Help swimmers master backstroke with clearer, more effective teaching language

Backstroke can quickly become difficult when swimmers lose their body position, lift their head, over-kick, rush their arms or struggle to coordinate everything into one smooth stroke.

Phrases for Teaching Backstroke gives swimming teachers practical, poolside-ready cues and alternative ways to explain the stroke when the usual instruction is not working.

Inside, you'll find different ways to teach:

✓ Body position and balance
✓ Head position and keeping the hips up
✓ Backstroke leg kick
✓ Arm action, recovery and pull
✓ Breathing and relaxation
✓ Timing and coordination
✓ Whole-stroke backstroke
✓ Starts, push-offs and body rotation

When one explanation doesn't connect, this book gives you another way in.

Say it differently. Help it click.

Want to see inside first?

Download a free sample and see how the Backstroke Phrase Book works before you buy.

PREVIEW THE BACKSTROKE PHRASE BOOK

What’s inside?

Every teaching goal gives you a range of different ways to communicate the same skill.

You'll find:

✓ Direct cues for swimmers who need clear, simple instructions

✓ Gentle and reassuring phrases for swimmers who need confidence

✓ Playful and imaginative language that makes movements easier to picture

✓ Feel-based explanations to help swimmers connect with what the movement should feel like

✓ Rhythm and sequence cues to improve timing and coordination

✓ Alternative wording for swimmers who are nervous, rushing or not understanding

Each phrase is designed to be short, practical and easy to use during real swimming lessons.

When your usual words aren't working

Sometimes a swimmer knows what they are trying to do, but the instruction you are giving simply isn't connecting.

Repeating the same phrase louder or more often rarely solves the problem.

A different image, action, rhythm or sensation can make the same teaching point suddenly make sense.

Instead of repeatedly saying:

“Keep your hips up.”

you might try:

• “Show the ceiling your tummy.”

• “Head back, hips up.”

• “Let the water support your middle.”

• “Float tall through your hips.”

The teaching goal stays the same.

Only the route into it changes.

Practical phrases for common backstroke problems

Use the book when swimmers:

• lift their head and lose their body position

• allow their hips to sink

• kick too much from the knees

• make the kick too large or splashy

• stop kicking when concentrating on the arms

• slap the arms into the water

• struggle with arm entry or recovery

• fail to finish the underwater pull

• hold their breath or become tense

• pause between arm actions

• struggle to coordinate arms and legs

• over-rotate through the stroke

The Quick Phrase Finder also gives you fast alternatives for common problems when you need an idea quickly on poolside.

Perfect for

✓ Swimming teachers working with beginner and improver swimmers
✓ New teachers building their poolside teaching language
✓ Experienced teachers looking for fresh ways to explain familiar skills
✓ Teachers working with nervous or hesitant swimmers
✓ Anyone who finds themselves repeating the same backstroke cue without getting the result they want

Want to see inside first?

Download a free sample and see how the Backstroke Phrase Book works before you buy.

PREVIEW THE BACKSTROKE PHRASE BOOK

Your digital edition

Approximately 50 pages

✓ Instant PDF download
✓ Mobile, tablet and desktop compatible
✓ Easy to keep available for lesson planning or quick reference
✓ Part of The Swimming Teacher’s Phrase Book Series

Use the phrases exactly as written, adapt them to your own teaching style, or use them as inspiration for developing your own personal phrase bank.

Say it differently. Help it click.