Did a search and couldn't find anything; apologies if this is addressed elsewhere.
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.
When I first started back swimming I would start just outside the backstroke flags (deep end), swim toward the wall, flip, streamline to see how far I could get just by pushing off in streamline (no underwater dolphin). Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.... My inner ear didn't like it at first! But this really helped not only with the flip, but streamline. The further I could streamline the more distance/speed I could get going into the wall the next time.
Oh, and one thing that helped tremendously with going over straight, not wobbly off to one side--kept my eyes open when I flipped. Eventually, I learned what the flip felt like, could close my eyes and go over straight. (LOL who wants to swim full speed into a wall with their eyes open?)
When I first started back swimming I would start just outside the backstroke flags (deep end), swim toward the wall, flip, streamline to see how far I could get just by pushing off in streamline (no underwater dolphin). Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.... My inner ear didn't like it at first! But this really helped not only with the flip, but streamline. The further I could streamline the more distance/speed I could get going into the wall the next time.
Oh, and one thing that helped tremendously with going over straight, not wobbly off to one side--kept my eyes open when I flipped. Eventually, I learned what the flip felt like, could close my eyes and go over straight. (LOL who wants to swim full speed into a wall with their eyes open?)
