Learn Backstroke
10 - 15 meters of backcrawl. The child alternately rotates the arms clockwise and turns the hand outwards at the top point. As soon as the hands are immersed in water, the water is pushed backwards to create an arm drive. The legs provide additional drive and stability when interchangeable. This form of back crawl is still an initial form and will be constantly improved in upcoming courses.
Prerequisite exercises:
Please read the Safety notes before you start.
Preparatory exercises
Windmill backwards
The first thing you should do is train your back crawl on land. To do this, both arms are first placed on the side of the body. Then you start with one arm. The extended arm is rotated clockwise. The palm of the hand points inwards. Halfway up, i.e. when the arm is at a 90 degree angle to the body, the palm is turned outwards. When the arm reaches the highest point, the upper body rotates from the shoulder in the direction of the arm. With the shoulder rotation, the hand is rotated even further so that the palm points backwards at the highest point. That's how the hand stays. This means that halfway down, the palm of your hand is facing the ground. After doing this exercise with one arm, the other arm and, in a later step, both come together (see picture).
The explanation for this land exercise is very precise. As a first step, it would be good if coordination works with both arms and turning the hand outwards when it is in front of the body. Shoulder rotation will be practiced extensively in upcoming courses.
Few braces
The child swims on its back as in the core “otter swim” exercise. This involves an attempt to pull an arm from time to time. At least eight leg strokes are then performed per arm stroke before the other arm comes.
In an initial phase, arm pulls cause a great deal of unrest in the child's water situation. Many children want to do the land exercise as quickly as possible and make bracelets wild. Because only one arm is pulled from time to time, the water position remains stable and the child can fully concentrate on the arm pull.
Spine equilibrium
Ideally, the child gets a pull buoy or a board between the legs and does a back straightening with the arms. This means that both arms are rotated synchronously and the water is pushed backwards with both arms synchronously.
This exercise helps to improve water displacement during arm pulls. As already said, the back crawl of this core exercise is still an initial form and is very different from the back crawl of competitive swimmers. In this initial form, the main drive for most children comes from their feet. However, it is important that they at least try to push the water backwards through their arms. The arms should draw the water first. As soon as the arms are past the shoulders, you go into a push phase.
Common mistakes
Too hectic
Many children get into the water after the land exercise and want to go crazy right away. This means that the arms fly backwards without control or coordination. As a result, they bring a great deal of unrest to their water situation and finally, after a few meters, they have to stay at the edge of the pool completely exhausted. For this mistake, the preparatory exercise with just a few arm pulls is suitable. You can also tell your child to swim with their arms in slow motion and brag strongly only with their legs.
Forgotten leg stroke
Many children devote all their attention to the newly learned arm pull. As a result, the leg stroke is forgotten and the legs sink down. However, the leg stroke is important. It provides the necessary stability in water, which makes arm movement possible in the first place. In addition, it is still the main driving force in this early phase. The exercise with just a few arm pulls is also suitable for this problem and here, too, you can tell your child as an alternative exercise that they should only move their arms in slow motion and put all their strength into hitting the leg. Also repeat the “otter swim” extensively before you start crawling back.
