David Plummer is a world championships silver medal winner and training to go one better as part of the USA Swimming Team at this summer’s FINA World Champs in Kazan.
The blueseventy sponsored swimmer offers his advice to all backstroke swimmers. How many of you actually do “point five” on a regular basis?
1. Catch early, above your shoulder
The goal is to start pulling water as soon as possible during your stroke to get the most out of each cycle.
2. Transitions are key
If you don’t kick to 15m off every wall, try not to go as deep. If you are trying to get to 15m don’t start too shallow. Know which angles are right for you.
3. Work the legs, then rest them
Nothing is as hard on your legs as backstroke. If you want to take more kicks off each wall you better work it every day. As you get into taper, stay off those legs as much as you possibly can!
4. Be comfortable swimming blind
You’ll never see where you are going and that’s okay. Have faith in the flags and in your training. You got this, so don’t slow down into those walls!
5. Don’t neglect your start
Practicing as much as possible is always helpful, but do it preferably with a touchpad in the water so it’s as close to a meet scenario as possible.
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This article is missing four most important things a backstroker must do:
1. Very little hip rotation. Back kicking is difficult especially when legs get tired and scissor kicking kicks in. Everything falls apart. Solution: rotate your hips very little – rotate shoulders for a shallow catch. Kick propulsion is less important than stroke propulsion in backstroke. Use kick to stabilize posture and add to propulsion, not as main source of propulsion.
2. Catch early, off source, but catch by having middle finger enter first (not back of hand or pinky) and hand 45 degrees towards water level. This supports early catch, a catch at the highest point of arm entry.
3. High arm turnover. Arms do nothing while in… Read more »
Should a shallow pull be added to the list? Are there any backstrokers currently using a deep pull? Lochte?
Lochte and Ryosuke Irie two that come to mind:
http://coachsci.sdsu.edu/swim/champion/RI140200.htm