Swim Drill Of The Week: Backstroke Body Position Progression

Welcome to the “Swim Drill of the Week”. Swimming World will be bringing you a drill, concept, or tip that you can implement with your team on a regular basis. While certain weeks may be more appropriate for specific levels of swimming (club, high school, college, or masters), Drill Of The Week excerpts are meant to be flexible for your needs and inclusive for all levels of swimming.

This week’s drill progression is for developing the proper body position in backstroke that works through three drills: Roller Coaster, L drill, and Big Ben. Take a look at the progression below and tips on using it with your swimmers:

4 x 100’s as:

25 Roller Coaster

25 L drill

25 Big Ben

25 swim backstroke

As the only stroke that is on your back, there are some unique challenges inherent in backstroke that you need to work on to maintain proper body position in the water. More so than any other stroke, backstrokers need to stay engaged through their core and with their kick to keep the proper line on top of the water.

Starting with roller coaster drill, swimmers will be challenged to keep their body on top of the water in an inherently resistant position with their hands just above the surface. As they progress towards a full stroke, L drill and Big Ben will interrupting the tempo of the stroke, reminding your athletes to stay engaged through their lower body and not just rely on their pull to move them through the water efficiently.

A common problem coaches will see in this progression is dropping hips and/or a lack of rotation from the hips and through the side body. While you should encourage them to work through that, if a swimmer is really struggling you can always add fins to make it easier to maintain the proper body position. Happy swimming!

All swimming and dryland training and instruction should be performed under the supervision of a qualified coach or instructor, and in circumstances that ensure the safety of participants.

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