Backstroke leg technique

Hey guys, and welcome back to more of my posts about swimming. As you know, this week we're focusing on the backstroke, which used to be one of my most hated styles (it just got “promoted” from “one of my most hated styles” to “not-very-hard-to-do-style-but-still-a-bit-difficult-to-do”, as you may have discovered in my recent posts about backstroke). In this post, we're going to learn about the leg movement and how to maximize your leg speed while doing so. So without any further ado, let's just get straight into it!

As usual, you'll find the link of the tutorial video for the leg movement here. Although much shorter than my other tutorial videos in my other posts, Hopefully you'll find the whole video useful paired alongside the “narration” of this post. Of course, you're free not to watch the video, and honestly, that's not too bad since it's only a 38-second video and doesn't show you much anyway (the cream of the crop is in this post). But if you watch it, it will give you (albeit only a little) enlightenment about the art of the backstroke kicking technique. OK, enough chit-chat, let's just get straight down to it!

As you may have seen in the video (for those of you who have actually watched the video, that is), when executing the backstroke leg movement, it's just going to be a constant movement of the feet (and NO, this does not mean that it is like in every style, where the leg movement is constantly the same. “Constant movement of the feet” basically means unlike other styles (which require proper timing to move the leg, such as after the hand strike), the legs keep moving throughout the entire duration of the backstroke, ignoring the hand movement and such. I suppose you get this, right?). Your feet just keeps moving. Nonstop. During the entire duration of the event. No matter what. I suppose you get what I mean, right? Right?

Okay, sorry for the potential incomprehensibility in the previous paragraph, let's move on to the other components of the backstroke leg movement. For the power of your legs as you do the backstroke though (as stated in the video), is that (despite being the equivalent of the freestyle leg kick turned 180 degrees upside down) unlike the freestyle leg kick, while swimming backstroke each of your leg strikes should be powerful, although this will result in less leg strikes being executed per second.

The reason for prioritizing power over speed over the leg strikes while swimming backstroke is because remember, you're doing the backstroke with your body turned 180 DEGREES UPSIDE DOWN. And when you're swimming upside down, you want to keep your body on the SURFACE of the water, where there is plenty of oxygen to breathe, guaranteeing you a smooth swim without any choking/suffocating until you reach the finish line/wherever you go when you're done with the swimming. Believe me (I've been in this situation may times before), you do not want to spend the entire period of the backstroke underwater, gasping for air and trying to stay alive. And that, my dear readers, is why in backstroke, you should have powerful leg strikes instead of fast ones.

Well, that was one long post. I do hope it was useful for you, and I hope you get what you need from it. Next time, I will still be doing posts on the backstroke and tips on how to be better in it. Until the next post then, See you!