Are flip turns all that fast when you consider how much oxygen they take up??.I have found that I am more able to swim at a regular tempo by doing "open" turns, than trying to do flip turns, which always put me out of my regular breathing pattern.:(
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Former Member
Personally, I find that I get a better push-off when I do an open turn (by at least an additional body length). I think that's because I get my body closer to the wall on the open turn, so therefore I get a fuller "spring" out of my legs. So on a flip turn I might get 7-8 yards off the wall on the push, and with the open turn I get 10. (Our lane lines have a mark at 10 yards out, and I consistently hit that on an open turn or on my initial push off to start the set, so that's how I know it's 10.)
I also appreciate the extra breath on the open turn.
But having said that, I still almost always do a flip turn, and it is faster by far. What I gain from the push on the open turn does not beat what I gain from the speed of turning around (open vs flip). Nor does it compensate for the fact that on a flip turn I don't have to swim all the way to the wall. (We could say that on an open turn your head gets all the way to the wall. On the flip it only goes some distance away from the wall, and that distance depends on how well you do a flip.) For me it's about one stroke less that if I do an open turn.
Personally, I find that I get a better push-off when I do an open turn (by at least an additional body length). I think that's because I get my body closer to the wall on the open turn, so therefore I get a fuller "spring" out of my legs. So on a flip turn I might get 7-8 yards off the wall on the push, and with the open turn I get 10. (Our lane lines have a mark at 10 yards out, and I consistently hit that on an open turn or on my initial push off to start the set, so that's how I know it's 10.)
I also appreciate the extra breath on the open turn.
But having said that, I still almost always do a flip turn, and it is faster by far. What I gain from the push on the open turn does not beat what I gain from the speed of turning around (open vs flip). Nor does it compensate for the fact that on a flip turn I don't have to swim all the way to the wall. (We could say that on an open turn your head gets all the way to the wall. On the flip it only goes some distance away from the wall, and that distance depends on how well you do a flip.) For me it's about one stroke less that if I do an open turn.
