Ali Deloof, a Fike Swim pro and world record holder, noticed that her backstroke needed some polishing. Here’s how she optimized her workout to finely tune her backstroke…

Timing is Everything

Every stroke has "timing", or how a swimmer syncs their pulls, kicks, breathing, and, in the case of free and back, rotation. It can be hard in free and back because the legs are firing so quickly and with such short movements, but getting it right creates a powerful synergy across your body.  

The Problem

Ali noticed a weak connection between the finishing pull of her right arm and the top of her catch with her left arm, driven mainly by:

1. A deeper catch on her left side
2. Her left leg not kicking at the right time to help drive her onto her right side and vice versa
3. A weak core that was not engaged in driving her arm and leg movements.

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The Solution

• To fix the uneven catch, Ali focuses on shallower pulls with her left arm, which also helps improve her tempo
• To help sync her pulls, kicks, and rotation, she does the activation exercises above and to the right before every practice
• To improve her core strength, she does the following dryland exercises:
• ~~Planks
• ~~Side Planks
• ~~Side Planks with hip dips
• ~~Hollow Hold Log Rolls
• ~~V Ups

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