Here at The Race Club, whenever we begin teaching a swimmer proper backstroke technique, we first ask a simple question: what are the three most important parts of backstroke? The answer almost always lands on pull, kick, body position, or rotation. We always respond the same way. Yes, those factors certainly matter. However, the three most important are tempo, tempo, and tempo.
Without a high enough tempo, no matter how good your technique is, you will never be competitive in this stroke. Yet most swimmers do not realize that tempo and technique are far more closely tied than they think. In fact, it is very hard to reach the proper tempo when your technique is lacking. So the two have to improve together.
A Weak Stroke, Honestly Told
Backstroke was always my weakest stroke until I started working with The Race Club. Throughout my years growing up, I swam a decent bit of backstroke, and I actually swam the 50 backstroke leg on our 200 medley relay in high school. Still, the feedback after my races was always the same. Coaches and teammates would tell me it looked like I was swimming at a snail’s pace, or joke that I was competing in the 500 backstroke instead.
They were always referring to my tempo. First, I had such a hard time getting my tempo up in backstroke. Then, whenever I did try to raise it, I felt like I could not catch any water, so I would just slip through the stroke, moving slower than if I had simply taken my time. As a result, I kept grabbing as much water as possible on every single stroke. In other words, I was trying to hit a home run with every pull.
Breaking the Elbow
Once I arrived at The Race Club and started listening to how we teach backstroke, I finally began to understand how my technique was affecting my tempo. Previously, in my backstroke pull, I was trying to grab as much water as possible. How do you do this? Basically, you keep your arm almost completely straight as you pull through the water. Yes, you grab more water, but that comes at the price of your tempo. In fact, I was pulling with my arm at roughly a 160 or 170 degree angle, almost entirely straight.
So how did we fix it? The answer is breaking the elbow. Essentially, breaking the elbow means establishing a high elbow catch right after your hand enters the water. Instead of pulling straight as the arm enters, you must first bend the elbow to around a 90 to 100 degree angle. Then you push the water back toward your feet rather than pulling with a straighter arm. Consequently, this transfers more of the effort to your rotation and less to strictly pulling with your arm.
When you think about the pull this way, the tempo starts to come effortlessly with each rotation your body takes. Notably, you can rotate your body much faster than you can drag a straight arm through the water. Yes, your hand might not generate the same force as before. However, you now create far more propulsive events per length, and that steadily lifts your tempo.
“I’m hitting singles instead of home runs, and my stroke has never felt better.”
Today, the 50 backstroke is one of my main events. Meanwhile, my tempo has climbed from 85/90 up to around 120, right where it should be for the 50 backstroke, and I have dropped an enormous amount of time since making this change. Ultimately, the lesson is simple. Instead of forcing every pull, break the elbow, trust your rotation, and let the tempo do the work.
Everything here is taught, tested, and perfected in the water with our coaches.
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