I have a student who is struggling with flipturns!
Former Member
So I've been a pre-competitive swim coach since May now. I love it! However, I have a student in one of my lower level classes who is really struggling with learning flipturns. No matter what I suggest or what approach I take, class after class, he is rarely able to progress to doing half of a somersault, let alone a full somersault (which he has never done).
I tell him to tuck his chin on his chest, keep his head straight, hands and arms at his side, legs up to chest in cannon ball, but no matter what, he really struggles to get his head and upper chest down away from the surface of the water, and then his legs straighten out behind him and it's all over.
Swinging kickboards out to his side as he initiates the maneuver has rarely helped.
What are your suggestions? I am stumped. :sad:
If it's pre-competitive anyway... why not give the option of open turns; and coach them on an effective open turn? I did open turns for years and just taught myself flip turns because I've only started taking my swimming seriously in the last couple of years. As the student becomes a stronger swimmer and wants to swim competitively, the flip-turn will be easier to coax out of him/her.
I think this is important. I learned to swim as a kid, but never took it seriously until I was in my 20s. I learned flip turns when I was 22. For a while I really wanted to do it, I expended way too much energy thinking about it, would see little kids doing them effortlessly, and it all just frustrated me.
I took a break from those, learned/cleaned up the other strokes, and the flip turns just kind of happened when I wasn't trying so hard.
Maybe just skim over flip turns for now, and revisit them every now and then.
If it's pre-competitive anyway... why not give the option of open turns; and coach them on an effective open turn? I did open turns for years and just taught myself flip turns because I've only started taking my swimming seriously in the last couple of years. As the student becomes a stronger swimmer and wants to swim competitively, the flip-turn will be easier to coax out of him/her.
I think this is important. I learned to swim as a kid, but never took it seriously until I was in my 20s. I learned flip turns when I was 22. For a while I really wanted to do it, I expended way too much energy thinking about it, would see little kids doing them effortlessly, and it all just frustrated me.
I took a break from those, learned/cleaned up the other strokes, and the flip turns just kind of happened when I wasn't trying so hard.
Maybe just skim over flip turns for now, and revisit them every now and then.
