Written by Josh Hyde
In this week's Coach's Corner we cover our
second stroke of the season - backstroke. By following this link you will be
taken to a video of one of the best backstroker's in the world, Margaret
Hoelzer. This short video provides a number of great angles and provides a
great look into proper backstroke technique.
Some key points to pay close attention to
are how she is catching the water as soon as her hand enters the water behind
her head. She anchors her with a bend of her elbow and then proceeds to 'sweep
and shove' with her entire arm propelling her through the water.
Another key item to watch for is the
rotation throughout the stroke through the hips and shoulders. You will hear
your coaches refer to your core often throughout practice. This is because the
core is where you generate most of your power, therefore, it is imperative that
a swimmer has good rotation in both the freestyle and backstroke - which is
excellently demonstrated in this video.
Finally, the last thing to focus on is from
the :45 to :55 second mark when they show two swimmers doing a flip turn. Take
note of how she attacks the flip then proceeds to 'out kick' the other athlete
off the wall. This was covered in a previous installment of coach's corner (see
the 5th Stroke), but this is a great illustration of just how
important the underwater kick is.
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