Wavelets to wash over face

[Grant]

I watched the Webinar last night and one of the many points that was pointed out was while swimming backstroke - to let the head be fully supported by the water and you would know you were accomplishing this if the wavelets washed over ones face.
Over the last month my backstroke has been feeling inefficient and awkward. This morning at the pool I checked out the head position and sure enough it was slightly raised. Once I allowed the small waves to wash over my face my stroke smoothed out and stroke count went down and perceived effort went way down.

My front facing strokes were okay.

Enjoyed the Webinar and look forward to the next one.

[daveblt]

I watched the webinar too and you know something ,the past couple months I have been trying to figure out a way to swim backstroke without water washing over face my as I recover my arms . You would think I would know how to after swimming TI for almost 18 years. I've tried slightly different head positions, a shallower catch , wider tracks and a slight increase in speed of my recovery arms with almost no change .Not that it bothers me at all but I often see people swimming backstroke with no water at all washing over their face. So I guess I'm not going to worry about it too much anymore because I don't think it can be changed and now I realize it's okay if water washes over my face. The only other thing I can think of is when I swim backstroke my legs usually trail behind me with very little kick so maybe that could have a little something to do with my body position so it's something to work on. One more thing , my wife is a non swimmer afraid to put her face in the water but she can do a very good back float though with out any kick at all and just lay there . I have to at least kick slightly in back float to maintain my position in the water or I will start to sink. So maybe it's my body type .Any other thoughts about this are welcome .


Dave

[Grant]

Originally Posted by daveblt

I watched the webinar too and you know something ,the past couple months I have been trying to figure out a way to swim backstroke without water washing over my as I recover my arms . You would think I would know how to after swimming TI for almost 18 years. I've tried slightly different head positions, a shallower catch , wider tracks and a slight increase in speed of my recovery arms with almost no change .Not that it bothers me at all but I often see people swimming backstroke with no water at all washing over their face. So I guess I'm not going to worry about it too much anymore because I don't think it can be changed and now I realize it's okay if water washes over my face. The only other thing I can think of is when I swim backstroke my legs usually trail behind me with very little kick so maybe that could have a little something to do with my body position so it's something to work on. One more thing , my wife is a non swimmer afraid to put her face in the water but she can do a very good back float though with out any kick at all and just lay there . I have to at least kick slightly in back float to maintain my position in the water or I will start to sink. So maybe it's my body type .Any other thoughts about this are welcome .


Dave

Hi Dave. No big insights. The following are my experiences with back stroke. I am 5 ft 9 in and 167 lbs. I can't float on my back like your wife, which incidentally my wife can float in almost any position but like yours does not like her face in the water. Back on subject. With backstroke I have always had to do a gentle flutter kick to keep horizontal. Doing a two beat kick does not work as well on my back. The flutter kick is very shallow but distinct. I have never mastered the six beat kick. I remember years ago Terry saying to time the catch/pull when the recovering arm has left the water and is at 45 degrees. This
seems to work.
Full disclosure - I swim with a nose plug in practice to minimize my allergies. I swam a few lengths without the plug and the the water never went into my nose. So I think my head position was right. Now that I think of it a small amount might have entered but it was easily cleared.
As I mentioned in another forum when I don't kick at all on my back my feet sink and perhaps (don't know your body shape) a gentle kick would get you into a more horizontal position. Something to try. The quest continues.

[sinker]

"I watched the webinar too"
Dave, can you post the link to this webinar?
Gene

[daveblt]

I tried but can't find the link . You, may have to contact Terry .

Dave

[CoachKevin]

Originally Posted by Grant

Hi Dave. No big insights. The following are my experiences with back stroke. I am 5 ft 9 in and 167 lbs. I can't float on my back like your wife, which incidentally my wife can float in almost any position but like yours does not like her face in the water. Back on subject. With backstroke I have always had to do a gentle flutter kick to keep horizontal. Doing a two beat kick does not work as well on my back. The flutter kick is very shallow but distinct. I have never mastered the six beat kick. I remember years ago Terry saying to time the catch/pull when the recovering arm has left the water and is at 45 degrees. This
seems to work.
Full disclosure - I swim with a nose plug in practice to minimize my allergies. I swam a few lengths without the plug and the the water never went into my nose. So I think my head position was right. Now that I think of it a small amount might have entered but it was easily cleared.
As I mentioned in another forum when I don't kick at all on my back my feet sink and perhaps (don't know your body shape) a gentle kick would get you into a more horizontal position. Something to try. The quest continues.

Hi Guys. You might want to think about a breathing pattern if you haven't already. Lots of folks think they can/should just breathe when they want because their face is out of the water, but a rhythmic breathing pattern will help. When I swim I inhale (mouth) as my recovery starts, then exhale (nose) as my recovering arm heads down into the water. That last part of the recovery is also when the water "washes" over my face, about the time my shoulder is passing my chin/ear. Hope that helps. Let me know...

[daveblt]

Over the past year or so I have corrected my backstroke so not as much water washes over my face .I think I had some tension in my arms on recovery and may have been leaning back a little too much at the same time causing my head to sink a bit as my arm was in the air heading back into the water. Also keeping the face and neck muscles relaxed with a slightly faster turnover with more rhythm .

Dave