How to kick correctly in backstroke
This backstroke kick drill is a great drill to get you started. It can really help you to develop your backstroke kick correctly. The best part is this drill is a fairly simple drill to do. A lot of people try to kick like they’re trying to ride a bike, or running. The problem is that this makes a lot of splash and takes a lot of effort. With all that energy used it still doesn’t actually get you anywhere.
The easiest way to help improve your kick, is to grab a kick board and kick with it over your knees.
Not the knees
In the image above you will notice the swimmer is kicking from his knees and making a lot of splashes. If you hold the board over your knees and kick it “bounces” a fair bit. It is a good sign that you are not kicking from your hips.
How to start
The easiest way to start this drill is to float on your back. When you float on your back and hold your kickboard over your knees. Remember to keep your hips up and your head back. Hold the board by one end with your fingers on the topside and thumbs underneath. Then simply kick. You want to try and focus on not kicking from your knees and letting the board bounce. The trick is to relax and just breathe. A lot of people trying too hard with this drill. It’s easy to get puffed because they are trying to go flat out straight away
Its all in the hips
The swimmer below is now kicking from his hips, notice his knee is more flexed than bent. When holding the board in this position and kick from your hips the board will stay flat and not bounce on the water.
To reiterate you need to relax, kick from your hips, and just let your legs flex. Pointing your toes makes a huge difference too, and ideally, that’s part of having a relaxed leg. Your whole leg should flex and your ankles relaxed. A good way to think about it is if you have a long thin piece of wood. If you wave one end up and down slightly then the wood will flex and the other end will go up and down also but amplified.
For more backstroke drills click HERE, plus if you want to see a video of the drill click HERE (4:03 into the video)