Fixing a Problem with Flip Turns

Question on Flip Turns:

Some swimmers extend their legs when arriving at the wall when doing flip turns. They do not pull their knees up. The turn looks more like a pike, and that can make flip turns slow and inefficient. Any advice on flip turns and this swimming problem?

Tips on Flip Turns

• While doing flip turns, try to look at your knees while rotating - bring your knees toward your eyes and your eyes toward your head; at the same time, try to press your heels into your butt.
• When you see your knees, legs and the wall, land your feet on the wall, toes up, belly up (you might be a little on your side. Do not spend any time prior to pushing off of the wall (while going into the wall, while on the wall) trying to re-orient your body to a belly-down position. That happens after you leave the wall.
• Push off on your back, do a few dolphin kicks, transition to flutter kick, surface and swim. When to turn belly down? Most swimmers do it during the dolphin kicks or just before the dolphin kicks, but after the feet leave the wall.
• While all this is going on, imagine that you are trying to knock a hat off of your head with both hands. That puts your arms and hands in the right spot for the streamline so you are ready to push off when your feet land on the wall.

Progression for Flip Turns

One way to work on getting closer to the wall - and be careful with this, do not do it at full speed - is to work on it step by step.

1. Stand facing the wall with your body lowered so the water is at shoulder level.
2. Extend your arm to the wall and adjust your distance from the wall so that your fingertips slightly graze the wall.
3. Put your arm down, and without jumping off the bottom, lift your legs and feet up, tuck and do a somersault, land your feet back in the same spot on the bottom of the pool.
4. Once you can do that, change the landing spot to the wall.
5. Once you can do that, then move on to landing the feet on the wall and pushing off.
6. Next, get in that starting position with the feet on the bottom of the pool. Take one step back, lay your face in the water so it is at the same spot where you had been standing and look for turn cues or markers - this is the spot where you have started your turn. Move back about a half step and look again for more cues.
7. Now take 4 or 5 steps back and swim in - slowly - to the wall, looking for the cues.
8. When you spot them, do your flip; do not worry about landing on the wall. Tuck up tight and flip.
9. Once you have that mastered, then add the landing on the wall, then add the pushing of the wall.
10. Now try it at faster speeds, but don't rush it. When you are swimming faster, your momentum will carry you closer to the wall. Be aware of your cues and adjust them for your swimming speed.