Elementary backstroke vs Inverted breaststroke

The arm pulls for the two are the most significant difference. In the elementary backstroke the arms move from a touch position (hands down at the sides touching the hips/thighs) straight up to the armpits, and finally into a "T" position prior to pulling. Your pulling motion is with straight arms (or slightly bent arms) pulling the water down to the legs. The inverted breaststroke (though I don't use it all to often) is where you would extend your hands down out to streamline position from the pull. The pull down is seen as more of a push down on the water so you are pusing the water down instead of pulling the water down. If you were to imagine yourself on the side of a deck facedown, you would be pulling down from streamline, and grabbing onto the deck with your elbows tight into your body and pushing yourself into the water. Hopefully that makes sense for you!

The arm pulls for the two are the most significant difference. In the elementary backstroke the arms move from a touch position (hands down at the sides touching the hips/thighs) straight up to the armpits, and finally into a "T" position prior to pulling. Your pulling motion is with straight arms (or slightly bent arms) pulling the water down to the legs. The inverted breaststroke (though I don't use it all to often) is where you would extend your hands down out to streamline position from the pull. The pull down is seen as more of a push down on the water so you are pusing the water down instead of pulling the water down. If you were to imagine yourself on the side of a deck facedown, you would be pulling down from streamline, and grabbing onto the deck with your elbows tight into your body and pushing yourself into the water. Hopefully that makes sense for you!