Swimming Technique Backstroke Swimming: Why is Lenny Krayzelburg so fast?
Why is Lenny so fast? Because of his powerful pull and kick? Sure, Lenny has an extremely effective ampull and kick. Otherwise he would not be the champion backstroker he is. But the essential characteristic is that his body creates very little resistance: he really is slippery! How does lenny achieve this? Let's have a look at his body position in the water:
1. Key ElementLenny keeps his head low in the water, the face parallel to the water line. His nose points up (image to the left, arrow). He never tucks his chin. Forehead and chin are on a horizontal line. He leans his upper body into the water. Head and upper body position let his hips ride high in the water. His body his straight, stretched-out. Seen from the front (from the swimming direction) his body silhouette is minimal which makes his body very slippery.
2. Key ElementLenny rolls his body and almost never lies on his back - this is only a transition. In the image to the left you will notice that Lenny is completely on his left side. The right shoulder the the right part of his chest look up and out of the water, respectively (arrow). This further reduces resistance: Stretched out on your side with the lower arm looking into the swimming direction the human body has least resistance if you have to make arm pulls as in freestyle or backstroke. Lenny has a tendency to swim "
Front Quadrant Swimming
" on his back. His left arm is still in front when the recovering arm passes over his head (s. image to the right). To initiate body rotation, Lenny does not use his arms, but his kick and his hips. The kick initiating the bodyroll starts when the recovering arm has left the water (about at the time in image 1). Lenny explains: "When I swim, I try to roll my hip completely out of the water with each body rotation".
Learn to Swim backstroke like Lenny Krayzelburg How do we start? First learn proper body position in the water: Practise first on your tummy and your back -> [
Body Balance
When you master balance on your front and your back start kicking on your left side. Hide your head lean into the water. The water line is at your chin and forehead. The left arm is stretched out in front of you. The gap between arm and hind of your head is ideally nonexistent or small. The hips are clear of the water, the right arm trailing on your side starts to feel cold... For a beginning flippers or Zoomers are O.K. This basic exercise needs patience: Some practise for weeks until they master it. Ask somebody to observe you from above and underwater to give you feedback. Otherwise you start to internalise mistakes.
Start recovering your right arm. Initiate body rotation with a kick of your right leg, rotate your hips. Start stroking with your left arm.
Your body has almost rolled to the right side. lean into the water - nose up - hips clear of the water.
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When the rotation is finished stay on your right side for several kicks and check your balance: Head - upper body - hips. Add some variation by exercising the same for freestyle ->
Efficient Freestyle Swimming
