How To Swim Elementary Backstroke

Elementary backstroke is a basic swimming technique that is easier to learn than regular backstroke and can be quickly learned by a novice swimmer. Its technique is composed of a frog kick and a synchronous basic underwater arm stroke.

Swimming Video

The following video demonstrates the stroke:

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Swimming Technique

Initial Position

Let's imagine the swimmer is in the following initial position:

  • The swimmer lies flat in the water on his back in a glide position.
  • The face is emerged and turned towards the ceiling.
  • The arms are lying relaxed to the sides of the body, palms turned towards the body.
  • The legs are extended and close together.

There are three active phases in the swim stroke. Let's review them:

First Phase

  • The swimmer bends his elbows and draws his hands close towards the armpits, as if to tickle himself.
  • At the same time, the knees bend and the feet are brought towards the buttocks. The legs are kept close together.
  • With children, instructors like to call this position chicken or monkey.

Second Phase

  • The arms are extended out to the sides so as to form a T with the rest of the body. The palms are turned backwards.
  • At the same time the legs extend with the feet kicking back and apart.
  • With children, instructors call this position airplane.

Third Phase

The third phase is the propulsive phase:

  • The extended arms push against the water and are brought back the sides of the body in their initial position.
  • At the same time the extended legs are squeezed together, also pushing against the water, and move back to their initial position.
  • With children, instructors call this position rocket or soldier.

After the third phase, a short glide occurs before the cycle starts anew with the first phase.

Breathing

Basically, the inhale should occur in the first phase while the arms and legs are drawn up. The exhale occurs during the third propulsive phase, when the arms push back and the legs kick.

Advantages of Elementary Backstroke

  • As elementary backstroke is swum on the back and the arms are kept under water, breathing is easy as the face is always kept out of the water and water projections to the face are avoided.
  • The motions of the arms are synchronous and the same for both arms. They are also very basic and effective and therefore easy to learn.
  • The frog kick executed by the legs is similar to the breaststroke kick. Again, as both legs execute the same motion at the same time, the kick is relatively easy to learn
  • Finally, the arms and legs also move synchronously: they move forward towards the chest and the body while preparing the arm stroke and kick. And they move back during actual execution of the arm stroke and kick. This makes the coordination of arms and legs easier.

Shortcomings of Elementary Backstroke

  • The swimmer must be able to maintain balance on the back before learning the stroke.
  • The swimmer must learn to orient himself swimming on the back and must take care to not hit into a wall or another swimmer.
  • Elementary backstroke is slower than regular backstroke.

Swimming Tips

  • To learn the swim stroke, it is advisable to wear both swimming goggles and a nose clip to avoid water entering the eyes and the nose. This will give the swimmer more confidence.
  • If the swimmer is a novice swimmer, practice this swim stroke in shallow water where he can quickly regain his feet. With children that can't reach the bottom of the pool, stay close to them and support their head and back with your hands until they become proficient with the stroke.
  • Children enjoy learning the stroke if you use the funny chicken - airplane - rocket names for the swim stroke's phases.
  • Before attempting this stroke, it can be interesting to practice basic balance with the head-lead back balance drill while wearing swim fins.
  • It can also be interesting to first rehearse the individual and combined arm and leg motions on dry land.
  • A rehearsal of the individual arm and leg motions in the water with a pull buoy respectively a kick board is also interesting.
  • A water noodle can be used to support the back.

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