At first I thought I liked the backstroke, but now I'm all confused about the stroke.
I started doing the stroke "not thinking about it", but now that I'm _trying_ do it right, I can't do it anymore. =)
The recovery phase is fine -- obviously, it's relatively easy. My hand is in front of me and I'm not doing anything too crazy with it.
It's the push/pull. I find it awkward to do much of anything behind my back, perhaps because of low flexibility.
During recovery, my arm stays in the vertical plane, close to my head. But once it enters the water, it tends to veer out of that plane and to the side because I can't put my arm behind my back with my palms facing my feet very easily.
Since my stroke goes out to the side a bit, it steers me off course and destabilizes me.
While writing this, I'm practicing my stroke in the air, and I just noticed that rolling into the stroke makes a HUGE difference for me.
My instructor didn't tell me to do that... I'm beginning to wonder how good she is... she's a good swimmer... effortless in the water... but she doesn't verbalize very much.
Ahh, rolling, maybe I answered my own question. My shoulders REALLY hurt when I don't roll, but when I do, it feels great. That definitely helps.
Okay, I have one more: I don't wear goggles when I swim and I find that even when I minimize the splash, I still get water in my eyes during backstroke. Should I just swim with my eyes closed, will I get used to it, or what?
Geochuck: The animated videos really helped me... what I was doing is a lot more awkward than what the animated character is doing. I notice he has his hands pointed to the SIDES of the pool rather than the BOTTOM. How do you prevent this from destabilizing your body position and/or sending you off course in some kind of odd zig-zag across the pool?
Kaizen: Thanks for the tips about swimming 'quiet'... I'll definitely keep working on it.
OK.
I guess I'm just curious how one stays stabilized in backstroke, with the stroke going out to the side... ?
In freestyle, my understanding is that the stroke is supposed to be directly underneath you to prevent veering off course...
So what about for backstroke? Do you just have to kick like crazy all the time to compensate for the out-to-the-side strokes?
Thanks.
Former Member
The arms are not pushing water away from the body you are pressing it in the direction of the legs.
Former Member
Okay, but because the force is applied away from my center of mass, it will have a tendency to rotate me, even if I push straight back.
One more question about this "S-curve" business. My understanding is that you're supposed to make a slight "S" with your hand so that you're always pushing against still water.
Makes sense...
But I can't quite tell from the videos...
In which plane am I supposed to make the "S"? The most natural thing seems to be to do the first part of the "S" out away from the body, and the second part back in toward the body. Is this right?
Former Member
Being a newbie I think you are thinking the S is the only way to go. Don't even think about this just hold and press to the finish.
If we were trying to keep centered the thumb would be on your chin, touching the body all the time until your hand starts the recovery.
Former Member
Being a newbie I think you are thinking the S is the only way to go. Don't even think about this just hold and press to the finish.
If we were trying to keep centered the thumb would be on your chin, touching the body all the time until your hand starts the recovery.
Thumb would be on my chin?
You mean, keep my hand basically right up against my body during the whole pull?
Former Member
No, I am saying to be truly centered it would be that way. You would not be efficient if you did this.
Get in and relax and try not to be too technical until you start get the feel of the water.
An old coach of mine told me swim and everything will fall into place. Perfection does not come overnight.
Former Member
No, I am saying to be truly centered it would be that way. You would not be efficient if you did this.
Get in and relax and try not to be too technical until you start get the feel of the water.
An old coach of mine told me swim and everything will fall into place. Perfection does not come overnight.
Fair enough, but I also don't want to train a whole bunch of wrong things into muscle memory. I figure I should start out practicing as close to perfect as possible so that I land somewhere near average. =)
And I really _AM_ experiencing this turning force _in real water_ when I try backstroke, so I really did need help =)
