Hi, I'm having trouble with the freestyle tumble turn.
My freestyle is okay - not too slow but not amazing. However, I am absolutely horrible at the turns. I can't seem to get enough momentum for the turns. I can't turn fast enough, and thus the turn is very sloppy, always ending up with me somehow staring at my feet when my body's underwater after the turn and my upper body too low in the water. I've watched some really good turners turn with absolute ease - mind you, I can swim faster than some of them, and some of them just seem to glide into their turns with no speed at all, but they build up huge momentum during the turn, finishing the turn with their legs almost straight and very far away from the wall, but still be able to get a good pushoff that's not deep at all.
So, how do I get my tumble turn to work? How can I turn fast enough and with my legs relatively straight? When I turn by umping off the floor of the shallow end I turn like the good turners, but when I swim into the wall I can't turn anymore, which leads me to believe that I'm not getting enough momentum.
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Former Member
"Just one question though: I read somewhere (and I've seen really good swimmers do this too) that during the turn the angle between the thigh and the calf (so the knee part) should be about 90 to 110 degrees? But if we're trying to have a tigther tuck, wouldn't it make sense to have that angle very small? So why do good turners have a 90 to 110 angle then, which makes the tuck less tight?"
Hmmm.
I'll make up an answer.
When you get your feet on the wall, you want to have your legs bent in a power position for a strong pushoff which would not be a full squat but more like a 90 degree angle. If you are that close to the wall (full squat) you have also had to swim an 12" or so. It also lets you get your legs out of the water where there's less resistance ?
I find that an big part of a good turn is a very strong contraction of the abdominal muscles (or is it hip flexors? I'll have to pay more attention) when you dip your head to initiate the turn. I think that causes some rebound action that helps the legs move over the top faster and plant at the correct depth on the wall. By using your abs/flexors you don't need your arms so much and can get them overhead faster so you are already in a good streamlined position by the time your feet are on the wall.
"Just one question though: I read somewhere (and I've seen really good swimmers do this too) that during the turn the angle between the thigh and the calf (so the knee part) should be about 90 to 110 degrees? But if we're trying to have a tigther tuck, wouldn't it make sense to have that angle very small? So why do good turners have a 90 to 110 angle then, which makes the tuck less tight?"
Hmmm.
I'll make up an answer.
When you get your feet on the wall, you want to have your legs bent in a power position for a strong pushoff which would not be a full squat but more like a 90 degree angle. If you are that close to the wall (full squat) you have also had to swim an 12" or so. It also lets you get your legs out of the water where there's less resistance ?
I find that an big part of a good turn is a very strong contraction of the abdominal muscles (or is it hip flexors? I'll have to pay more attention) when you dip your head to initiate the turn. I think that causes some rebound action that helps the legs move over the top faster and plant at the correct depth on the wall. By using your abs/flexors you don't need your arms so much and can get them overhead faster so you are already in a good streamlined position by the time your feet are on the wall.
