The "touch and flip" is quicker. But it requires a lot of breath control, because you're underwater for about six seconds in the middle of a race. It's just as hard as doing dolphin kicks at the end of a backstroke race.
The only difficulty people have with it is doing it legally. Many turn beyond 90 degrees. But it's always a judgment call. Personally, I think the stroke judge needs to stand directly over you to determine if you're past vertical. Watching from the side is NOT an accurate viewpoint. But experienced stroke judges might think differently.
I learned how to do the IM turn in Colorado Springs, at 6,000 feet, so my lungs were prepared when I did it for the first time in a race.
I would advise you to find someone who knows how to do the turn to guide you through executing it step-by-step. There is a great process to learn it, but it would take a lot of explaining. Showing each step works better.
I've only seen one other regular masters swimmer do it, and he's my age. When people see me do it, they want to know how it's done. I take them through the steps of learning it, and they say it's too hard to learn. Like everything else they learned in swimming, it takes time.
When Karlyn Pipes-Nielson came and crashed our zone meet in VA last April, I saw her execute an absolutely perfect and very fast back-to-*** turn. She went under a minute. She is a great technician.
I think they are very difficult. So I touch and go with a few dolphin kicks. (Probably why she beat my pants off, aside from the breaststroke problem.)
Jeff Commings said:
"The only difficulty people have with it is doing it legally. Many turn beyond 90 degrees. But it's always a judgment call. Personally, I think the stroke judge needs to stand directly over you to determine if you're past vertical. Watching from the side is NOT an accurate viewpoint. But experienced stroke judges might think differently."
I watched Richard Quick and Jenny Thompson school the stroke and turn judges at Cal after the Stanford meet a while back. Jenny used that turn in the 200 IM, and the judges had some questions it seemed. Coach Quick advised the same thing you said, stand over them, it's the only way to call it.
I bet she did 20+ turns before they were finished. Took about 30 minutes. They discussed every option. Hey Mike Moore, were you there that day? My memory isn't that good.
Thanks Jeff - I learned that turn a few years ago my last year of club swimming. It is definitely difficult - it takes a lot of energy and breath, just like you said. It's so unlike any other flip turn.
I'm glad to know that masters swimmers are doing it. It hadn't fully caught on when I stopped swimming competitively. :-)
When I was in my late 30's I did that bk/brst flip all the time & it really paid off. Now that I'm in my middle fifties, I'll take that extra gasping breath, thank you very much.
I see people do both the style where you touch with yur hand then breing the same leg over and then some touch with one hand & bring the opposite leg over. Isn't the second one genereally called the Nabor turn?
I think the spin turn, like the old backstroke "bucket turn," is pretty fast. For some reason I can only do it well when I touch with my left hand, though :)
Knelson:
Me too. I can only bucket turn with my left hand touching. And I even prefer to head into my back turn flipping to the left side. And I'm right handed. I wonder what weirdness accounts for that. (If I do a track start I put my left foot first too. Do you?)
