Freestyle is all in front of you, or angled slightly to the side based on your roll. Backstroke is all behind and to the side of you, again how much of each is dependent on your roll and pull pattern.
While many muscles will participate in both, specific muscles are more dominant in each.
Do you have video of your backstroke?
Buy Swimming Anatomy by Ian McCleod from Amazon or elsewhere - it's all in their by muscle group and stroke and with appropriate excercises for each. A great investment.
Buy Swimming Anatomy by Ian McCleod from Amazon or elsewhere - it's all in their by muscle group and stroke and with appropriate excercises for each. A great investment.
+1! Swimming Anatomy (for dryland) and Mastering Swimming are my two favorite books for swimming.
Former Member
Well as they are kind of opposite motions, I can see why you would think they they would use similar muscles. I am sure that many muscle are used in both, but the way they are used is somewhat different due to the way that the stroke is swam. Freestyle has turned into more of a flat stroke with a catch up/gallop, whereas I think that many backstrokers still have a very side to side stroke. IF you look at your strokes, I am sure that you will see some difference when looking at your rotation. This might be your problem/solution?
