For all the backstrokers out there, how many of you swim with the thought of keeping your face at or even slightly below the surface of the water?
For me, I was reminded today that I need to focus on keeping my face just below the surface of the water. The body rotation allows the water to break on every stroke for a breath.
When I try to keep my face at the water surface, I find that I do a chicken neck move. This causes me to raise my head higher and higher out of the water, dropping my hips and legs.
The only remedy that seems to work in my case is keeping my face slightly below the water surface.
Has anyone else done this or swim this way all the time?
The most buoyant part of your body is your lungs... to be balanced and have a nice body line you need to find a spot (probably near your armpit) that is your balance point.
The danger of "chicken necking" is that your hips drop because your head isn't able to balance out the weight of your lower body.
Since everybody's natural body weight distribution/buoyancy varies, the key thing to focus on is having a nice horizontal body position... as the late Richard Quick said, posture line and balance!
In backstroke you have to curve your t spine slightly because your hips have to be slightly dropped so the legs don't come out of the water with every kick.... your head should be in a neutral position in line with your spine. This will lead to your eyes/nose not aiming straight up, actually at a slight angle towards your feet , depends on the person.
Most people do NOT have their faces completely submerged, not even a little bit. IF you play around with some balance drills, when you're swimming whole stroke backstroke you should be able to keep your face above the water the whole time. It's ok for water to wash over your face with the rotations, but your face should be above the surface. How much? A good rule of thumb is where your cap ends. (somewhere on your forehead). So (in my opinion) your face should be a bit out of the water, but not by much.
Don't think so much about having the face at a certain level.. think about it in terms of keeping your hips/lower body balanced with your lungs as the balance point.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you would like anything clarified.
The most buoyant part of your body is your lungs... to be balanced and have a nice body line you need to find a spot (probably near your armpit) that is your balance point.
The danger of "chicken necking" is that your hips drop because your head isn't able to balance out the weight of your lower body.
Since everybody's natural body weight distribution/buoyancy varies, the key thing to focus on is having a nice horizontal body position... as the late Richard Quick said, posture line and balance!
In backstroke you have to curve your t spine slightly because your hips have to be slightly dropped so the legs don't come out of the water with every kick.... your head should be in a neutral position in line with your spine. This will lead to your eyes/nose not aiming straight up, actually at a slight angle towards your feet , depends on the person.
Most people do NOT have their faces completely submerged, not even a little bit. IF you play around with some balance drills, when you're swimming whole stroke backstroke you should be able to keep your face above the water the whole time. It's ok for water to wash over your face with the rotations, but your face should be above the surface. How much? A good rule of thumb is where your cap ends. (somewhere on your forehead). So (in my opinion) your face should be a bit out of the water, but not by much.
Don't think so much about having the face at a certain level.. think about it in terms of keeping your hips/lower body balanced with your lungs as the balance point.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you would like anything clarified.
