Four backstroke drills that each isolate one pillar: water-glass for the head, single-arm for the pull, six-kick switch for rotation, double-arm for symmetry.
"Which drills actually move my backstroke forward?" Honest answer: the four below — each isolates exactly one of the pillars (body position, rotation, pull) and welds them together at the end. Drills are not a warm-up pastime but the fastest way to store a feeling you cannot consciously control within the full stroke.
The trick to good drills: they make a single aspect so exaggerated or so simplified that you finally feel it. Then you transfer the feeling back into normal swimming. The short feedback loop matters — swim one normal length right after the drill and feel what changed; immediate feedback clearly accelerates motor learning.
The measurable goal behind it all: more distance per stroke. Because your speed is stroke rate times stroke length, and length is the progress marker by which you recognise good technique. Keep that in mind when a drill feels boring: you are not training the exercise but the feeling that makes you faster in every single length.
Swim a length and imagine a full glass of water standing on your forehead — it must not tip. This drill fixes head and gaze, lifts the hips and takes out the wobble. Ideal as the first drill of any session, because a quiet head is the basis for everything else.
One arm stays by your side (or stretched up), the other swims alone: enter, bend the elbow, pull through to the thigh. This lets you feel every phase of the pull isolated, without the other arm distracting. 4x25 m per side, then switch. A common aha moment: only when the other arm rests still by your side do you notice how short your pull has been.
Roll onto one side, lower arm by your side, upper arm stretched, and do six kicks in a deep side position before rolling into the next stroke on the other side. The drill stores rotation around the long axis and separates it from frantic paddling. Shorten the pauses over time.
Both arms pull simultaneously: together forward over the water, together in, together through. This forces a high hip (otherwise you sink in the double phase) and mercilessly reveals side differences. A strong trunk drill that couples body position and pull.
After every drill, immediately swim one normal length and consciously feel what changed. Exactly this transfer turns an exercise into real skill. Without it, the drill stays a nice gimmick with no effect.
Single-arm and side-position drills are unfamiliar and load the shoulder more one-sidedly than normal swimming — build volume slowly and stop with shoulder twinges. Fins raise speed and ankle load; use them in moderation. Because you do not watch the pull in many drills, you easily lose orientation — count roughly or use the backstroke flags so you do not run into the wall. Practise in a free lane without oncoming traffic.
Film yourself for one length from the side before and after a drill and compare the two clips directly. The difference — higher hips, longer pull, cleaner rotation — is instantly visible on video, and this immediate feedback anchors the correction faster than repetition alone. What you see, you correct faster than what you only feel.
Four cover the whole field: the water-glass drill for a quiet head, single-arm backstroke for the pull, the six-kick switch for rotation and double-arm backstroke for symmetry and high hips. Each isolates one pillar — together they build a rounded technique. Shift the focus by your weak spot: if the head wobbles, more water-glass; if propulsion is missing, more single-arm.
Short and regular beats rare and long: one or two drills per session, in 25-metre chunks, with normal swimming in between. A motor feeling needs many reps over weeks. Quality always beats distance — a tired, sloppy drill trains the mistake right in.
By more distance per stroke in the normal swimming afterwards — stroke length is the most honest progress marker. Count your strokes per length before and after a few weeks of drill work. Fewer strokes at the same pace means your technique is taking hold.
Not necessarily, but feedback speeds things up enormously. If no coach is there, a short side clip replaces the outside eye — immediate feedback clearly improves motor learning. Film yourself before and after the drill and compare; the difference shows whether you are on the right track.
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