While visiting Dynamo Swim Club in Atlanta, we loved this exercise!

Why do it:
Varying how each hand connects makes the athlete more aware of what's going on.  While completely engaging a powerful, shallow pull with one hand pulling on the lane line, and forcing the elbow and entire arm to engage with the other... the athlete MUST focus.

How to do it:
1 - Have the swimmers grab a whiffle ball and put it in the hand furthers from the lane line.
2 - Start swimming backstroke, but pull on the lane line with each stroke.
3 - When pulling with the arm with the ball, focus on using the elbow and upper arm to connect with the water.

How to do it really well (the fine points):
When teaching backstroke pull, a great image for the swimmers to have in their head is "throw the ball to your feet".   They already know how to throw a ball, and by putting one in their hands, this helps them understand the direct pull concept pretty quickly.

Pulling on the lane line also keeps the pull close to their body, and the hand moving in a straight line through the pull.

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Backstroke - Dynamo Catch