New
New
All years

Back paddle and floating

I can experiment using different travel techniques to travel on the back through the water.

New
New
All years

Back paddle and floating

I can experiment using different travel techniques to travel on the back through the water.

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Move: travel on the back requires you to kick your legs in a relaxed manner.
  2. Move: travel on the back requires a simultaneous and continuous sculling action.
  3. Think: being in a streamlined position aids effective propulsion.
  4. Feel: attempting different hand positions to feel the effects of sculling requires confidence.
  5. Connect: working with peers to identify effective body positions shows cooperation.

Keywords

  • Back paddle - travel on the back using the arms and legs

  • Sculling - a figure of 8 motion with the hands and forearms which aids propulsion and supports your body position

  • Streamlined - little resistance to movement through the water, increasing speed and ease of movement

  • Kicking - movement with the legs to produce propulsion

Common misconception

Pupils swim back paddle with a leg kick that is large, with the legs bending and the feet being low in the water.

The leg kick when swimming back paddle should be long and straight with small fast kicks which are near to or at the surface of the water.


To help you plan your all years physical education lesson on: Back paddle and floating, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Get pupils to practise back paddle leg action at school sitting on a chair, bench or lying on a mat. Pupils pratise the alternating movement with their legs, with their toes pointed whilst watching their knees.
Teacher tip

Equipment

1 x ball per pupil, 2 x floats per pupil, 1 x noodle per pupil

Content guidance

  • Additional qualification required
  • Risk assessment required - physical activity

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

4 Questions

Q1.
What is it called when we move through the water on our fronts using our arms to pull?
back paddle
Correct answer: front paddle
front swim
Q2.
What is needed when helping others with improving their technique.
impatience
self-belief
Correct answer: encouragement
Q3.
What is it called when we move the water backwards with our hands to travel forwards?
Correct answer: pulling
sculling
kicking
Q4.
Which of these is not important when kicking in front paddle?
pointed toes
relaxed ankles
Correct answer: bent legs

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

4 Questions

Q1.
Where do you look when you swim on your back?
at the floor
Correct answer: at the ceiling
at your friend
Q2.
What figure do you perform with a sculling action?
Correct Answer: figure of 8, 8, a figure of 8
Q3.
How do you kick your legs when swimming back paddle?
Correct answer: long legs, pointed toes
bent knees
slow kicks, curled toes
Q4.
What is required to work effectively with others to identify different swimming positions?
confidence
Correct answer: cooperation
self-belief