backstroke turn

Kicking isn't permitted unless it's part of the "continuous" turning action. In other words you can't flip over and just kick into the wall. The lead arm has to be in the process of pulling your torso into the turn to allow for any foot flutter. If the stroking arm has completed the pull into the wall and is down around your hip, then any kicking done after this motion is considered illegal. (It's better to get the timing down just right to keep the kicking to a minimum.) Besides, any glide or kicking during the turn means that the wall may have been a bit too far away before you rolled over under the flags.:)

Thank you!! I appreciate your input.

I don't even do backstroke but from prior discussions on the board and the coverage of Piersol's reversed DQ at the Olympics I believe the rule is that by the time you complete the pull you have to begin your flip, continuing to glide or kick is illegal. So if you turn over to your front too early your only legal option is to really extend your pull so as to get close enough to the wall to flip before it finishes. SW 6.4 During the turn the shoulders may be turned over the vertical to the *** after which a continuous single arm pull or a continuous simultaneous double arm pull may be used to initiate the turn. Once the body has left the position on the back, any kick or arm pull must be part of the continuous turning action. The swimmer must have returned to the position on the back upon leaving the wall. When executing the turn there must be a touch of the wall with some part of the swimmer’s body.

Thanks Lindsay. That helps.

I assume that the flip turn is mandatory or can one still do the old school backstroke turn and not be DQed?

You don't have to do a flip turn. You can do old turns, a flip turn or an open turn.

Originally posted by LindsayNB I believe the rule is that by the time you complete the pull you have to begin your flip, continuing to glide or kick is illegal. The reason for this is that if there is a pause between your pull and your flip, the pull would not have been part of your continuous turning action. So if you turn over to your front too early your only legal option is to really extend your pull so as to get close enough to the wall to flip before it finishes. Actually, I find nothing in the wording of the rule that would prevent you from gliding without a kick before you initiated your arm pull, provided that the glide was not so long that you ended up stopping before you reached the wall, and provided that once you began the arm pull, there was no pause before you began your flip. This should also be legal in USS and FINA meets, since the the wording of the USS rule is identical to that of the USMS rule, and since the wording of the FINA rule is essentially the same. The NCAA rule, however, clearly requires that you initiate your turning action immediately after rolling toward your ***, so even a glide without a kick would not be legal. Of course, gliding would kill your time!

What a controversy! lmost everyone glides into the wall. But that is wrong. Does anyone know wha twould happen if you took a long glide into the wall on butterfly or ***?

There is no problem with gliding to the wall in the other strokes (other than it slowing you down). The backstroke stipulations are the result of trying to restrict how much swimming you can do on your front while swimming "backstroke". You can glide in as much as you want in backstroke if you stay on your back.