Backgliding#

make sure you know how to regain an upright position and stand up before attempting this

---

**Pushing off on the back**

Ideally it's best to use a wall to push off when doing this. Unlike when your on your front, you'll find your feet will slip and you'll end up doing a back flop. Not good.

So find a wall, face it and hold on:

When starting off, head position is ESSENTIAL. Chin back, look up, shoulders and ears underwater. In other words, you want to have the water take as much of your body weight as possible before you leave the wall.

(I couldn't find a picture of someone holding on correctly

Back glide (arms by side

• Hold on to side
• The balls of your feet should be on the wall.
• You'll be more comfoetable with heels off the wall.
• Head position - Ears underwater looking straight up to the ceiling.

Look before you leap!

A gentle reminder. Smashing your head into something or someone is not fun (yes I've both done it and witnessed it...many times. For your safety and others, please always look behind you before you push off the wall.

---

Carrying on; * Slowly and carefully push off whilst straightening out your body- aim to release hands first. * Let the water do all the work. Don't even think about lifting your legs while gliding. * allow your hips to sink at the end of the glide, kicking will fix this later. *Chin to chest, tuck in knees and stand up to finish.

---

* Hint - The faster you push off, the more stable you'll be so increase your push off as you gain more cobfidence. However the faster you push off the more it will hurt when you smash into something so bare this in mind when your checking *behind you*.

---

Arms extended (Streamline push and glide)

This one's tricky at first. Get used to laying on your back in a pencil shape first without moving. Its all about arm position; aim to get you inner tricep behind your ears. Better still - behind your head and lock your elbows so your arms are straight.

(Yes she's underwater - No she's not drowning)

Hand position
static1.squarespace.com/static/583f2c9c9f7456f249b4c5f7/t/58b08a8f2994ca2623a3aad7/1488059760928/
Imagecredit- orgrenswimcoaching
Hint: Getting the arm position wrong WILL effect how well you perform this. It's that important!

It should feel quite tight and your Lats should pop out a bit. Lats are the muscles that run down rhe side of your chest and around the back. Here, Bruce Lee will show you his.

Image credit NattyOrNot.com

Once you've got this down then we can begin to look at adding in kicks so that your moving more than 5 metres at a time.

However the fundementals are essential. You'll be surprised what a difference learning to float ans glide can make. (Whilst breathing properly of course.)

---

Thank you for reading. If you have any questions, leave a comment and I'll get back to you. ☺