Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
One of the most difficult technical changes to make in swimming is getting rid of a habit of crossing over behind the head during backstroke hand entry. This set is a progression that we used to rectify that problem using overcorrection.
Credit to Andrew Sheaff for inspiring this post with a recent post of his own. I highly recommend you check him out www.coachandrewsheaff.com
Imagine the hand entry positions as times on a clock face:
The Swimming Wizard 
Cross over is one the difficult problems all coaches face. Years ago I stopped coaching kicking I. The streamline position. We do all in single arm lead in the side never use a kick board. I have not used kick boards for 30 years. The “muscle memory” transferred from too much streamline transfers to the stroke. Of course we practice streamline where it is used: start and turn specific everyday. Single are lead with bicep on cheek and using a snorkel has helped tremendously.
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Had not considered the muscle memory impact of streamline kicking, but I think you are right!!! Thank you for this!
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Another trick is to rotate the snorkel so the mouthpiece and snorkel are “up” while the swimmer is on their back. The snorkel, then, is a visual as to where 12 o’clock is just as the arms pass the eye line.
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Good idea! Thank you
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