Can't seem to swim faster with your backstroke kick? Turns out, it’s because you’re lacking overall forward momentum.

•4 min read
Can't seem to swim faster with your backstroke kick? Turns out, it’s because you’re lacking overall forward momentum.


Typically, the flutter kick in backstroke provides slightly better propulsion than the one used in freestyle, especially once the kick becomes the primary driving force behind the swimmer's forward motion. As a result, backstroke can achieve significantly faster and more efficient speeds.
In comparison, while simple rapid leg movements can effectively increase the pace of backstroke, they also deplete stamina quickly, making it difficult to maintain over longer distances—and ultimately resulting in lower overall efficiency and less sustainable performance compared to more balanced techniques.
The key to efficient backstroke swimming lies in actively rotating your body laterally while maintaining stable hips. Keeping your head flat on the water helps maintain a steady direction, but if your body remains completely horizontal throughout, you won’t be able to increase your speed.
1. Start with a shoulder turn and finish with a synchronized shoulder-hip lateral rotation.
Beginners in backstroke often overlook the body-rotation movement— and even when they do perform it, it’s usually just a passive rotation driven by the arms, rather than an active, hip-led lateral body turn. While these two types of rotation may seem similar at first glance, their actual effects are vastly different.
When you're first learning, you don’t need to worry about hip stability just yet—keeping your shoulders moving is the priority. Maintain a steady head position and keep your neck relaxed. Slow down your arm movements as you perform the recovery, entry, catch, and push phases, paying close attention to the comfort of your shoulder joint throughout these motions. Actively increase the range of your shoulder rotations to better understand how this affects the efficiency—and potential limitations—of your arm.
Once one shoulder is fully submerged, it’s the perfect moment for the arm to push through the water and generate power. At this point, the other shoulder is mostly out of the water, allowing your eyes to clearly see the shoulder head—practice repeatedly focusing on that visual cue.
2. Don’t rush to push the water immediately after entering—it’s best to time your movements carefully for optimal propulsion.
As in freestyle, backstroke also features a brief glide immediately after the palm enters the water. Just as the glide begins to wind down, adjust the angle between your upper and lower arms to prepare for the catch phase—setting the stage for the powerful pull that follows.
Instinctive movements can easily lead to bad habits—like eagerly pushing the water as soon as your arm enters, wasting energy without actually improving your propulsion.
The process works like this: After one leg performs the kicking motion, the body rotates to the opposite side. At this moment, the arm on the same side begins its recovery phase and enters the water. Gliding briefly on the momentum provided by the kicking leg, the swimmer then pushes off the water with the entering arm. Simultaneously, the leg on the same side starts kicking again, while the body accelerates into a sharp lateral rotation toward the other side.
3. When your arm exits the water, don’t linger—make a smooth, natural recovery with relaxed movements.
When the backstroke arm exits the water, make sure to fully complete the push phase before subtly tucking the arm in just below and to the side of your hip—don’t rush to lift it out of the water. Instead, time your arm’s exit with the body’s natural rotation, using the momentum to smoothly bring the arm up and initiate the recovery motion. Keep the recovery as relaxed as possible, allowing the arm’s weight to guide the movement—this will help shift your center of gravity forward swiftly while maintaining a natural, balanced body position.
Like freestyle, backstroke involves swimming with a two-beat kick rhythm—but this is a tremendous waste of leg strength. In backstroke, a four- or six-beat kick is the minimum requirement, as the leg joints naturally generate the most power and efficiency when performing the kicking motion.




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