I would do a poll but don't know how.
My pool does not circle swim. I have my own lane. When I learned to flip turn I roll to the right i.e. when I roll I will be looking left when I break out. When I occasionally circle swim, I find this to be aqward and have difficulty heading to the right side of the lane on pushoff.
My question is, do coaches prefer teaching one over the other?
All this talk of circle swimming! When I coach small fry to high school kids I try to teach them how bad circle swimming is for them, and how habitual behaviour, like circle swimming the same way all the time, impacts their competition swims.
While necessary in crowded situations, one can always help remind their swimmers just how bad a habit circling is by having them circle their sets first counter-clockwise (normal?), then the next set clockwise.
They not only "feel goofy" and mash into their friends the first few times they go opposite to the normal routine, but they start to realize just how much they have modified their in-and-out of the wall stroke and turn routine to accomodate circling. Ideally, side-by-side lane sharing is best.
Try reversing the circle in a practice for a set or two! You may be surprised at what you find/feel.
All this talk of circle swimming! When I coach small fry to high school kids I try to teach them how bad circle swimming is for them, and how habitual behaviour, like circle swimming the same way all the time, impacts their competition swims.
While necessary in crowded situations, one can always help remind their swimmers just how bad a habit circling is by having them circle their sets first counter-clockwise (normal?), then the next set clockwise.
They not only "feel goofy" and mash into their friends the first few times they go opposite to the normal routine, but they start to realize just how much they have modified their in-and-out of the wall stroke and turn routine to accomodate circling. Ideally, side-by-side lane sharing is best.
Try reversing the circle in a practice for a set or two! You may be surprised at what you find/feel.
