Want to increase your backstroke tempo without making your arms feel as though they’re going to fall off? Rely on your core, says Team USA National Team High Performance Consultant, Matt Barbini. In its latest set of technique videos, USA Swimming demonstrates both the right and the wrong way to speed up your backstroke tempo through the means of core rotation.
Barbini explains that the key to properly speeding up your tempo is to use your core muscles and allow them to increase the pace of your rotation from one side to the other. Simply spinning your arms, says Barbini, will only cause you to slip, resulting in a comprised catch and disrupted stroke timing. An easy way of apply the concept is to think of “Inside-Out” – understanding that it’s your core dictating the pace and connection of your arms, rather than the other way around.
“In the video below (slowed down to highlight the timing) you can see that the swimmer maintains connection between the components of their stroke and is able to keep their entry in line with their core. Increasing the pace of that core-driven rotation is how you should think about increasing your tempo.”
“In the next video you can see an athlete whose arms are working independently from their body, forcing the tempo without a matching rotational pace from their core. Notice how the right hand is entering while the body is still rotated to the left. This is a common mistake and can lead to a number of ancillary stroke flaws.”
Barbini points out that if a swimmer’s core is leading one’s rotation, it is much more difficult for his/her arms to fall out of rhythm with that pace and for the stroke’s timing to be disrupted.
