Stage: newbie
Not like the opposite three aggressive swim strokes, the backstroke is the one one swum in your again for the whole race. Which means that a superb sense of path is necessary in addition to coordination.
Historic overview
No one actually is aware of how the backstroke got here into being; it was solely launched into competitions in 1906 and was swum with one synchronised backward rotation of each arms with a breaststroke leg kick till 1914.
Physique
Hold your physique straight together with your legs barely decrease than your higher physique, in order that they will work correctly. It is very important maintain your physique rolling across the horizontal axis whereas swimming the backstroke to make sure the best arm motion.
Legs
The leg kick is similar to the freestyle, an alternating fluttering motion together with your knees bent and ft pointed. The legs serve two functions:
- Stability: they provide help to maintain a superb buoyant place within the water, counterbalancing the lateral-negative motion of the arms
- Propulsion: they supply extra ahead propulsion than the leg kick for the crawl.
Arms
The arms contribute many of the ahead movement as they sweep backwards in two phases:
- The ability part: that is when the arms work underwater in an extended-flexed-extended sequence. The sting of the again of the hand enters the water first (arm prolonged) sweeping downwards to a depth of roughly 45 cm earlier than your elbow begins to bend to permit the hand to be in the best place to tug in direction of your thigh-bottom earlier than extending once more.
- Restoration: your hand sweeps out of the water in a round backwards motion (semicircle) and extends past your head.
Respiratory
You must breathe at a rhythm of 1 full breath for every full arm motion: breathe in by means of the mouth throughout the restoration part and out by means of the nose-mouth throughout the energy part.
Flip
You flip “onto your abdomen” as you strategy the wall, following your arm motion able to carry out a half tumble flip after which push off in the wrong way. You aren’t allowed to make some other actions after returning to the inclined place earlier than making the tumble flip.
You’ll be able to keep underwater in your again and together with your arms prolonged above your head for a distance of 15 metres from the wall, kicking concurrently with each legs in a single single repeated kick (just like the butterfly).
It’s not straightforward to swim with out with the ability to see the place you’re going, however swimming is like music: you can’t see it, however you’ll be able to really feel it!
