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Aqua Fun Academy
Swimming Tip Tuesday

Swimming Tip Tuesday: Backstroke Body Positioning

posted on 25 Sep 18
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On this week’s Swimming Tip Tuesday we’re going to discuss backstroke and a unique aspect of our body positioning. Often you will hear your instructors refer to the streamline position. What Natation Conseil Mardi this entails is that the body moves through the water with the least resistance. From the tip of the hands to the tip of the toes, the swimmer’s body lays flat as it glides across the water. Now, contrary to our understanding of the streamline body position, laying flat on the water does not require one to be perfectly horizontal to the water. As a matter of fact many strokes will cause the body to slope slightly.

When performing any stroke, the goal is to minimize drag. To do this the swimmer should avoid dramatic bending at the hips, neck, and knees. When we bend at the joint we create pockets for the water to get trapped in and push the body down. This ultimately slows the swimmer down.

Swimming Tip TuesdayWhen performing backstroke slight bending is necessary, due to the nature of the stroke. During backstroke the body will slope slightly from the hips to the toes. You’ll notice that this causes the head and arms to be slightly higher in the water than the legs and toes. By slightly sloping the body, and the slight difference in height between the hands, head and toes, the swimmer breaks streamline position less dramatically as they swing the arms to generate power.

Furthermore, with the hips slightly sloped down, we can now capitalize on the flutter kick. The legs will remain underneath the surface of the water, as to not break our streamline position and reduce the effects of drag.

By making this adjustment with our body position the swimmer can increase the speed and precision of the stroke.

Want to learn more? Sign up on our website with one of our brilliant swim instructors! We’ll see you next Swimming Tip Tuesday for another fun tip on how to perfect those strokes! Happy Swimming!

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Onieka Taylor
As AFA’s Chief of Aqua Fitness Programs, Onieka brings to the table an extensive background in Kinesiology and Health Sciences. That background is rooted in her passion for extreme water activities such as water polo and shark baiting from a rope dangling off a helicopter (based on alternative facts). Outside of the pool, you can find her writing her real memoirs of a past non-existent life as an international woman of mystery.