**Common Backstroke Mistakes and How to Fix Them 
Mistake # 6:  Improper Hand Exit and Recovery**

The 4 most common mistakes swimmers make on their exit and recovery are little-finger exit, which causes unnecessary tension in the recovery…

… palm-down exit, which causes unnecessary resistance…

…hand lift, which causes the elbow to bend and the shoulder to drag through the water…

…and side swim, which can cause lateral motion of the body and over-reaching.  

The easiest fix for all these stroke flaws is coach-assisted positioning techniques. 

Notice how I guide her finish of the stroke by keeping her thumb up. Then I transition her arm directly into the recovery with the hand slicing out of the water with the least amount of resistance. 

I lock out her elbow, preventing hand lift, and direct her arm in a vertical plane over the top of the side of her body and into an entry.

I tell her to “lift the arm from the shoulder” as the hand exits the water.

I use two drills to help the swimmer focus on proper arm recovery.

The easiest drill is for the swimmer to kick with both arms by the side and practice exits and half-recoveries while alternating arms, like this.

Begin by rotating the body and the recovering shoulder up first and THEN recover the arm.

The second drill starts in the side-glide kicking position and then the swimmer practices exits and half-recoveries.

The swimmer can use one arm for a full length…

…or alternate sides after doing a prescribed number of recoveries to each side.  This swimmer is doing two half-recoveries and then a complete recovery and switching sides on the third.


Sign In to watch video

Mistake #6 - Improper Hand Exit and Recovery