How To Swim The Backstroke (courtesy of StTrainer.com)

I’m Steven Taylor, endurance coach and fitness trainer through my company, Sttrainer.com.

Today, I’m going to explain to you how to do the backstroke. For this drill, you will need:

A swimming pool
A swim suit
Goggles,
and a cap.

You first must get your body in the correct position. This means that your body is stretched long and your hips and legs are at the surface of the water. We want your whole body at the surface of the water, not trailing down, with your hips and legs sinking in the water.

In order to do this well, it’s important to push your shoulder blades and head back in the water, squeeze your stomach muscles and your booty muscles, which will push your hips and legs to the surface of the water.

Step two to learn backstroke is to know how to move your arm through the water. It’s not true that your arm goes through the water, directly behind the body. Rather, your elbow bends, and the arm is actually more out to the side of your body than below it.

The third and final step to correct backstroke swimming is to make sure your hips and shoulders (your whole body) rolls from side to side. This will make it much easier to have a correct arm stroke and also streamlines you through the water.

In conclusion, the correct steps for swimming the backstroke include:

Good Balance, with your hips and legs at the surface of the water,

the Correct Travel with your arm, which is arm out to the side, not under and behind you

and, finally, Body Rotation, with your hips and shoulders rolling from side to side.

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