Flip turns

It would help if you could post a video. I am unclear from your discription,do you have one arm forward as you turn? You should have both arms at your side as you go into the turn, tuck your head pull both hands forward by bending at the elbows, and somersault.Then push off on your back and then slowly turn onto your stomach.

Do you use your hands with the palms facing the bottom of the pool and at your side as you start the somersault, pull hard up towards your face to help speed up the rotation? This will aid in the speed of the flip and then extend your hands forward to streamline out of the turn.

I agree with Allen that it sounds like there is something inherently wrong with your technique. One to two feet from your outstretched hand would mean you'd crash into the wall if you pulled through with that arm (and you SHOULD be pulling through, both arms should be at your sides when your legs flip over). Watch some videos. Once you get the basic technique down then the remaining thing is timing it correctly so you aren't too far or close to the wall and that will come with practice. One piece of advice I'd give is try not to look at the wall. Instead use the T on the bottom to judge how far away you are. Also use your forward momentum to initiate the turn. On that final stroke begin tucking your chin to initiate the turn. You don't want to be dead in the water when you start the turn and based on your description that could be what's happening to you now.

I, too, am a former high school swimmer who got back in the pool after years out of of it. Flip turns were shockingly difficult for me when I first got back into swimming. For a little while, I made myself do the somersault practicing in the middle of the pool for about five or ten minutes every workout to get that flip back into tight, quick shape, while sticking to open turns for the rest of my swim. Then I moved to just drilling the flip turns on the wall (start just past the flags, swim into the wall, flip turn, stop after the first stroke or two). Then I worked them back into my swimming. I almost didn't bother with all that--honestly, I just thought it might be an interesting goal to change things up more than I really thought it would be helpful or effective), but now I'm really glad I did. My turn is still not the fastest or cleanest, but it doesn't leave me worn out anymore, I don't find myself coming off the wall at a weird angle, and I feel like having a workable one does keep me in a better rhythm that pays off in a higher quality workout.

... tuck your head pull both hands forward by bending at the elbows, and somersault. Adding to what Allen wrote, note that he used the word "somersault", not "handspring". You will flip faster and use less energy to boot if you tuck your legs so your knees are at about 90°. (As you didn't post any video, it's obviously not clear what your current turn looks like, but flipping with your legs too straight is a common problem. Also, YouTube has tons of flip turn videos, both demonstration and instructional.

I find myself sinking quite a bit during the turn, so much so that I can't flip in the shallow end of the pool without scraping knees and elbows on the bottom! This sentence makes it sound like you are flipping very slowly (if you have time to sink). You might try the 5 strokes then somersault drill where you swim freestyle for 5 strokes (breathing on any of the first 4) then follow the arm of your 5th stroke forward into a very small and fast somersault (do this in the middle of the pool - not on the wall). They key is to be as small (tucked) as possible - knees to chest, feet to rear end, chin down - trying to flip as fast as possible. You may just need some more momentum going into your turns...?

Word of advice...as you perfect the turn and want to start trying it closer to the wall...don't get too close all at once. Getting TOO close can result in hitting your heels on the side of the pool. I know from experience that it doesn't feel good. Dan

The fact that you want to work on improving your flipturns is great! I would suggest doing flip turns only when you are at the deep end of the pool and sticking with open turns at the shallow end. You'll save time and avoid injuring yourself this way. You can take some time after your main workout to continue practicing your turns as well. If you work on your turn technique and practice consistently, the flipturns will continue to get less difficult and tiring. Good luck!

I really struggle with my flipturns. What I took for granted in my youth is now quite a challenge. I find that I'm much more worn out after a swim if I've done flipturns, and I don't think I swim any faster or more efficiently when I do flipturns. It's difficult to pace myself consistently, so my approach to the wall is the first problem I encounter. I try to have about a foot or two between my outstretched arm and the wall before I begin the turn. Even if I manage to do this successfully, I find myself sinking quite a bit during the turn, so much so that I can't flip in the shallow end of the pool without scraping knees and elbows on the bottom! I'm a distance swimmer, so I'm not sure speeding up will do me much good in the long run. Suggestions for a better flipturn are appreciated. As an age-group swimmer I was told to always always always do a flip turn - it's always faster even if you sink to the bottom, hit your head, suck water into your lungs and lose your goggles. Our coach was perhaps exaggerating because he wanted us to work on our flip turns. But now that I'm older and slower and less in shape I definitely find flip turns to be more difficult and more tiring - especially because doing them the way I was taught requires me to hold my breath for a long time (approach, turn, push off, gasp for breath). I think the answer is that it depends. It depends on what your goals are and where your weaknesses are and how to get the greatest benefit in your (probably) limited practice time. You say you are a distance swimmer - thus the benefit of improving your turns is much less than if you focused on sprints (50s) or middle distances (100s, 200s). It might be easier (and more beneficial) to focus on improving other aspects of your stroke technique. In a 500, 1000, or 1650 a smooth and efficient stroke and breathing technique will help you vastly more than fast flip turns. If you want to train for summer long course (50m pools) or open water swims, then turns again become much less of an issue. If/when you do practice your turns, make it an isolated part of the overall practice session until it's more comfortable. One drill we used to do is 10 X "Split" 50s for example. A "split" 50 is where you start and end in the middle of the pool. You do 50 yards but 2 turns for each 50 instead of 1. Give yourself plenty of rest between each and focus on executing the best flip turn you can. As you get better you could gradually add in flip turns to your regular sets - 200s with every other turn a flip turn, 500s with every third turn a flip turn, etc. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. You could even do sets with "deep end flip turns" to practice them without the hassle of scraping knees and elbows.