specifically fly and free? I've always liked backstroke. I want to add it to my repertoire even though I'll likely never be very good at it. I notice it seems to tax my shoulders and legs in ways my body isn't used to - but maybe this is a good thing if it is strengthening my weaknesses?
I suggest doing some homework to find a coach who understands backstroke or a good technique backstroker - and enlist their help.
Learning how to properly swim a competitive backstroke created a huge break through for me.
There is a lot of finesse and aerodynamics involved in backstroke, but then each of the stroke specialists will say that about their strokes.
The act of breaking down and re-learning a new stroke (backstroke) opened my eyes to the possibilities in my other strokes.
For some people it is really hard to slow it all down and re-learn.
But I love those EZ technique 25s.
I could do a million of them and no one could convince me any of it was junk yardage.
I think backstroke helps strengthen the shoulders and upper back for better overall joint health/stability. I think dolphin kick on the back also is great for abs. I like IM sets a lot; the back segment seems to loosen what the fly segment tightened up while still getting conditioning.
That's pretty wrong. For real balance, you need to do dryland. Backstroke and freestyle use most of the same muscles to do the work.
Yeah, I posted that quickly, got distracted by incoming email. What I meant was that she thought the balance came from the arms going in a new direction, kind of like when you do arm circles clockwise, followed by counter-clockwise. For me, switching it up feels good, like a break after freestyle, because my backstroke is just that slow.
YES, any stroke helps the other strokes, even backstroke.
I find if I improve in one stroke I usually improve in all of them.
specifically fly and free? I've always liked backstroke. I want to add it to my repertoire even though I'll likely never be very good at it. I notice it seems to tax my shoulders and legs in ways my body isn't used to - but maybe this is a good thing if it is strengthening my weaknesses?
Really? It doesn't seem to apply to my case, though. I hardly kick because kicking slows me down (I'm bad in that). Are there others who barely kick or use 2-beat kick in backstroke?
I prefer a small steady kick on the surface for backstroke. Very streamline/aerodynamic.
A coach told me I need to kick more on the last lap of my 100 Back. I committed to trying it. But for me, the deeper harder kick was slower - and I could feel it. I wasn't dying, but I could literally feel the drag.
Now the 200 Free is a whole different story :)
The last 50 of that race requires a huge kick and I have to work on that!
I read something by a yoga person who said that since backstroke is the opposite of freestyle, you should always do some to balance out your muscles. I don't know if there's science to that, but I do like to warm-down with some backstroke after doing sprinting.
That's pretty wrong. For real balance, you need to do dryland. Backstroke and freestyle use most of the same muscles to do the work.
Backstroke can make you a stronger kicker, among other things. You can't float your legs or 2-beat like you can in freestyle, you need a steady, typically 6-beat kick throughout or your legs will sink. And it forces you to have a strong downward kick on your back, which is the upward kick on your front (of course), leading to more balanced kicking with strength and catching water with the top and bottom of your foot.
Backstroke can make you a stronger kicker, among other things. You can't float your legs or 2-beat like you can in freestyle, you need a steady, typically 6-beat kick throughout or your legs will sink.
Really? It doesn't seem to apply to my case, though. I hardly kick because kicking slows me down (I'm bad in that). Are there others who barely kick or use 2-beat kick in backstroke?
I read something by a yoga person who said that since backstroke is the opposite of freestyle, you should always do some to balance out your muscles. I don't know if there's science to that, but I do like to warm-down with some backstroke after doing sprinting.
