The purpose of this study was to examine the hand reaction force in backstroke start including new backstroke grip positions. The subjects were elite-backstroker (n=6). The instruments consisted of backstroke grip on water proof force platform. Two-dimensional motion analysis technique was used to collect motion data. As result, there were two peaks (peak 1 and peak 2) in the elite swimmer's hand reaction horizontal force. Elite swimmers pulled the grip strongly at peak1. The results suggest that the pulling a grip is important skill in backstroke starts. And in the comparison of the grip positions, significant differences were found between horizontal lower grip at peak1 and other grip at peak1 (p<0.05), however horizontal lower grip showed the slowest transition time at 5m. This study was the first to investigate hand reaction force during backstroke start motion. The data in the present study was contrary to the describing reported by many coaching books.