Trying to reacquaint myself with my backstroke, it seems to be the slowest to come along thus far in my comeback. From a couple angles here.
www.instagram.com/.../
I wasn't pushing pace at all, but I didn't feel like my stroke rate was quite as shockingly slow as the video shows - that's the first striking thing! Other things I see -
-Sloppy underwater: Too deep attack angle, too much kick amplitude, bad transition into flutter kick, feet too far apart
-Probably sculling down too far before flipping elbow. This could be a lot of my stroke rate issue.
-Looks like I might not be getting my shoulders all the way rotated around before hand entry?
-To the positive side I'm pretty happy with my body position and my flutter kick.
Anything else?
There are two aspects of your backstroke that you might want to experiment with:
a) Pulling pattern of your right arm is quite different than the left arm. For the most part, the left arm pattern is good - elbow bend, depth, etc. The right arm pattern is more straight arm and deeper release. This will definitely slow tempo when you try to race. Making the right arm more like the left will help.
b) With your UDK, it looks like you might be emphasizing the kick in the upward direction (towards the surface). This results in the greater amplitude you see. Try focusing a bit more on the "downward" kick (towards the bottom). This means pressing the bottoms of your feet towards the bottom without much knee bend. Streamline dolphin kicking on your back on the surface can help you develop a better feel if you are not quite getting it. Less knee bend and more hip undulation might be another way to think of it.
I think that once you are able to refine the right arm, you will be able to increase your kick tempo. Right now, your kick has to slow down to stay connected to your arm tempo.
Good Luck.
PW
There are two aspects of your backstroke that you might want to experiment with:
a) Pulling pattern of your right arm is quite different than the left arm. For the most part, the left arm pattern is good - elbow bend, depth, etc. The right arm pattern is more straight arm and deeper release. This will definitely slow tempo when you try to race. Making the right arm more like the left will help.
b) With your UDK, it looks like you might be emphasizing the kick in the upward direction (towards the surface). This results in the greater amplitude you see. Try focusing a bit more on the "downward" kick (towards the bottom). This means pressing the bottoms of your feet towards the bottom without much knee bend. Streamline dolphin kicking on your back on the surface can help you develop a better feel if you are not quite getting it. Less knee bend and more hip undulation might be another way to think of it.
I think that once you are able to refine the right arm, you will be able to increase your kick tempo. Right now, your kick has to slow down to stay connected to your arm tempo.
Good Luck.
PW
