This is third – and most technically demanding -- of the four Backstroke Scull drills in this series.  It’s best to master Single-Arm Backstroke Scull and Single-Arm Backstroke Scull with Alternating Arms before trying to do the drill you see here.

The primary goal of the drill is to locate and LOCK IN TO the catch position for backstroke.  Notice that as the swimmer shifts from one side to the other, the hand entering the water goes no deeper than the catch position and then stops to explore that position with a sculling action.

As the lead hands sculls in the catch position, the swimmer maintains a stable and balanced body position, then lifts the trailing hand…thumb first…until it’s directly overhead.  While maintaining a steady kick, steady head, steady scull, and balance, the swimmer turns the lifted hand palm OUT and completes the recovery with a controlled…pinky-first…hand entry.

The secondary goal of the drill is to improve the connection between hips and hands.  As the swimmer is poised in a steady, balanced position…with one hand directly overhead and the other hand ready to initiate a solid catch…  the swimmer loads the hips as the catch is begins.  The pull and hip rotation to the other side, are completed at the same time.


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Single-Arm Backstroke Scull – Arm Up