The Backstroke Lane

2.) Did you notice in the video how your hands are thrashing water upwards on each exit? (see attached) You want them to come out clean...thumb first. Think pinky in on the entry...and thumb out on the exit Pinky - entry Thumb - exit THANKS 1.) Keep your arms straight on the recovery. The elbow should be locked so that the arm is never bent. (see attached) My left arm is bent for the same reason I waited until now to learn backstroke. It's an old shoulder injury I never had surgically fixed, I naturally protect it from fear of dislocation lol. It doesn't hurt while swimming or anything, just feels vulnerable with certain positions. I should have mentioned that in the post since it was obvious. Nevertheless, I have planned on slowly straightening the arm as time goes by but I think it will always be asymmetric to the right. Thanks again quicksilver, I will correct the entry/exit's. You know, out of all of the strokes back felt the weirdest but easiest to learn. It might be a stroke I'm good at.

back - YouTube Any negative criticism for me? learned this stroke this summer. I train alone Not bad at all for a recently learned stroke. I like your private lane By the way. Two very obvious things.. 1.) Keep your arms straight on the recovery. The elbow should be locked so that the arm is never bent. (see attached) When the arm enters the water it wants to come downward with a clean slice. 2.) Did you notice in the video how your hands are thrashing water upwards on each exit? (see attached) You want them to come out clean...thumb first. Think pinky in on the entry...and thumb out on the exit.

Interesting article by Mark Russell (with pics!) on backstroke rotation from USA Swimming site... For those of us who constantly wonder about how far and how deep: www.usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx A few quotes from the article: "The rotation isn’t large – far from being all the way onto your side. Most of the best backstrokers rotate less than 30 degrees to each side. ... the amount of your body that is submerged in water will not be any different if your body is rotated 30 degrees or if it’s rotated 90 degrees. "

Thanks for the article, Matt. I am always wondering about that. For your viewing pleasure and possible suggestions for improvement, here is a very poor quality video of my 50 back this past weekend (it skips and my son shut it down before I finished). My start has never been great, and I need to get a tad deeper with my underwaters, me thinks. Any other ideas that I can work on? I even added some music for y'all. Thanks! http://youtu.be/w62yfBAdSVc

Thanks for the article, Matt. I am always wondering about that. For your viewing pleasure and possible suggestions for improvement, here is a very poor quality video of my 50 back this past weekend (it skips and my son shut it down before I finished). My start has never been great, and I need to get a tad deeper with my underwaters, me thinks. Any other ideas that I can work on? I even added some music for y'all. Thanks! http://youtu.be/w62yfBAdSVc What was that 25.9? Wow! Your feet seem to be like flippers, but I'm sorry I have no suggestions. Except for the music.

Thanks Steve. The timers got me at 28.2, didn't see the final time. (My wife said the same thing about the music) :)

One thing I noted on your turn, at about the 12 second mark, look at your head position. Your head/face is up and looking at the wall. You really want to prevent this by ensuring that the head tucks and follows the last pulling hand down and thru. Thanks Matt - I didn't really notice doing that but saw it in the video. It looked like I was high off the wall, so I will work on fixing that in practice.

... Any other ideas that I can work on? ... http://youtu.be/w62yfBAdSVc Seemed pretty stout to me! Nice swim. One thing I noted on your turn, at about the 12 second mark, look at your head position. Your head/face is up and looking at the wall. You really want to prevent this by ensuring that the head tucks and follows the last pulling hand down and thru. Silly as it sounds, that slight lift of the head steals momentum from your turn, and will actually make your foot placement shallower on the wall prior to the push off.

Was it a mixed race? The one next to you on the right side looks like a female :confused: Thanks. Yes, it was mixed heat. For all the mini meets I've been too, we have swum them mixed and regardless of age. Big meets are not mixed.

Thanks. Yes, it was mixed heat. For all the mini meets I've been too, we have swum them mixed and regardless of age. Big meets are not mixed. I've done a ton of masters meets over the past 2-3 years, and the only one I've ever done that was separated was the USMS National Meet. I guess it's not worth separating the sexes unless the meet has many many hundreds of participants. The PNA Champs has 250-300 or so I believe, spread over 2 days, but it's combined men and women.