Backstroke kick in Swimming

Reviewer The most complete backstroke kick lesson here -- real progression, real drills, nothing wasted.

Moderator USMS level 3 coach, five separate named drills building in sequence (body position, kayak kick, gutter kick, big-to-small kick, kickboard) all constructed around fixing the backstroke kick specifically.

Reviewer Names the faults like a coach would and gives a fix for each - genuinely useful.

Moderator Covers correct backstroke kick form top to bottom, then three named faults (cycling/bent knees, kicking too deep, sinking hips) each with a drill. Entirely on the sub-skill.

Reviewer Doesn't just list mistakes -- explains why each one is actually costing you speed.

Moderator Credentialed coach (USMS level 4) working through four specific, non-obvious mistakes -- knee-dominant kick, oversized kick, over-effort kick, turned-out feet -- all backstroke kick, no drift.

Reviewer The 'downkick just resets you' point alone will fix a lot of swimmers' kicks.

Moderator Entirely about the two phases of the backstroke kick and correcting the assumption that they're symmetric. Stays locked on the sub-skill.

Reviewer The band drill alone is worth stealing for your own sets.

Moderator Entire clip is backstroke kick drag from bent knees, straight-leg kick from the hip, band drill above the knee, flick-kick dryland work. Nothing else in it.

Reviewer Genuinely excellent — real velocity data and specific angles, with a useful counterintuitive finding about where your power actually comes from.

Moderator Squarely about backstroke dolphin kick technique, using two elite swimmers as the case study throughout — stays on topic the entire time.

Reviewer The most complete beginner kick lesson here — mechanics, the #1 mistake to avoid, and three ways to practice it.

Moderator Entirely on-topic, straight through — leg mechanics, the classic bicycle-kick mistake, hip position, and three separate ways to practice it.

Reviewer Good catch: stop trying to force the rhythm, fix what's actually breaking it instead.

Moderator All about six-beat kicking rhythm and what disrupts it. Stays on topic.

Reviewer Solid, specific progression - the 'splash with your toes, not your knees' cue lands well.

Moderator A detailed, hands-on backstroke kick teaching method - directly the sub-skill.

Reviewer Real coaching fixes here, not just cues - the hand-above-the-knee trick for bicycle kick is spot on.

Moderator Comprehensive and entirely about backstroke kick - push-off, streamline, kick size, common faults (bicycle kick, hips not lifting), safety. Nothing off-topic.

Reviewer The do-it-wrong-on-purpose contrast trick is a nice touch.

Moderator One drill, one purpose - feeling leverage off the top of the foot for backstroke kick. On topic throughout.

Reviewer Nice progression tool, easy for a beginner to use right away.

Moderator A specific kickboard-based teaching progression for backstroke kick - exactly the sub-skill.

Reviewer Good concrete cues - 'boil the water, don't splash it' is a keeper.

Moderator Live, hands-on backstroke kick coaching on a real swimmer - directly the sub-skill.

Reviewer Real drills with a clear purpose each -- this is something you can go do at the pool today.

Moderator Two drills (kickboard to limit knee bend, fins to build ankle flexibility), both aimed straight at correcting backstroke kick mechanics with a clear structured combo (2 lengths each, alternating).

Reviewer A bit padded, but the drill progression is legit for a first-timer.

Moderator Whole video builds the backstroke kick from body position through the two phases to specific drills. On topic the entire way.

Reviewer Right diagnosis of the knee-bend kick, with Lochte as the model; I'd want a drill to go with it.

Moderator Breaks down the backstroke down kick: it has to be a straight-leg down kick so the knee can drive up and forward for the up kick, with Ryan Lochte footage as the model. Covers the classic fault of kicking from the knee. Squarely on the backstroke kick, zooming in on one phase of it.

Reviewer Strong drill connecting your kick rhythm to your body roll — great use of a tempo trainer if you have one.

Moderator Squarely about the kick — explicitly contrasts itself with drills that focus on the upper body, and stays focused on kick rhythm and its connection to hip roll throughout.

Reviewer Excellent analysis of a subtle mechanism -- just not for swimmers still learning the basic kick.

Moderator About kick timing specifically -- how each kick drives hip rotation and sets up the pull -- which is a legitimate, if advanced, facet of backstroke kick technique. On topic, just a narrower slice of it.

Reviewer The specific numbers (angle, leg gap) make this actually checkable, not just descriptive.

Moderator Full lesson from back-float into kick, land drill first then in-water, specific numeric cues (45-degree leg angle, 6-8 inch gap), corrects the classic beginner error of bending knees out. All squarely the sub-skill, aimed at kids learning it fresh.

Reviewer Explains exactly why a common 'looks aggressive' habit is actually working against you.

Moderator Directly addresses the backstroke kick's role in the stroke: why dolphin-kicking out of a backstroke breakout is wrong (pushes hips down instead of up), and how the flutter kick on the back leg must sync with the pull for tension and power. This is backstroke-kick mechanics, just framed through the breakout and stroke timing rather than in isolation.

Reviewer The 'boiling the water' cue alone is worth the watch - easy to picture, easy to apply.

Moderator Zeroes in on one specific, common backstroke kick fault - kicking down instead of up - and stays on it. Nothing else competing for attention.

Reviewer Solid, and it actually solves the stiff-ankle problem instead of just naming it.

Moderator Covers the kick mechanics end to end -- leg position, ankle relaxation, force path from hip to toes, common surface-breaking error, plus a real fix (stretches, fins) for stiff-ankle swimmers. All on-topic.

Reviewer The 'don't kick wider than your hips' trick is one of the clearest cues I've heard for this.

Moderator Framed as freestyle AND backstroke, but the actual content - loose ankles, kicking within hip width, consistent 6/8-beat pattern, staying below the surface - is exactly what I'd tell a backstroke kicker too, since it's the same flutter kick mechanism on the back. Not a backstroke-only video, but the substance transfers directly.

Reviewer Simple dryland drills that actually target the real cause - ankle flexibility.

Moderator Directly about a specific, common backstroke kick issue - swimmers not keeping their toes pointed - with drills built around fixing exactly that. On topic throughout.

Reviewer Good context for why it's hard, but no drill to fix anything.

Moderator Purely about the muscles driving the backstroke kick - upkick, downkick, core stability, ankle flexibility. Stays on the one sub-skill.

Reviewer Good grounding in the muscles involved, light on actual technique fixes.

Moderator Explicitly titled 'Backstroke Kick 101' and covers the muscles and mechanics behind the kick.

Reviewer Clear, followable 3-step breakdown — streamline, undulation, kick. Good visual cues.

Moderator The underwater dolphin kick off the wall is a real, named part of backstroke technique, and this covers it directly and completely — streamline, undulation, and the kick itself.

Reviewer Good specific cue (kick from your core, not your hip flexors) — just very short.

Moderator Squarely a backstroke kick drill — body position and kick origin, nothing else.

Reviewer 'Kick within the shadow of your body' is a keeper cue, and it's right. Short on drills.

Moderator Short explainer on how big a backstroke kick should be: small range of motion, feet staying inside the shadow of your body, not splashing through the surface and not dropping deep. Squarely about the backstroke kick.

Reviewer A few genuinely useful subtle cues (hands and legs staying submerged) but very short.

Moderator On-topic — specifically about kick technique in the streamline position, referencing what elite swimmers do differently.

Reviewer Simple, correct fix for the classic over-bent-knee kick.

Moderator Explicitly says the hip-driven, straight-leg flutter kick principle applies to backstroke, even though it's framed jointly with freestyle.

Reviewer Accurate but bare-bones -- good recap, not much to actually work with.

Moderator Straight technical description of the kick -- foot relaxation, ankle extension, knee bend on the down-phase, acceleration on the up-kick, hip-driven not knee-driven. On topic throughout.

Reviewer Simple drill, correct priorities: hips and ankles, not just thrashing the legs.

Moderator Covers flutter kick fundamentals - ankle flexibility and driving the kick from the hip flexor - which is the same underlying action as backstroke kick, just not explicitly labeled as backstroke. Doesn't call out the stroke, so there's some ambiguity, but the mechanics genuinely transfer.

Reviewer The knee-angle and buoy fixes are worth using even though it's a dual-stroke video.

Moderator This is a shared freestyle-and-backstroke kicking-mistakes video, so only part of it is backstroke-specific (the 'grab water with the top of your foot' cue on mistake 3). The rest - flexed feet, knee bend degree, kick amplitude, sinking legs - is taught generically across both strokes rather than as backstroke technique specifically.

Reviewer Two correct tips, but it's brief and turns into a program ad before it goes any deeper.

Moderator Both tips (full leg extension without knee/hip flexion breaking the surface, glute engagement for body line) are squarely backstroke kick technique, no filler topic drift.

Reviewer Caption's a mess and doesn't tell me much — can't vouch for the actual exercises without seeing them.

Moderator Title is unambiguous: dryland exercises specifically to build backstroke kick technique. Dryland work is a completely standard, legitimate way to train kick mechanics — isolating the movement away from the water is textbook practice — so this counts squarely for the named skill even though the execution shown happens out of the pool rather than in it.