Backstroke Drill, 6 Kick Switch (video)

by SwimSwam 1

February 08th, 2016 Masters, Training, Video

Courtesy of Gary Hall Sr., 10-time World Record Holder, 3-time Olympian, 1976 Olympic Games US Flagbearer and The Race Club co-founder.

The Race Club #swimisodes World champion backstroker, Junya Koga demonstrates a backstroke swim drill also known as 6 Kick Switch, that will help you appreciate the importance of this extreme rotation from one side to the other. Developing a faster backstroke swim begins with learning to use fast, strong body rotation.The energy from this quick body turn couples with the force from the underwater pull, resulting in more distance per stroke. The rotation of the body to the side in backstroke also places the shoulder in a stronger mechanical position to generate a greater force during the pull.

Using this backstroke swim drill at The Race Club, we also teach the swimmers to relax their hands and wrist on the recovery. This little known relaxation practice plays a big role in enabling the arm muscles to recover better for another strong underwater pull. In backstroke and in freestyle, many swimmers keep their hands and wrists stiff during the recovery and never give their arms a chance to recover enough for the next underwater pull. Doing so will quickly lead a swimmer to exhaustion.

For both of these reasons, you should practice the fast backstroke swim drill to develop a more powerful and sustainable backstroke swim.

Gary Hall, Sr., Technical Director and Head Coach of The Race Club (courtesy of TRC)

Gary Hall, Sr., Technical Director and Head Coach of The Race Club (courtesy of TRC)

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Brad Flood
8 years ago

As a build up drill for emphasising good shoulder rotation, especially for younger swimmers, start with a 25 kick on right side/25 kick on left side; then 25 kick – start on right side & switch to left @ 12.5/ 25 kick – start on left side & switch to right @ 12.5; then 25 12-kick switch; then 25 6-kick switch & finish with 25 3-kick switch.

If backstroke is a “6-beat kick” stroke, then the last 25 should be close to regular backstroke, with a little stall, to emphasise good body/shoulder/hip rotation. 6-beat kick is also a precursor to developing a good Backstroke DPS drill.

Using your snorkle, you can adapt this drill to Freestyle, to emphasise the need… Read more »