I will never race in a pool. If I race at all, it will be in open water.
I can do flip turns, but I don't think they are very good. When I do them, my head is directly under the backstroke flags when I take my first breath. With open turns, my head is about a length beyond the flags.
When I do flip turns, I notice a lot more cardio stress. I don't really recover until about half a length.
Is there a training benefit to doing flip turns in practice that will help me in open water? Does that second or two of holding my breath help me at all in terms of conditioning?
I would suggest that you don't like flip turns because you're not good at them. Anyone that can do a good flip turn would definitely opt to do them over open turns, regardless of whether they are training for open water or pool swimming.
I would suggest that you don't like flip turns because you're not good at them. Anyone that can do a good flip turn would definitely opt to do them over open turns, regardless of whether they are training for open water or pool swimming.
