Backstroke Technique - A Tutorial

Hey all - Coach Brian Olver has some tips on how to improve your backstroke, including clips of 2008 World Championships' Ryan Lochte & Aaron Piersol. Happy stroking!

Aside from the sheer awesomeness of this race, and Ryan Lochte's undeniable sex appeal, you should note the following while watching this race:

First you will see Lochte's amazing underwater work. This is impossible for us amatuers, but take note of the rythym and pace of his dolphin kicks. Most people kick either too fast or too slow, and as a result, do not maximize their distance per kick. (Kick pace will be slightly different for everyone given numerous variables, but Lochte's is a good example.)

As they reach the surface, make note of their head position. Their heads and neck are back, pressing down and forward in order to put less weight on the hips, bringing them to the surface. As a result, the body is laying on the surface of the water, and is
better able to "hydroplane" through the water. If you can displace less water, you will travel faster; this is, in part, why sailboat travel the fastest when it is tacking (on a steep slant).

With backstroke, you can see how much of their bodies they are able to keep at the surface by noticing that their entire side is out of the water as the arm recovers, reaching high above the head.

There is a brief underwater shot on the 3rd length where you can see just how far forward and how deep they are trying to reach. This is only possible with sufficient body roll and adequate shoulder flexibility. With each pull you can see them digging
for every ounce of water to grab and pull back. Because of this effort, you'll notice a slight fishtail on both swimmers from the aerial view, shown on the 2nd length, and again after the race in slow motion. Although a strong pull would tend to cause a fishtail (like a row boat with only one paddle), the constant body rotation prevents it from reaching a point where it would slow forward progress; and that's really what it's all about - who can get to the wall the fastest.

To continue the row boat analogy, if you were only given one paddle, to minimize fishtailing, you would want to place the oar direclty along the side of the boat and pull as deep as possible. If you were to do the opposite - pull wide and shallow - hopefully you can see why the boat would fishtail (or turn). THIS is why it as important to roll the body in order to achieve a deeper pull that is closer to the body.

With all this in mind, please study the following video. I'd recommend watching it, and reading this over at least a couple times.

CalTech This Sunday

Here is a slide show from a few past years at the CalTech Swim Meet. Come on down Sunday to get in on all the fun. Even if you don't plan on swimming come down and cheer on your WH2O'ers.

10x100's Redux

Breakthrough Set: Rescheduled for Monday March 10 (Evening workout


Due to the cancellation of Monday evening’s workout – because of pool heater problems – the ‘Breakthrough Set’ (10 x 100s @ 3 minutes) has been re-scheduled for next Monday March 10, at the evening practice only. The morning practices will be regular workouts.

Are You Swimming?

Reminder that the Caltech Pentathlon is THIS Sunday.

Note From Our Swim Rep:

For planning purposes, please email swim@wh2o.org if you are planning to swim at the Caltech Pentathlon this Sunday, March 9th.

If you haven't signed up, but would still like to participate, deck entries will be allowed on the morning of the meet until 9:15am.

Check out the Caltech Pentathlon website HERE

F.A.S.T. WH2O'ers

On February 24th two WH2O’ers swam at the F.A.S.T. SCY at the Janet Evans Swim Complex in Fullerton. Both Stephen Benjamin and Doug Wilson faced off against mother nature and did some astonishing times.

Stephen did a 56.41 in the 100 SCY Freestyle, a 1:12.30 in the 100 SCY Backstroke, a 30.44 in the 50 SCY Butterfly and finishing up his busy swim day with a 1:09.44 in the 100 SCY IM. Four events in one day and he came to swim practice the next night.

Doug also had a busy day with swimming the 50 SCY Freestyle in 29.78, the 100 SCY Freestyle in 1:06.17, the 200 SCY Freestyle in 2:26.31 and if that wasn’t enough he did the 1650 SCY Freestyle in 24:01.10.

Congrats to both Stephen and Doug for putting in some great swims. Just think only a few more days to swim at Cal Tech. For more results of the F.A.S.T. swim meet and more information on local USMS swim meets visit http://spma.net.

UPDATE: West Hollywood Pool Alert

BREAKING UPDATE:

Tonight's practiced is cancelled.

They discovered the problem with the pool heater and a new part is being purchased for installation tomorrow morning. Tuesday night's practice will go on as regularly scheduled barring any unforseen circumstances.

Sorry for the inconvenience. I know you were all looking forward to my practice!!! (We may push the 10 x 100's Breakthrough Set to next Monday evening. I know some people did it this morning though. CHECK BACK HERE FOR UPDATES.)

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The heater at the West Hollywood Pool is currently broken. A technician is scheduled to repair it today. However, for practice to take place tonight, the heater will need to be up and running by about 2:00pm in order to raise the pool temperature from 73 degrees (currently) to at least 77 degrees.

Keep checking the blog and your email box as we will be updating as news warrants.

Water Polo Tourney

While we sort out whether we’re going to Central Valley or Tsunami de Mayo (or both) I think that it would be worth getting some feedback regarding interest in a more local tournament that is still 3 months out.

OMBAC is hosting their 2nd annual 20+ Open Tournament on May 23-25, 2008 in Coronado, CA.

Each team will get four to five games. Cost per player: ~$40.00.

Please RSVP so that we can gauge the level of interest before we send out our registration check. Log on to http://wh2o.org to RSVP or email polo@wh2o.org for more info.

February Dinner Social Photos

Here are a few photos taken by 7pm swimmer Drew of February's Dinner Social at Taste of India in West Hollywood. Check your email for March's Dinner Social.

US Water Polo Masters Festival

Story by Jim Cude

With IGLA looming, I figured I needed work on some basic water polo skills. I had heard about the Water Polo Masters Festival in Henderson, NV, but never went. The festival goes for three days, and encompasses both a training camp and mini tournament. This year, I decided to give it a try.

About 100 athletes from across the US and Canada attended, and pretty much everyone had a blast. Garth Masik, Jackie Cole and myself represented WH2O . The tournament is designed for beginning and intermediate players, with strong focus on fundamentals and team plays. The training camp went Friday night and Saturday morning, with coaches “scouting” athletes in to determine skill levels. At lunch, we were divided into teams, based on how we faired in the training camp. Jackie and I were on the “Score 3” team (named after the pool we were in);. Garth got placed on Score 1.

Score 3 went 2 for 1, winning our 1st and 3rd games with a score of 14 to 4 both times; we lost our second game in a very close match, 11 to 12. I’m happy to report that my offensive skills improved with each game (I scored 5 in the last game), and I won the Most Improved Offensive Driver award. Garth won the most Improved Defensive Player. One other random highlight of the tournament: one team actually had a player red flagged two mintues into the first quarter or one game. (For non polo players, red flag means you have 3 major fouls called on you, and you are kicked out of the rest of the game.)

I highly recommend this festival for all players, especially new players who want to learn the game, and intermediate players who want to improve their skill levels. The festival runs annually in late February.

Weekend Swim Update

ALL 10:00AM WEEKEND PRACTICES WILL NOW BE HELD AT GLASSELL STARTING THIS WEEKEND.

From The WH2O Mailbag

From time to time we get info for various meets around the world and we like to pass them along to you our members. Check out this one in Miami:

This is a reminder that The Nadadores of South Florida will host their John O'Keefe Spring Splash swim meet on

April 5th, 2008 at the Miami Country Day Aquatic Center (601 NE 107th St, Miami FL 33161)

Information and entry form available at

http://www.nadadores.org /johnOKeefe_fixed.pdf

(please note that the previous entry form had the wrong mailing address; the Nadadores board apologizes for any inconvenience; please email us at nadadoresflorida@aol.com if you already sent your entry form and it had not be returned to you already by the us mail)

See you there!
The Nadadores of South Florida

So if you are happen to be in the Miami area on April 5th here is a great opportunity to get some swim meet time in before IGLA.

One Week Warning

Next Monday, March 3rd is the first Monday of the Month which means it’s time for the check set of ten 100’s. This set called a check set or benchmark set or swim till you puke set is a monthly set designed to track one’s training progress. The set is made up of ten 100’s SCY all out sprints. Depending on which lane group you are in (FAST/MEDIUM/SLOW) the interval will vary but you get lots of rest / recovery time.

After each swim the coach writes down your times and you can get them from the coach after workout. The coach also yells the times out so as you are swimming into the wall you know how you are doing. This set sounds harder than it is and many Master Swim Teams do this set on a monthly basis. It’s a great training tool for those who plan on competing this year at IGLA and for those who are just swimming to keep in shape. The faster you go the more calories you are burning!

Personally I have mixed feelings about the ten 100’s. When I wake up at 5am the first Monday of the month I just want to stay under the covers but as soon as I’m done with the set I’m always amazed at my swimming. I’ve had some great months with this set and some months that I just wanted to give up. I’m sure as you are reading this you are thinking of skipping next Monday but I’m letting you know that you should come and give it a try. For those who have been doing think about switching up your lane order for a change. Those people who are always going second this is your chance to ask to go first and show us what you got.

Finally about a year ago another team posted the following about the Ten 100’s Set:

The Ten 100's Challenge

So the other week I mentioned how during swim practice we are doing “Breakthrough Sets” each month starting with a set of ten 100’s on 2:00. Ideally you are to sprint each one and get your average time on all ten 100’s and then next month improve from that and so on and so on. So we did it and I did pretty well my times were 1:04 / 1:03 / 1:03 / 1:02 / 1:01 / 1:01 / 1:01 / 1:01 / 1:01 / 1:02 so an average of about 1.019. Not to shabby. I only mention this as I got an email from another team I practiced with once who is doing the same sort of set and sent out this little tid bit in an email:

BELL SHAPE CURVE OF SWIMMING

How about a politically incorrect "bell shape curve". How good a swimmer are you? xxxx has about 1,000 swimmers and this is a break down of where I think they fit. (* These are yard times. For meter conversions add 10% if you have lousy turns and 12% if you have good flip turns).

10 x 100 Yards in a short course pool
0 swimmers @ 1:00
10 swimmers @ 1:05 top 10
20 swimmers @ 1:10 top 30 / 1000
40 swimmers @ 1:15 top 70 / 1000
80 swimmers @ 1:20 top 150 / 1000
100 swimmers @ 1:25 top 250 / 1000
150 swimmers @ 1:30 top 400 / 1000
150 swimmers @ 1:35
150 swimmers @ 1:40
150 swimmers @ 1:45
100 swimmers @ 1:50
80 swimmers @ 1:55
70 swimmers @ 2:00


Many will be discouraged with these statistics. I think you should realize how good our xxx swimmers are. Even to swim 10 x 100 on 2 minutes is quite an accomplishment and would put you in the middle of the pack of most triathlons. Most triathlons do not have coach potatoes. They are vigorous people intent on their health and fitness.
Anyone in the 1:20s and above most likely had a competitive swim background. The reason I put this out there is to get swimmers a sense of accomplishment and to help you in goal setting. You want to keep an eye on the clock and an eye on your times for the main goal: staying in the water and enjoying a little effort at being healthy.

With all that said you can see how important these check sets can be in your training. After next Monday’s swim we will crunch some numbers and make our own Bell Curve for the blog. So next Monday we will see all of you in the water pushing yourself and pushing our Bell Curve.

Team Update 2/24/2008

Don’t forget that the 3pm swim practice today, Sunday the 24th is cancelled due to road closures around the West Hollywood Pool for the Elton John Oscar Party. We will have practice Monday morning both at 6am and 7:15am as well as in the evening at 7pm. In years past parking at 6am has been difficult as trucks taking down the party will be parked in various locations. You may want to give yourself a few extra minutes just to be on the safe side or you can ride your bike to practice like I’ll be doing.

To all those who are swimming at the F.A.S.T. swim meet today in Fullerton we all wish you speedy times. Hopefully we will have pictures and results posted shortly.

Speaking of swim meets don’t forget to register to IGLA in Washington, D.C.. This year's IGLA Championships is expected to be one of the larger competitions in recent memory. Reserve your room, in one of our block of rooms at our Host Hotels and receive the special IGLA 2008 rate. Rooms are going fast! For more information visit: http://www.igla2008.org/accomodations.php

Finally in member news swimmer Peter Fox and his wife Sophia are proud to announce the arrival of Daniel Heller Fox arrived Friday, February 8 at 4:07 am. Daniel weighs in at 7 pounds 5 ounces and is 20 inches long. Sophia and baby are both doing very well. All of WH2O wishes the Fox family well and we can’t wait to see Daniel swimming with us.

If you have any team related news of something you want to put out to the team please email vpadmin@wh2o.org . Thank You. Now let’s get swimming.

p.s.

MEN’S SHOWER UPDATE From our Facilities Rep:

If you haven't already heard, the men's shower is up and running. This
is a temporary fix and in the next few days a new water heater will be
installed to avoid it going out every few months as it has been. I
thank you guys for your patience during this repair and now the men can
go back to showering in the men's side again.

Weekend Swim Pool Location Updates

Here are this weekends swim pool updates:

Saturday @ 10:00am: Glassell Pool

Sunday @ 10:00am: Richard Alatorre

Sunday @ 3:00pm: NO PRACTICE

As always please check your emails for any late breaking pool closures and/or changes. For maps and the addresses of the various pool locations please check out our website at http://www.wh2o.org .