The Flipturn

Hello once again Intermediate/Competitive swimmers! Today we're going to learn/go over one of the most important parts of any freestyle/backstroke race - the flipturn. The flipturn is the most effective way to transition between lengths of the pool. It is fast, simple and efficient and allows you to maintain the speed that you had going into the wall. We'll now take a look at a full overview of the flipturn.

The flipturn begins with the swimmer swimming towards the wall. One of the most important things to remember is not to slow down before you get to the wall. Think about a ball: if you throw it towards the wall slowly, it will bounce off slowly. However, if you throw it quickly, the ball will bounce off of the quickly. It is the same concept here, you want to swim towards the wall as quickly as you can and complete your flipturn at top speed so that you come off the wall at top speed.

Your final stroke into the wall should propel you into your flipturn. The final stroke should be taken about a meter and a half away from the wall. Once you're almost at the end of your last stroke, use the power from that stroke to tuck your head down and bring your feet over your head while blowing bubbles out of your nose. The concept is very similar to a somersault. Once your feet are over your head, bring them all the way over to the wall, and push off into a streamline with both feet. You want to make sure that your body is completely in line the whole time you are doing your flipturn. Your flipturn should not be on an angle; if it is, it will be slower and very tough to push off.

Two things that you can do to work on this concept would be somersaults on land, and a drill in the shallow end that involves pushing off the bottom and performing a somersault in the water and then landing on your feet again. The two most important things are tucking your head in and maintaining your momentum to ensure that you have enough speed to propel you all the way around. This is something that takes practice and commitment, so remember never to give up; you'll get it eventually.

I hope this has helped, and be sure to stay tuned for more lessons! Thanks for reading!