Effect of Backstroke Instruction with Focus on Breathing for Female Collegiate Recreational Swimmers

Abstract

The present study aimed to clarify the effects of a method of teaching backstroke skills that focuses on breathing and its influence on improving breathing skills. The subjects were nine female collegiate recreational swimmers who could swim backstroke for approximately 25 m. The subjects participated in an educational course comprising eight units. The first half of the course mainly focused on acquiring basic backstroke skills and the second half mainly focused on refining stroke motion and being able to breath in synchrony with stroke motion. The effects of the program were assessed by analyzing intra-nasal pressure (INP), swimming velocity (V), stroke rate (SR) and stroke length (SL). Backstroke skills were evaluated based on observational standard criteria. As a result, the subjects' INP changed their breathing pattern in synchrony with stroke motion. The score of the observational standard criteria was significantly increased for all items. In addition, although V and SL were significantly improved, there was no significant difference in SR. These findings suggest that the method of teaching in this study was effective for recreational swimmers.