As a swimmer, I loved all things backstroke. I even took to the underwater craze as Jeff Rouse introduced it to the world in 1992....almost liked it too much and had the DQ slips to prove it. But backstroke came so naturally for me as a swimmer, I struggled as a coach to teach and coach it up. I couldn't identify with bad body position, inability to sink my hand down, or the problem of overreaching. I was searching for ways to simplify the stroke and maximize the efficiency. I have focused on three different keys to teaching backstroke to younger swimmers:
1.) HEAD POSITION: I always tell my swimmers that the most important thing they could do for backstroke is have good head position, because the body follows the head. Good head position=better body position. So I always tell them to keep their heads back and their heads still. We have a few things we do to exaggerate this concept, but the most useful thing we do is to drill while having their goggles resting (unstrapped on the head) on their foreheads. This forces them to keep their heads back and still. Some kids find a way to angle their goggles on their head to where it won't fall off if their heads are too far out of the water, but I typically can see that and let them know to get their heads back more. We have drilled up to an hour doing exactly this.
2.) PROPER KICK: My coach used to say that backstroke was 70% legs and I wholeheartedly agree. But I see too many swimmers that hinge their kicks from their knees, limiting the power they have with their kick. I stress the importance of kicking from their hips as opposed to their knees. We do alot of posture/streamline kicking with fins, both to teach and work underwater work (that's another blog post entirely) as well as to ease into strengthening the hip flexor muscles that take time to develop.
3.) DRIVING SHOULDERS: I tell my kids that backstroke was misnamed and should have been named sidestroke because if swimmers swam with their bodies flat, they wouldn't be nearly as fast. So a lot of our backstroke drills emphasize shoulders, then thumb exiting the water first, then driving our shoulders and pinkies towards the bottom of the pool as it enters. We have a drill sequence that I call "Build-A-Backstroke" that accentuates this exact thought process.
I'm curious to see what focus points other coaches use and how they apply the concept to their swimmers strokes. These are the big three for me. Have a great day!
My focus now is very similar to yours. The shoulders and rotation I probably focus on the most because the idea of rotation seems to be very difficult for many swimmers who want to swim the stroke on their back. Even the timing of the rotation. I have seen many swimmers rotate and get their shoulders up and then get to the highest point of the recovery and they have already rotated to a flat position. I use a progression drill (probably close to your build a backstroke). Boat Position Body rolls, Zombie Drill, Rifle Barrel Drill, Thumb-pinkie-thumb drill, to normal backstroke.
ReplyDeleteHead Position is also an emphasis. The tense shoulders while swimming seems to be popular. Relaxed swimming has become a huge focus. I like using little cups on the forehead partially filled with water to make sure the wind doesn't push the cup away. Have recently tried the Push-Pull Drill from GoSwim, and the kids had some fun with that.
Over Reaching, Where I came from this is very common, and actually is common hear as well. I refer to entry to be at a "Y" and not an "I". I like to make my swimmers think, so I do like the robot drill where you have them bring the hand directly up pointed to the sky and then enter at a "T". It is amazing how the over reachers actually just do a good entry on this drill. Push-Pull Drill also will be a good for this correction.
I probably concentrate on too much as I haven't even talked about arm pull or the kick. I agree completely with your concept that the most important aspect of backstroke is the kick which is why rotation is so important to be able to slide through the water.
Wow, that was a lot longer than I thought it was going to be.
Overreaching is another beast altogether! I have a few drills I use and my reference point is typically the hands of a clock; always wanting to enter at 11 and 1, drilling to 10 and 2 and for those that overreach badly, incorporating drills with a 9 and 3 entry.
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