I find it much harder to reduce the stroke per length in backstroke than in free. In free, you can glide a long distance in each stroke, but not so in backstroke. What should I work on, the pull, or the kick, or the coordination of the hand and leg? Appreciate any comments.
IMHO if we are having a discussion about increasing DPS we leave the kick out of it entirely...
But the kick really contributes to the torso roll, which in turn contributes to the pull efficiency. And I think torso roll contributes a lot more to pull efficiency in backstroke than in freestyle. Many people swim a pretty flat freestyle pretty fast, but flat backstroke is nearly always slow backstroke. And while many people can pull freestyle with a pull-buoy just about as fast as they can swim, a lot of decent backstrokers can barely pull backstroke with a pull-buoy at all.
"until the upper arm gets below the shoulder", meaning well after the other hand has entered the water?
No. Watch some video of great backstrokers. You will see in the underwater shots how the forearm and upper arm are at about 90 degrees through the middle range of the pull. But their two arms are nearly in opposition to one another, with one entering the water just about as the other is leaving it.
IMHO if we are having a discussion about increasing DPS we leave the kick out of it entirely...
But the kick really contributes to the torso roll, which in turn contributes to the pull efficiency. And I think torso roll contributes a lot more to pull efficiency in backstroke than in freestyle. Many people swim a pretty flat freestyle pretty fast, but flat backstroke is nearly always slow backstroke. And while many people can pull freestyle with a pull-buoy just about as fast as they can swim, a lot of decent backstrokers can barely pull backstroke with a pull-buoy at all.
"until the upper arm gets below the shoulder", meaning well after the other hand has entered the water?
No. Watch some video of great backstrokers. You will see in the underwater shots how the forearm and upper arm are at about 90 degrees through the middle range of the pull. But their two arms are nearly in opposition to one another, with one entering the water just about as the other is leaving it.
