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?
DO FLIP TURNS.
It took me two years to become profficient. Let's see, for me that is at least 75 turns a day, 450 turns per week, 23,400 times a year....46,800 turns to get good.
A flip turn requires very little energy and like someone said, your momentum is carrying you into the wall. Your body center of mass is still moving toward the wall when you feet touch. The immediate change in direction is much more dramatic than an open turn and you gain an easy body length advantage. Your body will get used to the hypoxia from not getting that cheater breath on the open turn.
I will never race in a pool. If I race at all, it will be in open water.
Never say never.
I got my start in triathlons and now I compete almost entirely in a pool. Joining USMS is cheap and swim meets are cheap. I was going broke on TRI fees. If you train (i.e. flip turns) and compete in a pool (i.e. go to USMS meets and swim 500's 800's 1000's etc) you will become a force in the swim portion of your tri.
I'm sure top TRI athletes DO FLIP TURNS in training.
Lastly check out this link:
www.transitiontimes.com/content_tv_SP1_FlipTurn.cfm
DO FLIP TURNS.
It took me two years to become profficient. Let's see, for me that is at least 75 turns a day, 450 turns per week, 23,400 times a year....46,800 turns to get good.
A flip turn requires very little energy and like someone said, your momentum is carrying you into the wall. Your body center of mass is still moving toward the wall when you feet touch. The immediate change in direction is much more dramatic than an open turn and you gain an easy body length advantage. Your body will get used to the hypoxia from not getting that cheater breath on the open turn.
I will never race in a pool. If I race at all, it will be in open water.
Never say never.
I got my start in triathlons and now I compete almost entirely in a pool. Joining USMS is cheap and swim meets are cheap. I was going broke on TRI fees. If you train (i.e. flip turns) and compete in a pool (i.e. go to USMS meets and swim 500's 800's 1000's etc) you will become a force in the swim portion of your tri.
I'm sure top TRI athletes DO FLIP TURNS in training.
Lastly check out this link:
www.transitiontimes.com/content_tv_SP1_FlipTurn.cfm
