GoSwim Video of the Week: Backstroke – Upside Down Fingertip Drag

By USA Swimming / GoSwim.

Working with young swimmers means you have to sometimes flip standard drills upside down.

Why do it:
Developing a bent arm backstroke pull can help young swimmers on their way to being a better swimmer.

How to do it:
1 – Just like fingertip drag drill on freestyle, the swimmer needs to make a connection with the SURFACE of the water during the stroke.
2 – The difference is that the fingertip drag occurs during the PULL phase rather than the recovery phase.
3 – Keep the fingers in touch or just breaking the surface of the water for the ENTIRE pull phase of the stroke (or as much as possible).

How to do it really well (the fine points):
Don’t overpower this. Try to match the speed of the pull with the speed of the body. Connect the hand with the surface, and keep the path straight, or linear, from the top of the pull to the bottom.
After a few lengths, lower the hand just a bit until it’s completely under the water, and start swimming backstroke.

More backstroke catch drills – http://gosw.im/2lWsRFS
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