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?
Parents
Former Member
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 second that. Flip turns take some time to perfect but if you use them in practice you will get better and better all the time. Eventually it will become second nature and you won't even really think about doing them..it will just happen. I do recall making the transition to flip turns about 2.5 years ago and it really wiped me out. I could not swim as many yards continuously but slowly I adapted and it just became a part of "swimming". Good luck to you.
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 second that. Flip turns take some time to perfect but if you use them in practice you will get better and better all the time. Eventually it will become second nature and you won't even really think about doing them..it will just happen. I do recall making the transition to flip turns about 2.5 years ago and it really wiped me out. I could not swim as many yards continuously but slowly I adapted and it just became a part of "swimming". Good luck to you.
