**Common Backstroke Mistakes and How to Fix Them 
Mistake #5: Pulling Mistakes**

The two most common pulling mistakes are pulling with a straight arm…
… and pulling with an improper pitch of the hand.  The mistake is that the hand and forearm SLICE through the water, rather than PULL through the water. 

To correct a straight-arm pull, you can use any or all of the drills and teaching methods in our chapter on Teaching the Backstroke Pull. 

To fix improper pitch of the hand, the swimmer must learn to keep the forearm and the palm of the hand oriented back against the water for the longest possible time during the pull.
 
Swimming with fists helps the swimmer learn what it feels like to use the arms for propulsion.  Without the use of the hands, the swimmer is forced to find propulsion from the arms -- both the upper arm and forearm. 

The swimmer can use the fist drill in 3 different ways.  First…swim with both hands in a fist while doing regular backstroke.

Second…during single-arm backstroke

…and third…swimming with just one hand in a fist while swimming two-arm regular backstroke.

When the swimmer opens their hand they often feel themselves being propelled more effectively through the water.


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Mistake #5 - Pulling Mistakes