Front crawl gets you speed, but it burns energy fast and forces your face in and out of the water — not ideal if you’re tired, in open water, or swimming in street clothes. Sidestroke and elementary backstroke solve that problem. Both keep your head above the surface (or fully out of the water) and use gentler, energy-efficient arm and leg movements, which is exactly why lifeguards, the military, and swim safety programs teach them as core survival strokes.
This guide breaks down the body position, arm pattern, and kick for each stroke, plus the coordination timing that trips up most beginners, so you can swim farther with less fatigue and more confidence.
Quick Answer
Sidestroke is swum lying on your side using a scissor kick and alternating ‘reach and pull’ arm strokes, while elementary backstroke is swum floating on your back using a symmetrical whip kick and a simultaneous arm pull that mirrors a ‘chicken-airplane-soldier’ motion. Both are low-energy, easy-breathing strokes built for endurance and rescue situations rather than speed.
How to Swim Sidestroke
Start lying on your side in the water with your body as flat and streamlined as possible. Your bottom arm (the ‘leading arm’) extends straight out in front of you, palm down, while your top arm (‘trailing arm’) rests along your side. Keep your head in line with your spine so your mouth stays comfortably above the waterline.
The arms work in a ‘reach and pull’ pattern: the leading arm sweeps down and back through the water like scooping toward your chest, while at the same time the trailing arm pushes forward from your hip to meet it — the two hands almost touch in front of your chest before both arms recover to their starting positions.
The legs perform a scissor kick timed with the arm pull: as your arms sweep together, draw your knees forward slightly, then snap one leg forward and one leg backward like opening scissors, and bring them together in a strong squeeze that provides most of your propulsion. Glide briefly after each stroke cycle — that glide is what makes sidestroke so efficient over long distances.
How to Swim Elementary Backstroke
Float flat on your back with your body relaxed and your ears at or just below the water surface, eyes looking straight up. This position alone makes elementary backstroke one of the easiest strokes to breathe in, since your face never goes underwater.
Remember the arm motion with the cue ‘chicken, airplane, soldier’: bend your elbows and draw your hands up along your sides toward your armpits (chicken), extend both arms straight out to the sides at shoulder height (airplane), then sweep them back down through the water to your thighs in one motion (soldier).
The kick is a whip kick performed on your back: bend your knees and drop your heels toward your seat while keeping them narrower than hip-width, flare your toes outward, then whip your feet and lower legs out and around in a circular sweep before snapping your legs straight together. Time it so the arm pull and the leg whip happen together, then glide in a straight, streamlined line before starting the next cycle.
Tips and Common Mistakes
The single biggest mistake in both strokes is skipping the glide — rushing straight into the next stroke cycle wastes the free distance your kick just gave you and turns an efficient stroke into a tiring one. Pause and let your body coast after each pull-kick combo.
In sidestroke, swimmers often let their body roll onto their stomach or back instead of staying on their side; keep your hips and shoulders stacked vertically to maintain the streamlined side position. In elementary backstroke, a common error is letting the hips sag, which drags the legs down and kills momentum — keep your core braced and your body flat like a plank floating on the surface.
For the whip kick in elementary backstroke, avoid a wide ‘frog kick’ where the knees splay out — that’s slower and less efficient than keeping the knees narrow and letting the feet do the work. Practice each stroke’s arm and leg pattern separately on land or with a kickboard before combining them, since coordination is usually the harder skill to learn than either movement alone.
Explore more: more swimming technique guides.
Sidestroke and elementary backstroke FAQs
Why are sidestroke and elementary backstroke called survival strokes?
Both strokes conserve energy and keep breathing easy — sidestroke keeps your mouth above water on every stroke, and elementary backstroke keeps your whole face out of the water — which makes them ideal for treading long distances, resting mid-swim, or swimming in clothing during an emergency.
Which is easier to learn, sidestroke or elementary backstroke?
Most beginners find elementary backstroke easier at first because you float on your back and never have to manage breathing timing, while sidestroke requires more body-position control to stay balanced on your side.
Can you use sidestroke or elementary backstroke to tow another swimmer?
Yes — both strokes are commonly used in lifeguard and lifesaving training because the modified arm pull leaves one arm free to tow or support another person while the legs and remaining arm still generate propulsion.
Do competitive swimmers ever use these strokes?
Elementary backstroke and sidestroke are not raced in competitive swimming; they’re taught for water safety, lifesaving certification, and general fitness swimming rather than speed.
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Photo by Gentrit Sylejmani on Unsplash.