flip turn

There's another thread about flip turns in here somewhere. (I can't find it.) It even has a link to a video. Good stuff. My preference is to flip so that when my feet hit the wall, I'm completely on my back. I do a 90 degree rotate as I glide after the push so that I'm on my side when I break the surface and start my first stroke. And as you flip, resist the urge to put your hands out to the side and twirl them to help your rotation. Instead, before you flip you should have both your hands at your side. (Therefore, if you can picture it, your hands are pointing back to the opposite end of the pool.) Do a dolphin kick to start the flip, and as you flip keep your hands pointed at the opposite end of the pool. With some practice you will even get some thrust from your hands as you do this. The advantage to this (over putting your arms out to the side) is that when you hit the wall you will not have to take the extra effort or time to get your hands pointed back to the opposite end of the pool. (You need to have them there for a streamlined push off.)

My preference is to flip so that when my feet hit the wall, I'm completely on my back. I do a 90 degree rotate as I glide after the push so that I'm on my side when I break the surface and start my first stroke. I was wondering how you glide after pushing off the wall - are you already on your side and gliding or do you stay on your back and do a 90 degree rotate to turn on your side just before breaking the surface.Is it legal to glide a little while on your back after you push off the walls in freestyle? Thanks.

ME: My preference is to flip so that when my feet hit the wall, I'm completely on my back. I do a 90 degree rotate as I glide after the push so that I'm on my side when I break the surface and start my first stroke. Hooked: I was wondering how you glide after pushing off the wall - are you already on your side and gliding or do you stay on your back and do a 90 degree rotate to turn on your side just before breaking the surface.Is it legal to glide a little while on your back after you push off the walls in freestyle? Thanks. On the initial push I am as much on my back as I can be. (Sometimes I am already a little rotated, but for the way I do it, that happens as a factor of fatigue and sloppiness. And I find that the more I am already rotated when my feet hit the wall, the deeper my feet are when they hit the wall, meaning I have sunk, and therefore have slowed down from drag.) So at best, I am entiely on my back. In fact, as I am flipping, I am already extending my legs outward toward the wall so that, on my best turns I am almost fully (if not entirely fully extended) when my feet hit the wall. I have not reall noticed how much of the spring off the wall is in my legs as opposed to just my feet, but I would say that almost all of my spring comes from my calf muscles and my feet, not my quads and hamstrings. And yes, at the point I push off, I am still on my back. I use a little "finesse" with my feet to get my body to rotate. I am fully streamlined at this point, and it doesn't take much to rotate only 90 degrees. Maybe I do something with some other part of my body (some subtle head or shoulder movement maybe) but I am not aware of it if I do. Maybe I do something with my legs, but again, I can't say that I do for sure. I rotate to the side on which I will be taking my first breath. When I break the water, I am already in perfect position for that first breath. I've been doing this for decades, really, and it is now second nature and effortless. I always break the surface beyond the backstroke flags, and even farther if I add a dolphin kick (though my dolphin kicks are horrible and drain far more energy than they seem worth to me!)

Originally posted by Guvnah ... In fact, as I am flipping, I am already extending my legs outward toward the wall so that, on my best turns I am almost fully (if not entirely fully extended) when my feet hit the wall. I have not reall noticed how much of the spring off the wall is in my legs as opposed to just my feet, but I would say that almost all of my spring comes from my calf muscles and my feet, not my quads and hamstrings. And yes, at the point I push off, I am still on my back. After posting this, I did some visualization about what happens as my feet hit the wall and I remembered some more details. My feet actually hit the water significantly before they hit the wall. And yes, I am fully extended at that moment. The way I flip allows me to maintain pretty good forward momentum towards the wall, and my toes are pointed towards the wall. (A side benefit to this is that I NEVER hit the top of the wall with my feet or heels.) As my toes touch the wall I actually bend my legs slightly and glide a small amount closer to the wall so that I can get extra spring off the wall. I "catch" myself and stop my momentum into the wall with the flex in my knees and hips, and quickly push off. I do nothing to start my rotation until the very last touch of my toes, and that's where the "finesse" I mentioned before comes in.

I tried a flip turn based on what was mentioned here.Thanks a lot!I am definitely better at it although not very comfortable doing it yet(well ... I am sure that time will come soon)Also, for some reason, not all the time, but it does happen that when I push off the wall I go too deep for some reason, almost to the bottom of the pool.Anyone knows what causes it?maybe my turn is not complete or something. Thanks again for the advice everyone.

There was an older thread about flips, and I brought it to the top for you to find, hooked. There is a link in it for a video on flip turns. The guy does his pretty much like I do, although he is already starting to rotate when he hits the wall. Given that he's in the "movies", I would tend to say that he's probably doing it more correctly than I do. Oh. And if you're diving deeper on the push-off, then I'm sure you're not fully rotated on the flip when your feet hit the wall.

Originally posted by hooked-on-swimming I tried a flip turn based on what was mentioned here.Thanks a lot!I am definitely better at it although not very comfortable doing it yet(well ... I am sure that time will come soon)Also, for some reason, not all the time, but it does happen that when I push off the wall I go too deep for some reason, almost to the bottom of the pool.Anyone knows what causes it?maybe my turn is not complete or something. Thanks again for the advice everyone. I struggle with flip turns also. Sometimes I too come off very deep and descending as I go! One time, I saw four Brit's in a yellow submarine....... They sent in divers to find me..... By the time I surfaced, I was in oxygen debt worse than I had ever been in my life..... and I had only completed my first 25 SCY! That is all true - except for the submarine and the divers!:rolleyes:

GUVNAH, that is awesome!!!Thanks for the link.Seeing the flip turn is so much better than trying to picture it in your head. SCANSY, you should check it out, too, it is VERRRRRRYY helpful!

See: flip turns here.

Thanks Guvnah, I've been swimming for 36 years and I've always used my arms to help fuel my flip. I knew it was wrong. As a kid, other swimmers would always joke about how i would stick my arms out when I turned. Now I get to start from basics. This is going to be as difficult to fix as a bad golf swing.