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?
I have been really focusing on having a relaxed head position in the water, keeping it in line with the spine as others here have stated.
At the meet last weekend, I talked with one of the guys that ran the start/turn clinic - he reminded me to also feel like my shoulders are slightly "pushing" down in the water, and that my hips are slightly "pushing" up, engaging my core.
Thinking about these things, along with the head position, have helped me to drop my times by 2-3 seconds per 50 in practice and also feel like I am swimming higher in the water. Combine that with a stronger kick and faster recovery turnover (nothing crazy, just not letting my hands be too slow from hip to head) and I feel a lot better cruising through the water.
I have been really focusing on having a relaxed head position in the water, keeping it in line with the spine as others here have stated.
At the meet last weekend, I talked with one of the guys that ran the start/turn clinic - he reminded me to also feel like my shoulders are slightly "pushing" down in the water, and that my hips are slightly "pushing" up, engaging my core.
Thinking about these things, along with the head position, have helped me to drop my times by 2-3 seconds per 50 in practice and also feel like I am swimming higher in the water. Combine that with a stronger kick and faster recovery turnover (nothing crazy, just not letting my hands be too slow from hip to head) and I feel a lot better cruising through the water.
