The Backstroke Lane

RE: The Backstroke Lane

orca1946 — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 12:35:11 GMT

So -- NO back stroke starting ledge/wedge at Nationals??

RE: The Backstroke Lane

ssumargo — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 09:38:10 GMT

Every time the coach makes us do backstroke, my knuckles and wrists end up being bruised. For whatever reason, I am always slamming my hand on the lane dividers or unintentionally high fiving the swimmers on the other lane. I'm afraid of head butting my fellow lane mates when we circle swim, so I tend to scoot closer to the lane dividers. Are others doing the same or is my backstroke technique really terrible?

RE: The Backstroke Lane

swimdoc — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 07:43:44 GMT

Thanks! But here's a bummer. I emailed the Riverside CC head coach to find out if the starting blocks at the pool have a back foot wedge or would accept the backstroke wedge, and his answer to both was "no."

RE: The Backstroke Lane

orca1946 — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 11:41:05 GMT

Well try # 2 has worked out. I have used a piece of 1 1/2 inch PVC from home Depot. Drilled one hole in opposite end to run nylon rope thru to go around whatever block post/poles that you will be using with the starting block and used a caibineer to hold the 2 ends together with loops at the ends. This seems to work well as 4 of us tried it a practice last night. At least it will give me a chance to practice some type of starting ledge before Nationals.

RE: The Backstroke Lane

Jimbosback — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 11:14:09 GMT

Jimbosback, you want to stretch your chest muscle! I was having this problem recently - I can't find the exact link I worked off, but basically as you swim your chest muscles build and tighten, which pulls the traps forward and makes them stiff/sore. Stretch out your chest muscles to keep them limber and loose so they're not straining the traps. These are simple and only take a couple minutes after every practice. I haven't had trap pain since I started them - www.wikihow.com/Perform-Chest-Stretches If you have access to a coach you should also get feedback on your technique, in case you're rotating something strangely, but stretching will probably help. (I thought I replied to this like a week ago!) Thanks, polka_stripes. That makes some sense. I do back after a bunch of fly which probably tightens up my front. I do similar stretches on my off-days. Maybe I need to do Any other suggestions?

RE: The Backstroke Lane

Jimbosback — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 11:13:06 GMT

Any tips for learning to relax my head and neck while swimming back? I usually only swim 25s or 50s in practice, since the only time I swim back is in 100 IM. But I have decided to incorporate longer swims. After about 75 yards, my neck (traps, really) really tightens up and hurts. I thought I was in a good relaxed position, but not so much. Is it just conditioning? @Rksides -- I am no backstroker, but what helps me into the wall is to accelerate my kick after the flags. and 1-2-3-lunge. As a breaststroker, I could always get a better start when the backstroker finished with a strong lunge, too.

RE: The Backstroke Lane

polka_stripes — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 10:29:29 GMT

RE: The Backstroke Lane

Former Member — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 10:15:24 GMT

Quick question, may or may not be easy to answer. I'm in high school and I swim a 50 back in my 200 medley A Team relay, and my time is a high 33 seconds, (33.71) and my coach needs me to get down to a low 32. By county championships and by state. County is in a week, and I already know what I do wrong, but she doesn't really *coach* me enough to help me fix them. Problem: slow finish. Should I take another stroke? I usually take 2 strokes from the flags to the wall for a turn and 3 for a finish, and sometimes when I take 4 I hit my hand on top of the wall. Sooooo.. help? Thanks!

RE: The Backstroke Lane

Former Member — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 10:47:10 GMT

When do the hips move? Should the right/left hip rapidly drive down one inch when the right/left arm is straight up and perpendicular to the water? I am trying to eliminate flat backstroke as I think flat backstroke has a less powerful pull.

RE: The Backstroke Lane

jackback — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 07:54:11 GMT

I guess this block specific "anti slip" device is a easier than the alternative of making the Omega pad "anti slip" ... I for one am glad we will have this for Omega blocked and padded FINA pools (and meets should advertise that they will be available) ... but it could be awhile before we see this in a pool near you with different blocks ... they will need to have some extra devices around for when one fails in a meet

RE: The Backstroke Lane

ande — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 11:42:49 GMT

www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../38291-m.asp

RE: The Backstroke Lane

jackback — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 06:06:08 GMT

swam in a LCM meet in Clearwater, FL this past weekend, without timing pads ... they had the required 2 timers per lane ... what was really nice is we started from the tiled pool wall ... i was able to securely snuggle my toes to just under the surface of the water on the wall and had great backstroke starts ... i haven't had my feet this high in years ... "tile" who would of thought !!!

RE: The Backstroke Lane

ande — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 02:55:00 GMT

eVOLution of the Backstroke Breakout: Tennessee Trying More Tricks to Maintain Speed

RE: The Backstroke Lane

jackback — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 08:58:20 GMT

agree with those 3 points also ... as i said i left swimming in 72 for a 33 yr break ... when i left there was talk of switching over to block starts ... when i returned i was dismayed to see the change in back starts that made it more difficult to do a fast and consistent start ... the start has become overly dependent on the surface of the pad which is changeable from manufacturer to manufacturer and age of the pad ... at the very least how about requiring a"coefficient of wet friction" for the pads when new ... (surfaces on pool decks have to meet this by code) ... we are the lowly brethren of those block starter who luxuriate in there sloped, rough surface who place there toes over the edge of the block and push off a starters wedge and not have to get their suits wet prematurely ... that said they did do us a favor when somewhere along the line they allowed us to roll on to our stomach to to a turn and ended the dreaded hand touch/head bang

RE: The Backstroke Lane

Chris Stevenson — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 03:42:05 GMT

swimswam.com/.../ From the comment section: At least for SCY, let’s avoid this expense and complications and go back to the 1980′s era stand up starts. As for meters, if we just stopped using those slippery yellow Omega pads and used the nice, rough white Colorado swimming pads, we wouldn’t have to worry about this contraption. Better yet, get rid of the in water start and just require everyone to be on their back by the 15m mark. No cost and easy to officiate. Agree with all 3 points: I miss the stand-up starts, hate hate hate the yellow Omega pads with their vertical slats, and would love it to be able to dive from the blocks. This "Patrick Brundage" fellow sounds pretty knowledgeable.

RE: The Backstroke Lane

Former Member — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 16:21:22 GMT

When I swam in high school, things must have been in a transitional phase in our area. This was Middle TN, early 90s. Our pool was SCM, there were a couple others, but most were SCY. The bulk had gutters, but a few were flush. No correlation that I remember between gutter and y/m. We swam in all of them in a season, just adjusting each time. I swam back in every meet, so I started with my fleet flat on the wall in some pools and curled over the gutter at others-the governing body for high school sports in my state allowed either. I MUCH preferred using the gutter. I don't know if it actually pushed me out farther, but boy, it felt a lot more like taking flight. I think those starts were my favorite thing about competing in backstroke, to be honest.

RE: The Backstroke Lane

That Guy — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 11:24:50 GMT

swimswam.com/.../

RE: The Backstroke Lane

jackback — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 08:05:42 GMT

chris ... thanks for the explanation of scm/lcm pools ... only swam yards in hs and college, as this goes back to 1965 - 72 ... probably aau meets back then were occasionally meter meets but never went to one ... with all the concern on reducing turbulence i never got the flush walls ... and they really sucked on fly turns ... plus if you never did a backstroke start while standing on the gutter and threw a racing back dive you really missed something !!!

RE: The Backstroke Lane

Chris Stevenson — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 07:45:09 GMT

a word in regards to the new "backstroke ledge" that has been approved by FINA ... with the number of different blocks that are scattered about in our pools this device might be block specific which probably means it will be awhile till it gets to a pool near you ... could this be an instance of reinventing the wheel ? ... most pools i've swam and competed in have open finish gutters and use touch pads that hang on the gutter ... there is a built in backstroke ledge, its called the "lip of the gutter" My recollection is that most non-US pools do NOT have gutters like this at the end of the pool, hence standardization on the gutterless so-called "FINA walls" (the full height pads you mention). I believe that's the main reason, back in the day, that you were not allowed to do stand-up starts in SCM/LCM meets or otherwise curl your toes over the gutter. I haven't used one yet but I think the ledges are a great idea.

RE: The Backstroke Lane

jackback — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 03:45:36 GMT

a word in regards to the new "backstroke ledge" that has been approved by FINA ... with the number of different blocks that are scattered about in our pools this device might be block specific which probably means it will be awhile till it gets to a pool near you ... could this be an instance of reinventing the wheel ? ... most pools i've swam and competed in have open finish gutters and use touch pads that hang on the gutter ... there is a built in backstroke ledge, its called the "lip of the gutter" ... years ago that is what we used and that was with or without touch pads and starts were quicker and i don't remember anyone getting hurt in 7 years of competition ... the only place you couldn't do this are in pools with overhangs on the finish gutters who also have full height finish pads, then a ledge would help ... but this is probably a small percentage of pools in this country ... another problem with full height finish pads is it slows the meet down ... at a meet at georgia tech recently they had the full height pads and 85% plus people could not climb out at the finish end but had to slide over to the side wall at the conclusion of every race to use the ladder ( myself included ) ... thats 10 lanes of swimmers ... no "over the top starting" there

RE: The Backstroke Lane

habu987 — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 09:47:47 GMT

a comment on Omega touch pads ... i think they are terrible ... i just competed in a masters meet at georgia tech and they have these pads ... the surface is far more slippery than other pads i've used ... completely bombed my first race the 100 scm back, after my foot slipped i was dead in the water ... didn't have the option of just holding onto the gutter as they are full height pads ... my 2 other starts were cautious and very slow ... omega should be pushing for this new "starting ledge" It really seems to depend on the model line of the pads! Over my ~18 years of racing, I've pushed off of pretty much every variety of pad on the market. I've had slippery and grippy Omegas, slippery and grippy Colorado pads, and whatever other brands of pads there are. The worst was one meet about a decade ago--prelims and finals of the 200 back I was in different lanes...and one had a grippy pad and the other had a slippery pad. Both looked identical, just felt different. Great prelims, bombed the start in finals.

RE: The Backstroke Lane

jackback — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 12:40:09 GMT

RE: The Backstroke Lane

Former Member — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 17:35:14 GMT

Thanks - that video was helpful. I prefer the Japanese swimmer's stroke to Lochte's stroke.

RE: The Backstroke Lane

ourswimmer — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 03:00:26 GMT

As of Jan. 1, 2014, a new backstroke starting ledge will be permitted for starts. The ledge is comparable to the wedge or fin device now used on blocks for forward starts and hangs from the starting block by straps. The rule for use of the ledge will still require both feet to be in contact with the wall or pad, and the toes will not be allowed to curl over the top of the gutter or timing pad. Once an athlete starts, the ledge will have to be removed for turns and finishes. It is advised that a coach or teammate remove the device for the athlete after the start and place it on the deck. FINA will be releasing specifications and dimensions for those approved wedges in the coming weeks. I hope someone from Santa Clara can tell us before Nationals whether or not they will have these devices. If so, I hope I can find a way to practice with one! On ordinary walls I usually stagger my feet to reduce the risk of slipping.

RE: The Backstroke Lane

ande — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 12:56:15 GMT

Should the finish of the stroke involve a flick down of the hand in order to initiate body roll? If not, how is body roll initiated as I have a hard time accepting that it is the kick? Also should hand scull on exit or knife out on exit? "Flick Down" puts your hand deeper in the water, that extra little push probably isn't worth it. ON exit, finish your stroke then pop your hand out thumb first. You don't need to do an extra little scull.