SWIM CITY

It's summer so in the next few weeks I'm going to post a few articles on swimming techniques...

Backstroke

Introduction

The backstroke was first demonstrated at the Olympic Games in Stockholm in the year of 1912 through the American swimmer Hebner. Because he won the race, his innovative technique was taken very seriously. For a long time the backstroke was swum witch stretched arms. Nowadays you only see the bent armtechnique, especially at matches.Because the pull through of the arms is executed via the body, there is a tendency to swing. Because of this, a good legstroke is essential to compensate the swinging, even more than at the freestyle. Besides, the damming function of the legs remains very important.The backstroke was first demonstrated at the Olympic Games in Stockholm in the year of 1912 through the American swimmer Hebner. Because he won the race, his innovative technique was taken very seriously. For a long time the backstroke was swum witch stretched arms. Nowadays you only see the bent armtechnique, especially at matches.Because the pull through of the arms is executed via the body, there is a tendency to swing. Because of this, a good legstroke is essential to compensate the swinging, even more than at the freestyle. Besides, the damming function of the legs remains very important.

The Armstroke

The arms contribute the very most to the movement. It is necessary that this move is as continuous as possible. Just like the freestyle, the backstroke is a continuous stroke. We can divide the arm-movement into two parts: the pull over (A) and the pull through (B). We can also subdivide the pull through into:-
Put in-
(Short) glide-phase
- Pull-phase
- Push-phase
- The Lash outA.

The Pull OverThe pull over takes place in a vertical direction, at which the arm is stretched. The reasonwhy the pull over takes place in a vertical direction is that it prevents undesirable rotations. Because of this the pull over stays, qua direction, within the line of movement. After the hand comes out of the water (with the thumb first), it turns during the pull over in such a manner, that the little finger goes under water first.B. The Pull ThroughPut inThe put in of the arms takes place on shoulderwidth, i.e. above the shoulders, as much as possible in a straight line from the shoulder. The hand is put in with the little finger downwards and the thumb directed upwards. In addition there is an angle between the forearm and the hand, at which the hand is pointed something more outwards than the forearm.The shoulder remains as high as possible, so that the water resistance caused by the shoulder is reduced to a minimum.

The Glide-phase
The arm-movement does not stop with the put in, but goes stretched further to a depth of about 30 cm. This part of the pull through you could call the glide-phase. This is also the moment on which the damsurfaces are set in the right position for the pull-phase. The wrists bend, so that the palms of the hand (the most important damsurfaces) go as quickly as possible in a good position on the direction of movement. As a result of specific bearing of the hand it is possible that a particular profile comes into being , through which the hand can be 'locked' in the water which pulls the body trhough the water.

The Pull-phase-The pull-phase starts when the hand and the forearm, opposite to the swimmovement, begin the damming. Again the hand leads the movement and the upper arm turns outwards in the pull-phase.During the pull-phase the arm is bended more and more in the elbow, at which the elbow stays lower in the horizontal surface than the arm. (Take a look at the images). The bow of the arms is the biggest when the shoulder is passed by the hand. The advantage of the bow in the arm is that the movement is made close to the body and that the amount of delivered power is much bigger. The angle is about 90 degrees. The hand will come more to the watersurface during the pull-phase.The Push-phaseWhen we push through to the hips and the arms stretch themselves, we come to the push-phase. During the entire pull through we try to point the elbow to the bottom of the pool. During the push-phase the elbow will pass from 90 to 180 degrees. This means that the arm will be stretched gradually. Because of this stretching the hand will be lower in the water.At the end of the push-phase there appears a downward accelerated movement, also called the 'Buggy Whip'. The result of this movement is that the reaction on the body is pointed upwards, through which the shoulder at the same body half will come out of the water, thorugh which the pull over of this arm will pass easier.

The Lash out
The pull through ends at a depth of about 45 cm. Here starts the unbending of the arm. Through rounding the hand, which means turning the thumb upwards, the lash out can be started when the hand goes through the watersurface.We see during the swimming of the backstroke a continuous spinning of the shoulders round the longitudinal axis of the body. This is just normal; it is necessary to pull through properly. This spinning movement happens continuously. To swim backstroke properly, a smooth shoulderjoint is required.The arms move right in front of eachother. When the left arm pulls through, the right arm makes a lash out and so on and on. The distance between the arms stays the same.

The Legstroke
You can compare the legstroke of the backstroke with the legstroke of the freestyle; both legstrokes are not only in a vertical surface. There is not only a up and down going movement. The functions of the legs are to dam and to stabilize/compensate.The sideways pointed movements are also called 'lateralmovements' and have a compensating function. The hips and legs turn with the stroke, so that the sideways pointed legmovement can take place easily.The legmovement is started out of the hips. Because of the good bearing of the damsurfaces (mainly the foot and the lower part of the leg) the upbeat has the most damming abilities. The upbeat is mainly started with a bended leg and a stretched foot. At the end of the upbeat the toes break through the water surface. After that, the downbeat begins and is executed with stretched legs. Because of this there is hardly stowage during the downbeat. To move the legs well a light bow in the hips is necessary. During the complete legstroke, the feet are kept relaxed. That is why the feet are druing the upbeat directed a bit inwards.

The Combination
At the backstroke, the combination of the arm- and legmovement is executed almost automaticly. There does exist a 'combination-scheme' at the backstroke, which is 2 : 6. This means that there are swum 6 legstrokes during 2 armstrokes. At the backstroke, the head stays still, with the chin directed upwards.

Breathing
If the backstroke is swum well, breathing should not be a problem, because the face is always above the watersurface. Still is the breathing a problem, because the regular rhythm, a good adjust on the arm-movement is necessary. The best way to breath at the backstroke is: inhaling during the pull over, breathing out during the pull through of that same arm.Inhaling occurs through the mouth, breathing out through mouth and nose. In the first place, because the water in the nose needs to be blown out and in second place because breathing out through mouth and nose will take place more continuously.

Frequently Made Mistakes
- The arms do not move straight in opposite, through which the armstroke is swum very irregularly- The arms are put in too high, which causes swinging of the body- The arms are put through too deep- At the lash out the thumb is not pointed straight upwards, which causes a lot of resistance and through which the shoulder's rolling movement is crossed- With the put in, the little finger is not first in the water, through which a good dam-movement is not possible- No relaxed ankles, which causes more resistance than stowage- Irregular breathing.- Breathing out insufficiently, which causes hyperventilation.