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?
You should develop a strong kick and a strong core in order to keep your body line parallel with the water in the backstroke.You need to keep your core stable while rotating along the axis of your body. In terms of the head position, the chin needs to be tucked slightly towards the chest so that the head will ride higher in the water.
A good video clip on Swimspire demonstrates the proper backstroke:
www.youtube.com/watch
And as you'll see in this video, Ryosuke Irie's head is almost completely out of the water, with strong shoulder rotation and without dropping the hips : www.youtube.com/watch
Hope this helps!
You should develop a strong kick and a strong core in order to keep your body line parallel with the water in the backstroke.You need to keep your core stable while rotating along the axis of your body. In terms of the head position, the chin needs to be tucked slightly towards the chest so that the head will ride higher in the water.
A good video clip on Swimspire demonstrates the proper backstroke:
www.youtube.com/watch
And as you'll see in this video, Ryosuke Irie's head is almost completely out of the water, with strong shoulder rotation and without dropping the hips : www.youtube.com/watch
Hope this helps!
