Hi ,

Its me again , Lots of people that I talked to really want to learn how to do flipturns , perphaps it is the coolest thing in swimming after butterfly :) I still remember when I started swimming competitively at 10 , our coach forced us to do flip turns and I would skipped it as much as I can, but only ended up being punished by the coach doing push ups . At that time, I really hated flip turns, I would get disoriented, it was slow and all the water in the swimming pool will somehow miraculously end up in your nose.

Anyway , after much practise, I managed to do a decent flip turn and now it has almost become second nature to me when I swim freestlye , I started to realise the beauty and elegance of it , especially when you overtake the guy next lane to you when you do a flip turn and he does a touch and go. The difference is HUGE! , at least 1 and half to 2 body lengths difference !

Well , I found I did write a short instructions on yahoo answers 2 years ago , and here is the article.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Asker:

Attention Swimmers! How do you do this!?
when you swimmers are swimming laps, and you get to one end, how do you manage to do that tumble thing and start swimming the other direction? whats it called and how is it done? i tried tumbling but i end up sideways, facing the side pool walls!
2 years ago

Answer
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Hi ,

It is called flipturn , sommersault , tumbleturn , depends on which country ...

I would break down this flip exercise into 3 parts . If you want to learn this complex flip. you need to break it down to simpler parts and practise and once you familiar with all 3 steps,you can try the flip .

1) the approach to the wall
I am a right hander so my last pull is my right arm . once you make a full pull , head bow down and ready for the turn . ( After my full pull , i would be around half a meter from the wall ) , this stage just practise geting familiar with the distance from the wall

2) the flip
This is the most crucial , If you are not familiar , start practising a tumble turn , sommersault STATIONARY , in the middle of the pool or something . Just look at one point (reference , could be a lane number ), roll yourself into a ball , use your arms to flap forward and remember to breath out from your nose, otherwise u will be f***ed . hopefully after a the turn , you end up looking at the same reference point. it is good if someone can assist you with the sommersault. once you familiar with this STATIONARY flip. You can practise near the wall , Combining step 1 and step 2 . REMEMBER , do not push off first.. just make sure your feet land on the wall and stop.

3) the pushing off
Once you get so familiar with Step 1 and Step 2 until you dont even need to think to flip . Try step 3. the pushing off..
I push off sideways ( belly button face the side ) and while gliding , then only i get back to the original position ( belly button face the pool bed ) , this save times on your flipping ( STEP 2 )

IF you are in a competition , try swimming harder nearing the wall to get a full momentum and transfer tbe momentum while doing the turn so that u can have a fast turn and a fast push off.

cheers
Source(s):
Source(s):
18 years swimming experience , 8 years competitive swimming at state level , 7 years part time coaching ( beginners to advance ) experience
2 years ago


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Anyway , I also found some really good educational video as well on youtube . The key is to break the whole flipturn into smaller steps to enable easier learning.

Step 1



Step 2



Step 3



Step 4



Step 5


Finally, for those advance and seasoned flip turners, You may want to check this out !



Enjoy !