How to Swim Backstroke

Co-authored by Brad Hurvitz

Last Updated: June 5, 2024 References

Learning how to do the backstroke perfectly is a simple matter of practicing your form. Learning a few related skills like how to turn and how to stay headed in a straight line can also help greatly. With a little practice, you'll be able to power down the pool with a vigorous backstroke or float along at a leisurely pace.

Part 1

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Perfecting Your Form

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Keep your body flat like a plank. When you're doing the backstroke, you want your body to lay as flat on the surface of the water as possible. The smaller your profile in the water, the less resistance you'll feel as you swim and the easier it will be to go fast.
- Most people have a hard time getting their hips to float on the surface of the water, so they sink down a little below the surface. This is OK but try to keep your hips as close to the surface as possible. It will be easier to keep yourself flat once you are moving.
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Be comfortable with the water covering the sides of your head. The backstroke (like most swimming strokes) is all about making the most efficient use of your energy possible. One easy way to do this is to let your head sit semi-submerged in the water. The water should cover your ears almost completely. It may touch the corners of your face, but it shouldn't be getting into your eyes, nose, or mouth.^{[1]
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- If you don't like the feeling of the water covering your ears, consider investing in a swimming cap or a set of swimmer's earplugs. Trying to keep your ears out of the water will tire out your neck and spend energy that you could be using to swim.
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Use a "flutter" kick. As soon as you're in position on your back, start kicking. Your legs should be straightened, close together, and lined up below your hips. Use short kicking motions to propel yourself forward.^{[2]
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Brad Hurvitz
Certified Survival Swimming Instructor

Expert Interview. 13 February 2020.} As you raise one leg, kick the other down (and vice versa).^{[3]
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- For best results, keep your legs straight and kick from your hips rather than from your knees.^{[4]
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  Research source} This will give you more power and prevent you from getting sore knees.
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Use a long, fluid arm motion. As you start to kick forward, keep your arms at your sides. Reach one arm up in front of you. It should point toward the sky or ceiling. Bring it up over your head, by your ear, and down into the water — it will be pointing in the direction you're traveling.^{[5]
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- When your arm hits the water, bring it down and scull outward to propel yourself forward. As you do this, raise the other arm and perform the same motion. Repeat. This should feel natural. Try to keep a steady rhythm between your arms and legs because that will make your swimming faster and easier!
Katie Ledecky, Professional Swimmer

Block out distractions. "I'm just focused on how fast I'm going and pretty much block everything else out–the sounds, the sights– I just kind of listen to the rhythm of the water, and work on maintaining the same stroke, the same rhythm, the same tempo, thinking about how I want to get my hand to the wall."
To swim as efficiently as possible, it is important to remember that your hands should enter and exit the water with their edges first, not their palms. When you lift your arm out of the water, lead with your thumb. When it enters the water, lead with your pinky finger.^{[6]
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Rotate your shoulders and hips with each stroke. Your motions in the pool shouldn't be rigid like a steamboat. Instead, keep them fluid and flexible to get through the water as efficiently as possible. See below:
- As you raise each arm, rotate your shoulder upwards. Rotate the opposite shoulder downwards — you should be using it to pull the other hand under the water.
- Similarly, twist your hips slightly with each kick. You should have an ever-so-slight "wiggling" motion — your right hip should go down when your right leg kicks and vice versa.

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Learning Related Skills

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Breathe once per arm cycle. A good policy is to breathe in as one arm leaves the water, then breathe out as the other leaves the water. Repeat this pattern with deep breaths to keep your breath steady.^{[7]
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- Deep, steady breathing is important even though the backstroke allows you to breathe whenever you want. Breathing at a regular pace allows you to keep your backstroke up (with good form) for as long as possible.^{[8]
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Use flip turns to turn around quickly. As you approach a wall, turn over on to your front so you can see where you're going.
- Make sure to get a stroke count (the number of backstroke strokes it takes you to get from the flags to the wall), as it will help greatly with your flip turn. When finding your stroke count, count from the flags all the way until you hit the wall. Try taking one stroke off of your stroke count when you do your flip turn. Experiment a little bit, and see what works and is the most comfortable for you.
- Once you've figured your stroke count, as you take your last stroke on your back, gradually flip your body over, and simultaneously take one freestyle stroke, and use the stroke to pull yourself into the wall. This motion might feel a bit awkward at first, but keep practising it, and it will soon feel natural. Then, somersault forward underwater, then stretch your legs out to plant your feet on the wall. Kick off with your legs as you squeeze your arms to your ears and make a "point" with your hands. Stay in a tight streamline until you resurface. Keep up a streamline kick until you break the surface, then start your stroke again.
- It can take a little practice to learn when exactly to turn over onto your front. Ideally, you want to do it when you're just a stroke or two from the edge of the pool.
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If indoors, use the ceiling to keep yourself straight. When you're swimming in an indoor pool, you can use the ceiling to make sure you don't veer off-course. Look for a line or pattern in the ceiling material. As you swim, keep your eyes open and focused on the ceiling. Keep this pattern oriented the same way as you swim to keep yourself travelling in a straight line.
- If you're swimming outside, you have fewer options. If there are clouds out, you can keep the clouds oriented the same way to travel in a straight line. If not, try keeping the sun on the same side of your body. Keeping your bearings when it's overcast is difficult since you have few visible reference points.

How Do You Do a Flip Turn?

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How do you do the perfect backstroke swim?

Brad Hurvitz
Certified Survival Swimming Instructor
Brad Hurvitz is a Certified Swimming Instructor for My Baby Swims, an adolescent swimming school based in La Jolla, California. Brad is trained as an Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) instructor with ISR's Self-Rescue® program. He specializes in training children aged six months to six years of age survival skills like floating on their back to breathe and swimming back to the wall, while also educating parents on how to better keep their kids safe. He has a Master of Business Administration from Oregon State University.

Brad Hurvitz

Certified Survival Swimming Instructor

Expert Answer

Avoid bringing your chin to your chest while doing the backstroke since it lifts your head out of the water and makes you less aerodynamic.

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How do you perform a backstroke?

Brad Hurvitz
Certified Survival Swimming Instructor
Brad Hurvitz is a Certified Swimming Instructor for My Baby Swims, an adolescent swimming school based in La Jolla, California. Brad is trained as an Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) instructor with ISR's Self-Rescue® program. He specializes in training children aged six months to six years of age survival skills like floating on their back to breathe and swimming back to the wall, while also educating parents on how to better keep their kids safe. He has a Master of Business Administration from Oregon State University.

Brad Hurvitz

Certified Survival Swimming Instructor

Expert Answer

When your hand is under the water pulling you forward, rotate it so your palm is facing your feet. This will give you the propulsive energy to go forward.

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How do I finish without hitting the wall?

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Count your strokes from the flags. This will let you know when the wall is coming up.

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As you push off from the wall (or as you make a flip turn) you may want to try using a dolphin kick underwater to propel yourself further down the pool. To do this, keep your legs together and kick with both at once.^{[9]
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If you're having trouble keeping your hips up, fill your lungs with air. It should take a little bit of practice and training to keep them there, but after a while it should be easy and you will not need as much air to stay up.

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Though they aren't required for the backstroke, goggles are a good idea, especially if you're doing flip turns.

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