Dizzying flip turns

I definitely keep my eyes open when doing the flip turn, and I have yet to get dizzy! But then again, I'm the kind of person who think is fun to go in the deep water (pool or beach) and just do flips (backwards and forwards) like a little a kid. So I guess my inner ear is more than used to it!

Originally posted by swimmer_steph Oh yeah - the man in that video is AWESOME! I can only dream of doing his flip turns... I totally agree that practice will help. I've never been a great flipper :D but for the past few weeks, I've been adding more and more flip turns into my swims and I'm getting faster and less dizzy. Who knows what they look like from above, but no one has pointed and laughed at me just yet. :p In my book, no one should be looking from above while I am flipping. The view cannot be pleasant no matter how great the turn! :D

To follow up with my "open eyes" question from yesterday -- I tried to flip with my eyes open today. I had to concentrate very hard finally to make that happen. Wall after wall I would try to psych myself up and convince/remind myself that I was going to do it. It took quite a while before I could get a turn to happen with my eyes open. Maybe it's just an old-dog-new-trick thing (I've been doing flip turns with my eyes closed for over 30 years). Maybe people who always do it with their eyes open find the same thing in reverse... And the few time I flipped with my eyes open were dizzying to me. (Of course, I get motion sickness on a merry-go-round, nevermind any of the more harrowing carnival rides, so I'd say that my inner ear is not very tolerant to twirling.)

Originally posted by Fred Johnson In my book, no one should be looking from above while I am flipping. The view cannot be pleasant no matter how great the turn! :D Oh I know what you're saying! Nobody needs to see me from that angle either! ;)

Originally posted by Kae1 So, last Friday I tried flipping with my eyes closed. I didn't get as dizzy, but it was hard to tell if I was going the right direction when I pushed off the wall. Kae Well, when I suggested that you close your eyes for the flip, I didn't mean to suggest that you keep them closed indefinitely. I close my eyes for the flip, but it is limited only to the immediate moment that I am actually turning over, and even more specifically, to the momet that my HEAD is flipping over. My eyes open immediately upon my feet touching the wall, if not sooner. I know that when I flip at the same moment as someone next to me, I can often see his feet touch the wall, so I know my eyes aren't closed long at all.

So, last Friday I tried flipping with my eyes closed. I didn't get as dizzy, but it was hard to tell if I was going the right direction when I pushed off the wall. Maybe I just need to save the flips for sprints (ha! like I do sprints!). As for the lovely suggestion of spending the last 30 minutes of my workout practicing flip turns, I have a feeling it would drive the other swimmers in the pool insane. Plus, it would be pretty optimisitic to assume that 30 minutes wouldn't cut my workout by half :D (I am working on that, but just not getting the oomph that I need to up my workout. I've been stuck at a mile for a couple months. I keep telling myself "today, I'll add 100" but it never seems to happen. Anyway, new year, new chance, the swim bag's in the truck, so maybe today I'll add 100). Kae

Kae -- Consider opening your eyes when your feet hit the wall. I concentrated on when I re-open my eyes as I worked out today. It is actually before my feet hit the wall. I noticed that my head has pretty much completed flipping over significantly before the rest of my body completes flipping. That's when I open my eyes. But if you kept them closed until your feet hit the wall, you'll still open them with plenty of time to direct your push off.

It's not like I kept my eyes closed for the rest of the lap;) . I just pushed off the wall a little crooked. I'll keep practicing, since closed-eyes seem to help. I just need to practice the right time to open them. I'm blind as a bat without my glasses on, you'd think I'd be used to not seeing where I was going (and before you tell me about presrciption goggles and wearing contacts, I actually prefer to swim without them). And, since I felt like y'all would probably encourage me to start adding laps to my workout, last night I added an extra 200 meters. Whaddya know, this community support thing actually works :D ! Kae