Step 1: Breathing Technique

Yes, your breathing technique is still important even if your face is completely out of the water and facing the sun (reminder: UV protection is important) throughout the backstroke! But compared to the other swimming styles such as the breaststroke and side stroke, this one’s easier to understand and execute (yay!)

There are a few breathing patterns you can choose from. The first one involves inhaling when one of your arms are at the recovery stage and exhaling during the other half.

The other pattern is to inhale and exhale during a single arm stroke. This means to breathe in at the beginning of recovery and exhale for the rest of the recovery.

Despite the method you prefer, what’s important is choosing a breathing pattern that helps in the rhythm of your stroke!

Step 2: Flutter Kicks

Let us move on to the leg movement. For this swimming style, your legs will be performing the flutter kick. Yes, the same flutter kick used during freestyle! A common question asked is how many kicks you should be doing per arm cycle. The answer is as many as you can! This will definitely depend on not only the strength, but also the speed of your kicks. Here are some tips to remember while doing the flutter kicks:

1. Keep your legs close.
2. Drive the kick from your hips and not the knees.
3. Ankles to be relaxed throughout.
4. During the downward kicking motion, keep your knees relaxed (slightly bent).

If you still find this hard to execute, try this out. Get a kickboard, stretch your arms out behind you and hold it there (so that it leads the way during the backstroke) while practicing your flutter kicks. Play around with the intensity of your kicks and how far it brings you.

Step 3: Arm Motion

The arm motion is a big contributor to the forward movement. During a backstroke, your arms move in and out of the water in a rotatory movement. The general rule of thumb is to lead with your thumb (no pun intended! as your arm breaks out of the water.

What about when you re-enter the water? That is where your pinky finger leads the way! During this portion of the movement, your elbows should be locked and your palm should face away from you. Another point to note, your arm should pass by your ear as it enters the water.

Here comes the tricky part. But this is important, so read on! Once your arms are in the water, don't use your hands to create the drive. Instead, face your palms to the pool floor and scull your hands outwards and downwards.

Then, turn your hand so that your palm is now facing your feet, then push again the water till your arm reaches a fully flexed position right by your thigh. Complete the circle by lifting your arm out of the water by rotating your shoulders.

Need more help? Give the one-arm drill a go! Keeping the arm that’s not in use close to your body, do the backstroke using only one arm. This technique allows you to focus on what your arm is actually doing in the water and pick up on minor tweaks you could incorporate to improve your technique!

If the one-arm drill doesn’t phase you, you could try the double-arm drill! Why is this drill important? It makes sure your arms don’t overreach. If they do, you’ll know as they will overlap. Also, since your arms are simultaneously doing the same thing, your flutter kick gets tested as a solid kick is needed to keep you afloat!

Conclusion

Now that you’ve learnt the 3 important steps, it’s time to pack your swimming gear and dive into the pool (at the deep end, please) or beach to test your backstroke! Remember, good swimming techniques go a long way and even if you’re an expert, it’s good to pause and re-evaluate your knows and don’t-knows from time to time.

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Hello everyone! I'm a gym enthusiast who gets very excited at the sight of dogs. Drinking teh tarik is my form of relaxation. I hope you share my passion for anything fitness-related through my writing!