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Home > Teachers & Coaches
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and drills > Head-up backcrawl
Stroke analysis •
Drills • Pictures • Discussion
Head-up back crawl allows the player to move themselves around
the playing area at some speed. This allows the player to maintain
a good vision of the field of play while moving in front of the
ball.
Transitions to other strokes and changes of direction and speed
are an important extension of this stroke.
Stroke analysis
| |
Action |
| Body position |
Head high out of the water; head remains still in relation
to shoulder action; player should be able to look forwards,
left or right while swimming; player is almost in a sitting
position in the water |
| Legs and feet |
A breaststroke or eggbeater kick is often used |
| Arms and hands |
Alternating action; shorter stroke than swimming backcrawl
with a wider entry point
Entry - arms enter with slightly bent elbows at about 11
o'clock and 1 o'clock.
Propulsion - a strong but short pull is achieved using a
roll of the shoulders and a deep pull; elbows are bent
Recovery - the arm exits straight but the elbow bends slightly
before re-entry |
| Timing |
Co-ordination of kicking and pulling into a continuous action;
left leg kicks down firmly as right arm enters the water. Co-ordination
of kicking and pulling into a consistent action; |
| Ball handling |
The ball may be caught and passed to a player at the rear.
Ideally, as the catching hand recovers about 60° above the
surface of the water, contact is made with the ball. The player
continues to move the hand and arm backwards to control and
slow the ball. The player can then change to vertical eggbeater
and pass the ball back. Alternately, they can roll onto the
front to swim with the ball. |
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Drills
Without a ball
| Description |
Level |
Teaching points |
| Swim across the pool on back with head up |
Any |
Keep the head still |
| Swim across the pool with head up; explore different leg kicks |
Any |
Keep the head still |
| Swim five strokes on the front and five on the back |
Intermediate |
use a strong breaststroke leg kick to change direction |
| Swim half a length head-up back crawl and half a length regular
backcrawl |
Intermediate |
Emphasise the differences e.g. streamlining, kick, speed,
stroke length |
With a ball
| Description |
Level |
Teaching points |
| Walk across the pool pushing a ball 'with the nose' and using
a front crawl arm action |
Beginner |
Do not touch the ball with the hands |
| Swim across the pool pushing a ball 'with the nose'. |
Beginner |
Do not touch the ball with the hands |
| Swim across the pool with a ball. |
Intermediate |
Keep your elbows high
Keep your head still |
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Go back |
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