When backstroke isn’t clicking, know what to try next

Backstroke can look simple when a swimmer is comfortable on their back.

But teaching it well can be surprisingly difficult.

One swimmer is nervous lying back.

Another sinks through the hips.

The legs kick too deeply.

The arms bend, cross over or recover awkwardly.

The swimmer wanders across the lane instead of travelling in a straight line.

Or each part works separately, but timing and coordination fall apart when the whole stroke comes together.

The Backstroke Teaching Toolkit gives you practical help for those moments.

A progression to follow. A drill to try. Another way to explain it.

So instead of wondering “What can I try next?”, you have ideas ready to use.

SEE INSIDE THE BACKSTROKE TOOLKIT

Three common backstroke teaching problems. Three practical solutions.

“I’m not sure what to teach next.”

Backstroke depends on more than simply lying on the back and moving the arms.

The swimmer needs confidence, balance, body alignment, continuous kicking, coordinated arm action and a steady rhythm.

Teaching all of that in the right order can be difficult.

PLAN IT

The toolkit includes 18 structured Backstroke Lesson Plans to help you teach the stroke progressively. 

Use them to:

• build confidence on the back
• develop body position and balance
• introduce kicking and arm action in manageable stages
• organise skill development more clearly
• progress swimmers towards complete backstroke
• reduce time spent planning individual lessons

Instead of deciding everything from scratch, you have a structured teaching route to follow.

“I know what’s wrong, but I need another way to fix it.”

You can see the hips are sinking.

You know the kick is too deep.

You can see the arm recovery is crossing the centre line.

You know the swimmer is losing rhythm.

But recognising the fault is only the first step.

The next question is:

“What exercise can I use to help them change it?”

PRACTISE IT

The toolkit includes 20+ practical Backstroke Drills covering: 

• body position and balance
• leg kick
• arm action
• recovery and pull
• timing and coordination
• whole-stroke backstroke

Instead of repeatedly telling the swimmer what they are doing wrong, give them a drill that isolates the problem and helps them practise the movement more successfully.

SOCIAL PROOF – INSERT HERE

★★★★★
“I could see what was wrong with my swimmers’ backstroke but was running out of ways to correct it. The drills gave me some really useful alternatives to try.”
James - Swim Instructor, NZ

“I’ve explained it, but they still don’t understand.”

Backstroke can be difficult to explain because the swimmer cannot always see what their body is doing.

You might tell them to “keep your hips up”...

...but they may not know what that should feel like.

You might ask them to “relax the recovery”...

...but that phrase may mean very little to a developing swimmer.

Sometimes the skill is correct.

The problem is the language being used to teach it.

EXPLAIN IT

The toolkit includes Phrases for Teaching Backstroke, with hundreds of alternative cues covering: 

• body position and balance
• head position
• hips and body alignment
• leg kick
• arm action
• breathing and relaxation
• timing and coordination
• body rotation
• common backstroke faults

Try a shorter cue.

Try an image.

Try a feel-based explanation.

Try wording that reassures a nervous swimmer.

Because sometimes changing the phrase is what finally makes the movement click.

Plan it. Practise it. Explain it.

The real value of the Backstroke Teaching Toolkit is not simply that you receive three PDFs.

It is that the three resources work together.

Imagine a swimmer whose hips and legs keep sinking.

You can:

1. Find the progression
Use the lesson plans to identify where body position and confidence should sit within the swimmer’s development.

2. Choose a drill
Select an exercise that helps the swimmer improve balance and body alignment.

3. Change the explanation
If the swimmer still does not understand what you want, try a different cue from the Phrase Book.

That gives you three different ways to approach the same teaching problem.

Progression. Practice. Communication.

That is what turns three separate resources into a practical backstroke problem-solving toolkit.

What’s inside the Backstroke Teaching Toolkit?

Backstroke Lesson Plans

18 structured lesson plans

Ready-made teaching ideas to help you develop backstroke progressively and efficiently. 

Use them to:

• build confidence on the back
• organise skill development
• reduce planning time
• progress swimmers towards complete backstroke

Backstroke Drills

20+ practical exercises

Targeted drills for developing and correcting:

• balance
• body position
• kicking
• arm action
• recovery and pull
• timing and coordination
• whole-stroke swimming. 

Phrases for Teaching Backstroke

Hundreds of alternative teaching cues

Different ways to explain backstroke when your normal wording is not connecting with the swimmer. 

See inside the toolkit before you buy

Want to see how the lesson plans, drills and teaching phrases work together?

Take a look inside the Backstroke Teaching Toolkit before purchasing.

The preview includes genuine sample material from all three resources and shows how you can move from:

a teaching problem → a progression → a drill → an alternative cue

SEE INSIDE THE BACKSTROKE TOOLKIT

★★★★★
“The resources are practical and easy to dip into whenever I need a fresh idea for a lesson.”
Jane - Swimming Teacher, IL

Made for real swimming lessons

The Backstroke Teaching Toolkit is particularly useful if you:

• teach swimmers who are nervous on their back
• need more ideas for improving body position and balance
• regularly correct sinking hips or legs
• want practical drills for arm action and coordination
• teach swimmers who struggle to travel in a straight line
• want more structure in your lesson planning
• sometimes struggle to explain a skill in another way
• are newly qualified and building confidence
• are experienced but want additional poolside ideas

You do not need more complicated swimming theory.

You need practical answers to the questions that arise in real lessons:

What should I teach next?

What drill should I try?

How else can I explain this?

That is exactly what this toolkit is designed to provide.

Created from more than 30 years of swimming teaching

I’m Mark Young, founder of Swim Teach.

Over more than 30 years of teaching, one thing becomes very clear:

Different swimmers need different ways into the same skill.

One swimmer needs more confidence before technique can improve.

Another needs the movement broken down.

Another needs a different drill.

Another simply needs the instruction phrased differently.

The Backstroke Teaching Toolkit gives you more of those options.

Everything in one digital toolkit

You receive:

✓ 18 Backstroke lesson plans
✓ 20+ drills and exercises
✓ Hundreds of teaching phrases and alternative cues
✓ 3 downloadable PDF resources
✓ Instant digital access
✓ Use on mobile, tablet or computer
✓ Designed for practical lesson planning and poolside reference. 

SEE INSIDE THE BACKSTROKE TOOLKIT

The next time backstroke gets stuck, you’ll have somewhere to turn

When a swimmer is nervous lying back...

When the hips keep sinking...

When the kick is too deep...

When the arms cross over...

When the swimmer loses rhythm or direction...

Or when your usual explanation simply is not getting through...

You do not have to keep repeating the same correction.

Find the progression. Choose a drill. Try another way of explaining it.

Plan it. Practise it. Explain it.

The Backstroke Teaching Toolkit gives you practical ideas to help make backstroke easier to teach and easier for your swimmers to understand.