The Best Way to Learn a Flip Turn
The best way to learn the flip turn is to break it down into its pieces
Flip turns are an important, fundamental skill any swimmer who wants to build a fitness or competitive swimming routine should learn. The flip turn is the fastest way to reverse direction in the pool.
But flip turns can be intimidating for many new swimmers, and if you’ve hesitated to learn how, you’re certainly not alone.
The best way to approach learning how to flip turn properly is to break this complex movement into simpler steps.
Step #1
Get comfortable doing a somersault.
If you didn’t grow up in and around the pool, you may never have learned how to do a somersault in the water. Now is definitely the time to start working on it.
When learning to do a somersault, practice well away from the wall. As you get more comfortable with this movement, you start moving closer to the wall so you can begin practicing how to land both feet on the wall as you flip.
Step #2
Once you’re comfortable somersaulting and planting your feet on the wall, start practicing kicking for a few feet toward the wall with arms at your sides before initiating the somersault.
As you get more comfortable, you can start building up some speed as you approach the wall, but keep your arms at your sides until you’ve landed your feet.
The goal should be to land with your feet on the wall and get your hands into a streamline at the same time.
Step #3
Once you’ve gotten comfortable flipping, planting your feet, and getting your arms into a streamline ready to push off, it’s time to put it all together.
Start by taking a few strokes into the wall and as you get ready to flip, pull your hands close into your sides. Then, flip through the somersault and plant your feet once you’re on your back as your arms come together into a tight streamline. Then push off with force to start the next length.
Keep practicing and before long, this series of movements will become second nature. Just remember to make yourself into a tight ball when you somersault and to always make a tight streamline when you blast off.
