Florida. All rights reserved. There are many different variations of the lunge that breaststroke swimmers can experiment and play around with. Workout #2 without Weights: Pull Ups, 3 sets of 8-12 reps. Bodyweight Squat Variation, 4 sets of 10-15 reps. Push Up variation/ Dips, 4 sets of 10-15 reps; Glute Bridge, 4 sets of 10-15 reps. The elementary backstroke is a good starting point as it has gone through very few modifications since its inception. The flutter kick is a simple yet efficient swimming technique where you keep your legs parallel and alternatively kick upward and downward with each leg. Peak in the front crawl stroke to provide balance and propulsion be moving with each,... 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