Swim Tips: Backstroke Swimming Technique

Do you wish Michael Phelps could teach you how to do the backstroke? Well, most of you don’t have the opportunity to swim with this great Olympian, but you can practice some techniques that will make you a more proficient swimmer. Of course, you won’t be obliterating any all-time swimming records right away, but you can become a well-trained backstroke swimmer if you commit the time and energy into learning the proper skills and techniques.

Some expert swimmers find the backstroke to be tiring and burdensome. One of the main reasons for this dissatisfaction with the backstroke is the failure to fully incorporate the entire body into the stroke. Fortunately, the backstroke can be rewarding if it is carefully studied and practiced. Certainly, practice makes perfect, and the backstroke requires many hours of practice to perfect. So, put on your swimsuit and goggles and prepare for a great lesson in backstroke technique. Michael Phelps knows all too well that expert swimming skills come with a great price…tons of time and effort.

Let Your Shoulders Do the Leading

The backstroke looks like a swimming stroke that requires intense arm movement. There is some truth to that, but the majority of the movement should be stimulated by your shoulders and not by your arms. When you do the backstroke, you should try to reach as far as you can with your arms as you shift your shoulders. The shifting of your shoulders is like a dance move or an exercise move that requires the rolling of your shoulders. The motion isn’t caused by your arms but by your entire upper body movement. This can best be paralleled to a motion that is similar to rowing a boat. Try to think of rowing a boat one arm as a time, and that is how you want your stroke to look.

Kick with Consistency

When doing the backstroke, kick your legs up and down rapidly. The style of kick that is necessary for the backstroke is the same as the kicking style required for the freestyle or classic stroke. The only difference is that you are lying on your back rather than on your stomach, so your heels will enter the water instead of your toes. Most importantly, keep a constant kick so you won’t have dead weight dragging in the water. The purpose of kicking is to counter the weight of the bottom half of your body, and thus propel your body forward in motion.

Breathing Never Felt so Good

This is the only competitive swimming stroke that doesn’t require a methodic breathing method. You can breathe however you want. The easy breathing elements of the backstroke are compensated by the fact that the backstroke requires some focus and perspective. If you don’t pay close attention, you will wind up on the other side of the pool. If you are swimming indoors, try to follow a pattern on the ceiling, so you won’t drift from one lane to another. If you are swimming outdoors, glance over to the side to gain some perspective. Due to the vision impairment caused by swimming on your backside rather than your front side, try to maintain a steady movement and use the markers on the sides of the pool to keep a proper lane formation.

Swimming like Michael Phelps may take some time and energy, but you can do it!