Flip Turns Can U get Hurt? Tips Please!

Originally posted by MegSmath As you surmised, the way to keep water from going up your nose while doing a flip turn is to exhale while you're flipping. Works well once you get the hang of it! I'm guessing lapswimmr will have less of a problem with water up the nose when he/she speeds up the flip. If you do them more quickly, there's less time upside down for the water to rush in, and you lose less air trying to exhale to keep it out. There was also a mention of "show offing." It's funny that it was brought up, because I've recently noticed a number of people at my pool who seem to get some sort of big thrill out of making the biggest splash they can with their flip turns. I'm not just talking about a good, solid flip that gets you back toward the middle of the pool in a hurry. There's one guy who brings his legs WAY up out of the water and slams them down with as much force as he can muster, such that his body is almost straightened out already upon impact. I've seen him send kick boards and bouys resting on the gutter sailing across the deck on a wave. He has upended little old ladies with that flip. Okay, not really. But ironically, although his turns look impressive, he wastes a lot of time and energy in them, and I actually get off the wall much faster with my open turns. For that matter, the same thing goes with splashy strokes. We have people here who don't seem to think they're working out unless each arm smacks the water hard enough that the resulting splash reaches the ceiling. It's like they have some vendetta against the water and are bent on beating it into submission. You can hear them in there from down the street: SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! Okay, I'm exaggerating again, you have to get inside the building to hear them. What I've noticed with both these types of show offs is that if there aren't many people in the pool, they seem to ease off. I usually just ignore them, but occasionally one will try to pace off me, and I can see and feel them plowing alongside me for a lap or so, with the lane ropes bobbing frantically as if they're trying to get out of the way. I want to tell them that they'd get a lot more distance and speed if they'd smooth it out; but since it's not really my place to tell anybody else how to swim, I just content myself to outrun them.:D Then, of course, there are the ones who don't just smack the water, but also the other swimmers. :( See my signature...

Originally posted by MegSmath As you surmised, the way to keep water from going up your nose while doing a flip turn is to exhale while you're flipping. Works well once you get the hang of it! I'm guessing lapswimmr will have less of a problem with water up the nose when he/she speeds up the flip. If you do them more quickly, there's less time upside down for the water to rush in, and you lose less air trying to exhale to keep it out. There was also a mention of "show offing." It's funny that it was brought up, because I've recently noticed a number of people at my pool who seem to get some sort of big thrill out of making the biggest splash they can with their flip turns. I'm not just talking about a good, solid flip that gets you back toward the middle of the pool in a hurry. There's one guy who brings his legs WAY up out of the water and slams them down with as much force as he can muster, such that his body is almost straightened out already upon impact. I've seen him send kick boards and bouys resting on the gutter sailing across the deck on a wave. He has upended little old ladies with that flip. Okay, not really. But ironically, although his turns look impressive, he wastes a lot of time and energy in them, and I actually get off the wall much faster with my open turns. For that matter, the same thing goes with splashy strokes. We have people here who don't seem to think they're working out unless each arm smacks the water hard enough that the resulting splash reaches the ceiling. It's like they have some vendetta against the water and are bent on beating it into submission. You can hear them in there from down the street: SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! Okay, I'm exaggerating again, you have to get inside the building to hear them. What I've noticed with both these types of show offs is that if there aren't many people in the pool, they seem to ease off. I usually just ignore them, but occasionally one will try to pace off me, and I can see and feel them plowing alongside me for a lap or so, with the lane ropes bobbing frantically as if they're trying to get out of the way. I want to tell them that they'd get a lot more distance and speed if they'd smooth it out; but since it's not really my place to tell anybody else how to swim, I just content myself to outrun them.:D Then, of course, there are the ones who don't just smack the water, but also the other swimmers. :( See my signature...