Backstroke Pull: The Complete Guide

What Are My Arms Trying to Accomplish?

In backstroke, your arms provide most of the propulsion, which means they create most of the speed. Although your legs provide some propulsion, and they play an important role in other respects, when it comes to moving down the pool, it’s largely about your arms.

To move, you need to apply as much force as you can against the water. And your arms are a lot more effective and efficient at doing so than your legs.

There are two options for pushing against the water. The first is to move a small amount of water with each stroke and move your arms fast. The second option is to move a lot of water with each stroke and move your arms more patiently. The problem with the first option is that you can only move your arms so fast and doing so is exhausting.

To be effective with your pull, apply as much force as you can against the water with each stroke.

After you take a great pull, recover your arm as quickly and as effortlessly as possible, so that you can take another stroke. Recovering quickly but pulling with more force and intention will allow you to continue to do so for longer periods of time.

The Goal of Hand Entry

The purpose of a great hand entry is to ensure your pull gets off to a great start. It sets up the rest of your stroke.

Enter your hand in line with your shoulder, with the pinky side of your hand entering first. That’s it. It’s not particularly complicated, so don’t worry about being perfect. Instead, think about avoiding two common mistakes:

• Crossover (narrow entry). If your hand enters behind your head, your arm is going to be out of position for a great pull. You’ll have to move your hand back out to the side, which wastes time and energy, to position it for your pull.
• Wide entry. In contrast, if you enter way out to the side, you’re going to miss out on some of your pull.

Recover your arm with a straight elbow in backstroke. If you exit the water and swing your arm straight up, momentum will carry your arm right over your shoulder into a perfect position for another great hand entry. To keep that momentum after the entry, enter with the pinky side of your hand rather than the back of your hand.

Why does it matter? Because after the entry, you must set up your stroke. Part of that process is making sure your hand gets deep enough. If you enter the water with the back of your hand, your hand is going to slow down significantly, and it’s going to be more difficult to get into position for an effective pull.

How to Start Your Pull

A great pull pushes backward against the water so that you can move forward. To do this properly, create as big a paddle as possible using your forearm and hand. That’s what starting your pull is all about: setting up your arm so that it can be in a great position to push against the water with a large surface area and with power.

When your arm enters the water, it should be straight with your fingertips pointing straight toward the wall you’re swimming toward. To get into your pull position, move your hand to point your fingertips to the side wall. When you do, the inside of your forearm and hand will be facing the opposite direction you’re swimming, and you can use that surface area to push against the water. To do it, bend your elbow while keeping your fingers pointed to the side. It’s like you’re creating a big hook with your arm.

You shouldn’t start pulling until you’ve created that hook, so don’t apply pressure on the water until you reposition your hand. There are two common mistakes to avoid:

• Not enough bend in your arm. Although starting your pull with a completely straight arm allows you to create a big paddle, you’re pushing in the wrong direction—against the water to the side rather than toward your feet—so you won’t be moving in the right direction. Also, pulling with a straight arm is very difficult. It takes a long time for each stroke and it’s exhausting. Not what you want.
• Too much bend in your arm. Immediately pulling by over-bending your elbow and bringing your hand alongside your body is also ineffective, because you’re only pulling with your hand and not your hand and forearm combined, which limits how much force you can apply to the water.

Keys to Maximizing Your Pull

If you enter the water correctly and can set up your pull correctly, the actual pull itself is simple. All you do is push straight back toward the wall you’re leaving.

In the past, coaches recommended different up-and-down motions during backstroke pull. These motions are no longer considered the most effective strategy for creating propulsion. You shouldn’t perform any sculling motions. Just pull straight back, using your forearm and hand to push against the water as powerfully as possible.

Another important aspect of maximizing your pull is increasing your hand speed as you move through your stroke. Start slow, build the pressure, and really get it moving by the end of your pull.

The goal isn’t to start off as fast as possible from the beginning. It’s about accelerating throughout. It’s OK to start quickly; just make sure you continue to accelerate your hand as you move through your pull. Doing so maximizes the pressure you apply on the water, which maximizes how fast you swim.

A final aspect of maximizing your pull is your elbow position. All swimmers have different ranges of motion in their upper body, different levels of strength, and different bone lengths. That means your pull isn’t going to be the same as someone else’s.

Differences in the pull often show up in how much the elbow bends. You can have a very bent elbow that’s a little deeper in the water or a straighter elbow that’s shallower in the water. Neither is better or worse; it’s about figuring out what’s best for you. Experimenting with different positions, and comparing your times, stroke counts, and what feels best, will help you figure out the best strategy for you.

Transitioning to Your Recovery

Toward the end of your pull, you’re going to get less and less out of it. That’s because as you finish your pull, you’re applying less force against the water because you’re using smaller muscles.

You’re also losing surface area with which to push. You can’t keep your forearm and hand facing backward toward the end of your stroke, so at some point, the amount of propulsion is going to decrease.

At the same time, if you’ve been doing a good job of accelerating through your pull, your hand should be moving pretty fast. And remember: No part of your stroke exists in isolation. You can use all that hand speed to help facilitate the recovery of your arm. Your arm is heavy, so you want to use the momentum you’ve generated during the pull to swing your arm through your recovery. All you do is stop trying to apply force against the water, and your hand will maintain its momentum and swing right into your recovery.

It may seem counterintuitive to stop the pull “early.” But if you’re getting less and less out of your pull and your hand is moving faster and faster, it makes sense to make it as easy as possible to effortlessly transition into your next stroke where you can again create a lot of propulsion.

Alternatively, you could try to get every ounce out of your pull. The problem with that is that now you’re going to have to try to recover your arm over the water by lifting it out of the water from a dead stop. That’s going to get really hard, really fast, and you’re going to get tired really fast.

Instead, sacrifice the last bit of propulsion so that you can effortlessly recover your arm.

Effortless Arm Recoveries

The key to an effective arm recovery is transitioning from the end of your pull to the beginning of your recovery with a minimal loss of hand speed. This allows you to swing your arm into your recovery rather than lift it.

To optimize your recovery, when your hand exits the water, give a quick pulse of effort to lift your arm and get it moving over the surface. This will help you generate the hand speed needed for your arm to swing over the surface.

During the recovery itself, you should exert little to no effort. Your arm is swinging because of the momentum generated by the end of your pull and the initial effort to lift your arm over the surface.

The only place you may to have to pay attention is when steering your arm to a proper entry position, right over your shoulder. During your recovery, you may need to guide your arm slightly to make sure it ends up in the right position, not too narrow and not too wide.

Another key to recovering your arms well is ensuring that your elbow stays straight. Bending your elbow will disrupt the momentum you generate when starting your recovery. That’s going to require you to exert more effort to recover your arms.

Just as important, bending your elbow is going to make it a lot more difficult to control your arms. It’s much more likely that they won’t enter where you want them to, and when they do enter, your arm won’t be in an effective position to start your pull.