Regardless of if you are a seasoned swimmer or someone who is trying to improve your stroke so that you can swim more efficiently, there are many things that you can do that are very similar to the stroke itself, but are designed to help you improve your technique. These are called drills. Basically, you are drilling yourself on your stroke knowledge and working on improving your stroke at the same time.
For the backstroke, there are a number of drills you can do that will improve your stroke, improve your overall body alignment and help you become more aware of how your body is moving in the water, specifically the side to side roll that you are supposed to have while swimming the stroke.
The first of the drills are ones that is designed to help you pay attention to the roll you do while swimming the back stroke, and should be done with fins, if you have some available to you.
Backstroke 7&7 Drill:
When you push off the wall, start on one side. You will do seven kicks total on that side and then do an arm stroke that will rotate you to the other side. Once you are on the other side, do another seven kicks and then another arm stroke. On each side, the shoulder that is facing up should be well out of the water, and the other shoulder pointed to almost the bottom of the pool. Continue doing this until you reach the other end of the pool. While doing this drill, having the fins on will help you be aware of how you are positioned in the water. You should pay very close attention to where you are holding your body in the water while doing your seven kicks, and when swimming the normal stroke, try to position your body in the same way for each stroke.
One Arm Drill:
The one arm drill is exactly like it sounds. You swim a length of the pool doing backstroke with only one arm doing the motions of the stroke. The other arm is best placed at your side, and should remain touching your hip for the entire length of the pool. While you swim with only one arm, you may not be going far very fast, but you will be able to feel the roll your body make in the water easier then you would be able to using two arms. Remember to repeat this on the way back to the other end of the pool with the other arm.
There is one other drill you can do to help your stroke, and it can be completed a number of different ways with the same general outcome.
Blindfold Drill/Ankle Tie Drill:
In the first of these you swim backstroke with your eyes closed, start slow, because you don’t want to smack into lane-lines, which can be quite painful if you hit them hard enough, and try to keep your body straight in the water, and keep yourself swimming in a straight line. The second of these is where you tie your feet together with something and swim with just the arm stroke. You can use this to focus completely on the arms and your roll, but the ultimate purpose is to make sure that both of your arms are pulling with the same speed and strength. In both of these drills, if you are not completing your arm strokes evenly, then you will drift toward the lane-line, or one edge of the pool if you are swimming without lane-lines. By finding out while way you are going, you can then adjust your stroke so that both arms are pulling evenly.
