So....here's the thing:
I'm actually getting decent at flipturns. I screw a few of them up, but I always know what I did wrong. The ratio of good flips to bad flips keeps going up. But, because there are usually some bad flips along the way, I haven't set any PRs yet when using flips. I'm at 1:25 100m with (some bad) flips, vs 1:22 with decent open-turns. My 50m is hi-39sec vice hi-38sec.
However....
When flipping, of course we are not breathing through the approach, turn, and pushoff. This is not a problem for me in a hard 50m/100m. But in a hard 400m, I'm dying, Man!! The accumulation of not breathing for this period every 25m has me GASPING after 200m. I crave that open-turn breath.
Maybe I will learn to handle this, but I dunno.
Even if you flip well, should you sometimes do open turns because of the oxygen situation?
Longtime swimmer here, pretty much most of my life... We did flip turns in the 60s, all the kids did flip turns when I started swimming competitely about 1963..so that's a long time. I have no idea when they started, but well before then. The one big change is we used to do a really shallow flat start and the blocks were on the shallow end!. I would say the backstroke turn was a little newer , we originally just did a crab style circle around staying on your back until the rules changed and you didn't have to touch with your hands, and it changed to a flip over.
I just swim on my own now but I have cut back on my flipturns just because they make my stomach feel upset... I dont think my head can handle the quick roll now at my age I guess..I think it's something to do with balance maybe. Anyway, no one else mentioned that..I would agree you need to exhale forcibly throughout the turn..I like doing them but my stomach would rebell. Maybe if I did more I could get used to them...again..
At our pool there is now a plethora of private competitive lessons which I had never heard of before. The teachers are quite good. I overheard one teacher tell the kids to keep a kettle bell in the bathroom and do 10 squats every time she went into the bathroom. This was to develop the push against the wall muscles..
I was doing butterfly last year and another swimmer stopped me to ask if I had done butterfly all my life!. I answered quickly , no,of course not, just since I was 10! Then I laughed as that was 55 years ago... but I told her that I had some bad lessons in those early days they really didnt know how to teach the newer strokes back then. We had to do the whip kick exercise on the deck pushing up from kickboards. With your heels out and knees together, I used to do it easily and practice at home, haha! I dont think I can even assume the position, much less push up...
Longtime swimmer here, pretty much most of my life... We did flip turns in the 60s, all the kids did flip turns when I started swimming competitely about 1963..so that's a long time. I have no idea when they started, but well before then. The one big change is we used to do a really shallow flat start and the blocks were on the shallow end!. I would say the backstroke turn was a little newer , we originally just did a crab style circle around staying on your back until the rules changed and you didn't have to touch with your hands, and it changed to a flip over.
I just swim on my own now but I have cut back on my flipturns just because they make my stomach feel upset... I dont think my head can handle the quick roll now at my age I guess..I think it's something to do with balance maybe. Anyway, no one else mentioned that..I would agree you need to exhale forcibly throughout the turn..I like doing them but my stomach would rebell. Maybe if I did more I could get used to them...again..
At our pool there is now a plethora of private competitive lessons which I had never heard of before. The teachers are quite good. I overheard one teacher tell the kids to keep a kettle bell in the bathroom and do 10 squats every time she went into the bathroom. This was to develop the push against the wall muscles..
I was doing butterfly last year and another swimmer stopped me to ask if I had done butterfly all my life!. I answered quickly , no,of course not, just since I was 10! Then I laughed as that was 55 years ago... but I told her that I had some bad lessons in those early days they really didnt know how to teach the newer strokes back then. We had to do the whip kick exercise on the deck pushing up from kickboards. With your heels out and knees together, I used to do it easily and practice at home, haha! I dont think I can even assume the position, much less push up...
