How to Tighten Up on Your Backstroke

The backstroke is a popular swimming stroke often seen in competitive swimming. Doing the backstroke is a full body workout that focuses particularly on your arm, leg, neck and back muscles. Keeping proper alignment is critical to performing the backstroke accurately without danger of injury to the neck or back. There are ways to work on backstroke technique to avoid common pitfalls or mistakes that keep your stroke from being as tight as possible.

Instructions

    • 1

      Look straight up at the ceiling while performing the backstroke. Do not tuck your chin or look behind you. Tucking your chin causes resistance, as your head is coming higher out of the water than it should. Looking behind you causes you to arch your back, which may make water pour onto your face. Keep your neck relaxed while doing the backstroke.

    • 2

      Rotate both your hips and shoulders at the same time. Keeping a flat torso does not enable as much leverage in moving yourself and the water. Practice an exaggerated version of this movement by rolling your body from left to right. This will give you a better idea of how to move correctly, which will make your backstroke better overall.

    • 3

      Kick with your legs as straight as possible. If you are bending your knees while swimming the backstroke, you are not doing it optimally.

    • 4

      Move your arms as quickly as you can with your palms facing outwards once entering the water. If your palms are not facing outward during this time, you are not maximizing the amount of pull you can get through the water. Your hands should enter into the water pinky-finger-first and then move so that they are facing outwards.

    • 5

      Ask a friend or swimming coach to watch you perform the backstroke and ask them for feedback. They will be able to tell you if you look stiff or if your technique is off in certain areas.