Welcome Back! Today, I felt inspired to talk about a subject I normally teach about – but haven’t written a blog on: Olympic Backstroke Swimming Technique or a Deep-Elbow Catch. The reason I dove into this subject is because we always coach about a High Elbow Catch in Freestyle, which is actually in turn the same thing for Backstroke. I wrote a blog a few years back about the 3 Secrets to a Great Backstroke Pull and in that blog, we discuss proper hand and elbow placement for the pull. It’s time we take that blog a step further and discuss how a Deep Elbow Catch in Backstroke is what we are ideally wanting our swimmers to do!
Let’s Get Started!
So what exactly is a Deep Elbow Catch? It’s actually probably easier to show you than to explain it, so let’s look at this picture below:
In order to get into a Good Deep Elbow Catch, swimmers must do a few things:
1.) They Must Be at Their MAXIMUM Point of Rotation!
In Backstroke, swimmers will rotate towards their pulling arm UNTIL they hit their Catch Position. From there, they will start to rotate away from that arm and towards the other side. This is actually one of the biggest differences between the Backstroke and Freestyle Pull and often a technical error that coaches coach wrong! I know we wrote a whole blog series about the Key Similarities and Differences Between the Freestyle and Backstroke Kicks, but maybe we do need to make a whole new blog on Freestyle and Backstroke Pull differences too!
2.) They Must Create a Diagonal Line!
To find this Diagonal Line, you look for a straight line created from shoulder to shoulder to elbow. This ensures that the elbow is the deepest part of the arm during the pull. See the picture below:
Versus, you have the opposite where more angles are created and the elbow starts to be not the deepest part of the arm and it may be equal to the hand. See picture below:
Then, there’s also the complete opposite of that -where swimmers keep their arms entirely straight. This makes the wrist become the deepest part of their arm during the pull. See picture below:
Why is this all important?
The position swimmers put their arm in will 100% effect their power output and speed for their Backstroke Swimming. I find that a Straight Arm Backstroke Catch is often a rotational issue. Normally, you will see an imbalance in their rotation from side to side. Whereas, a Not Great Deep Elbow Catch often creates more of a ‘Scooping Type Pull’ and that isn’t a bad thing – at the beginning of the pull, but more so, at the end. If swimmers do not pull straight back in Backstroke, and follow more of a circular pattern, they will drive the hand/arm down at the beginning of the pull and then, scoop it up to come out. The opposite of ‘up’ is ‘down’, which means the reaction to that action is the body sinks down in the pool. We don’t want that ever!
We do have a course created for coaches specifically on these technical components and errors in Backstroke. Feel free if you’re looking for more of a deep dive than we are even doing here, by checking out our course here!
3.) They Must Keep Their Pulling Hand SHALLOW!
You will see an array of angles and issues if swimmers keep their pulling hand too deep in the water. You will also see a lot of manipulation of their wrist and fingers too.
By saying shallow, I don’t mean close enough to the surface to create visible surface drag – but the proper depth being the fingers tracing the bottom of the buoys on the lane line. I learned that analogy from a club coach friend of mine and I think it’s a perfect visual! See picture below:
One of my best coaching buddies and mentors told me the earlier you see swimmers getting into this ‘Deep Elbow Catch’ – the better Backstrokers they are. I actually purposely picked the picture above because you can see how my elbow is actually below my shoulder. I finally find this Deep Elbow Catch position, but it takes me more than halfway through my Backstroke Pull to find it. The best Backstrokers find a Deep Elbow Catch ABOVE their shoulders! Check out Australian Swimmer, Kaylee McKeown’s BEAUTIFUL Deep Elbow Catch!
I used to always coach this Deep Elbow Catch Position, by saying swimmers must turn their fingertips from pointing away from their body to the side as quickly as possible, and that still reigns true. But the easiest way to initiate that change in placement of their fingers is through bending the elbow and dropping the elbow down.
Conclusion:
Next time you’re coaching your athletes to success in Backstroke, try using the term ‘Deep Elbow Catch’. Even feel free to show the pictures I used in this blog for visuals. I think they will better understand the positioning their hand should be in while pulling and from there, you can work on optimizing how quickly they get into their catch – as they get faster! Happy Training!
Until Next Time,
Abbie Fish