You can have some fun, and solve a lot of backstroke problems, with a simple length of rope.

Tie one end underneath the base of the starting black and run it all the way down to the other end and tie it off on another starting block or something stable.

The kids swim right below the rope – one kid at a time and only 25 yards at a time.

They keep their eyes on the rope, and it makes them look great.   It keeps the head steady and everything is more balanced side to side.

Another trick for backstroke is to attach two flags to the rope – one at mid pool and another one fifteen feet away from the mid-pool flag.  

The kids swim below the rope.  When they see the flag at mid pool, they swim full speed and start counting their strokes.

They’re going at full speed so they don’t have to worry about the wall and then they know they took 5 strong strokes before they got to the next flag, which is fifteen feet away – the distance from the backstroke flags to the wall.  

This drill gives them confidence that when they try their hardest, it is five strong strokes – or six or four or whatever – from the backstroke flags to the wall.


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The Rope