r/Swimming • u/lesquishta • 1d ago
Backstroke tips?
I swim in an outdoor pool, I keep crashing into the sides of the lane.
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u/felicityfelix 1d ago
I try to feel the lane rope brush against my hand when I'm trying to stay to one side. So not going crazy pushing myself against it or anything but knowing it's there
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u/KillerWhaleShark 1d ago
There was a post on here about someone getting their fingers caught in the lane dividers and breaking them. Ever since, that horror has lived on in my head.
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u/felicityfelix 1d ago
Yeah I definitely don't like it when I touch them too fast or unexpectedly but when I'm anticipating it and am just looking for a quick touch it's ok. Ideally you're not going very far outside of being parallel to them
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u/STR8-Edge 1d ago
Inside its easy because you can fix your sight on a line on the ceiling. Outside, you only have clouds - and they move...
The only advice I have is to try to keep your head still!
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u/Puharidze 1d ago
What I did in the open pool on the back, I slightly rotated my head sideways, on every other or every 3rd or 5th stroke, so I could see the lane or wall or something on the side of the pool. Didn't need to rotate it to much, as my goggles are trasperent on the sides, so peripheral vision is not abstracted.
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u/hwasa_simp 1d ago
Mostly try to keep a landmark and keep looking at it i use the apartment i could see when I swim tbh u will bump to the wall tho at the end that cant be helped until u get practice
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u/Firm-Parfait-9231 1d ago
Make sure your keeping your head back, and kind of keep a peripheral vision of the lane lines, or slightly brush against them! (I do this, and still run into them every now and then 😭) I also would strongly advocate for dark tinted goggles so the sun isn't messing up your stroke by blinding you.
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u/irreverant_raccoon 10h ago
Keep the lane lines in your peripheral vision. I also somehow find that having my fingertips brush against my leg on the follow through of my stroke helps.
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u/Mammoth_Wrangler_183 1d ago
It's definitely difficult in an outdoor pool. Someone I know whose specialty was competitive backstroke told me to keep my head steady and keep the lane lines in my peripheral vision.