The Backstroke Lane

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.

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.

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

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

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 !!!

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

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.

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!