Any time a swimmer hears, “Today we are going to work on turns,” they are filled with joy – and maybe do a little “celly” as my son would say. I’m truly ok with that. Why shouldn’t they get excited about a skill that can single handedly affect the outcome of a race? A secret weapon that you don’t see coming? I am glad the enthusiasm is there!
This month’s installment will focus on flip turns, and it will be more a list of drills and repeats than a set. It will focus on three separate parts of the turn: the approach, the turn itself and the launch. It is essential to make sure all swimmers understand and can master each part of the turn and be able to put it together in the smoothest way possible.
The approach
Not breathing into the turn is just the beginning. A good set up to a turn requires speed and momentum, and taking a breath cancels out that speed. To that end, we do a lot of Tennessee, or Tiger, turns. If you are not familiar, as a swimmer approaches the wall, about at the flags, they submerge below the surface, continue kicking into the wall, flip, push off, and surface about where they went under. Obviously, the need to breathe will ensure these are fast, but also efficient. The video below shows lots of variations of it. It does state that they like to use it for open turns, but I find it easily helpful with the actual flip turns as well.
Stop gliding into the wall! I die a little inside when I watch a swimmer tearing it up down the pool, only to completely stop kicking too soon and glide into the turn. It is easy to spot but takes lots of repetition to fix; it takes practice and precision. Often when swimmers first start to do it, they are thrown by how close to the wall they come so quickly. And it is exhausting when a swimmer first starts applying them in practice – imagine adding 6-8 or so kicks to every 25 for the entire practice. But the payoff is worth it. When done well, it provides a huge advantage.
No flailing arms. If swimmers want to eliminate as much drag and resistance as possible during the turn, they need to get their arms under control. The best way to do this is to train their arms to stay at the side of the body when flipping. I do this with a progression using pull buoys, where swimmers kick towards the wall with a pull buoy in each hand at position 11, then as they approach, bring those hands behind them, flip over and push off on back. The purpose of holding a pull buoy in each hand to add that extra reminder to not flail the arms around. Then we the same drill but no pull buoys, and then adding flipping over on stomach after pushoff. It’s a drill we all know, but a good reminder to swimmers that flailing arms are bad news.
Head down. I have no drill for this. When I was swimming, I had a coach tell me to tuck my head in such a way as to look underneath/behind me, upside down, as I flipped over. That may be a little extreme, but it is a solid overcorrection. I simply tell my swimmers that they should not see the wall as they approach it, nor should they look for it. This is a really hard habit to break and warrants a lot of reminders.
The flip
The tighter the turn, the better – most of the time. I have seen very tall swimmers do the half bent leg as they flip, and it works for them; they get off the wall fast. But, for the majority of us, that tight ball will not only help us get around faster but also help us push off like a rocket.
There are lots of fun drills to work on this tight ball. The fan favorite is the stand and flip. The idea is that swimmers stand in water to about their waist, jump up and flip/somersault, and then come to a standing position as fast as they can. It is a great way to teach efficiency, and to see mistakes. Once that is mastered, you add a jump in streamline at the end, ideally getting hips out of the water. If you want to make it interesting, time them or make it a race.
This transitions into swim and flip, where a swimmer swims 3 to 4 strokes of freestyle, then flips and continues, with no breathing in or out of the turn. The idea is to make it as smooth as possible, with little lag time.
Then comes the turns in the middle, where a swimmer completely changes directions. We do many many of these. It requires a tight turn with good body position. The struggle that swimmers have with this is the ability to get going once they flip. Never have kicks been more important. I don’t even have to tell them; without those kicks they are not getting back to the wall. But this drill really informs them how many they have to do and how fast. Here is a great video that is slight variation of this – one I intend to steal
The launch
I make a concerted effort to use the word launch instead of pushoff as often as I can. That is what it should be. A slow push off happens for a variety of reasons, but most often because of poor feet placement on the wall or using the wall as a rest station.
Assuming the swimmer is not wanting a rest stop, the best way to ensure that the feet are in a position to get the best push off is evaluation and repetition. We use the pause drill to evaluate where a swimmer places their feet. A swimmer swims in, flips, and pauses for 3ish seconds in that crouched position on the wall to see where they land. This is valuable information for coaches and swimmers. Coaches can see from the deck what is good and bad, and swimmers can feel it.
There is a lot of discussion as to whether feet should be pointed straight up or to the side. Straight up means that the swimmer did a somersault upright straight into the wall which is very efficient. It also means that the swimmer pushes off completely on the back and has to rotate the whole way over to start freestyle again. Young swimmers are often taught this way because it is very clear and easy to remember. I do see an advantage of pushing off partly on your side to get into the prone position sooner. But to land on the wall with feet partly to the side takes a lot of practice – lots of pause drill. Like many things, a swimmer should do what is best for them.
The most important part of any turn is the breakout. There are several things at play to make this work, but one thing is for sure: Anyone watching a close race on that last turn has a huge respect for the swimmer that surfaces farther and faster than anyone else. This requires a powerful breakout through lots of practice.
A breakout cannot involve any extra breathing. When it comes to going into or out of the wall, breathing puts on the breaks, it stops the show. So, when I am feeling extra punchy, or when I just watched a meet where we all breathed off the wall, I pull out the noodles. These are not a new invention, but that doesn’t make them any less effective. Mine are green, of course, and have a picture of Rochester Swim Club Coach Jesse Lewis, (now coaching in Atlanta), each with a different phrase: Keep your head down! Kick! etc. Full disclosure: It’s more fun for me than the girls. We attach these at about the flags – further for better swimmers, closer for newer swimmers – on the lane line where swimmers have to go under them before they can start swimming once they push off the wall. I’ll use these for an entire set or practice. It is great for muscle memory. Below are pictures of said noodles:
Swimmers often ask how many kicks they should do off the wall. In many swim clubs and on many teams there is a set number based on a variety of factors including age, ability and the type of race. In my estimation, 3 is minimal, 6 is solid, and that goes for races and practice.
No matter the number of kicks, every swimmer has to find that sweet spot where they start kicking before the pushoff wears off, then they start swimming before the kicks lose effect, or they hit the 15-meter mark. In my opinion, it is not something that you can work on in isolation; only at race pace can a swimmer feel, and a coach can see, what the best combination is. Then, once it is identified, so much practice is needed to perfect it.
I once spent several days of practice timing swimmers from the time their feet left the wall until they hit the 15-meter mark. I did it randomly and without warning, and then gave the time to the swimmer. I did it exclusively during a long set and swimmers did not know who I was timing. I timed each of them three times throughout the practice. I often have 40-45 girls in the water, so it was challenging, but really informative for me and them. This coming season, I intend to do it again, but then time them a second time weeks later and let them know that I am doing it, with hopefully faster results. In the interval between the timings, we will definitely focus on turn technique.
Some other fun things I do:
- 37.5s where every time swimmers are on the deep wall, or in the middle, swimmers vertical kick for 10-15 seconds before you go. (I stole this from Aquajet – thanks guys!)
- Kick, flip and sprint – kick for 10 seconds facing the wall – holding on or floating, flip and sprint. This is great to drive home the idea that the kick is the motor, and it has to start into the turn.
I hope you enjoyed this in depth look into flip turns. Happy Swimming!!