Unless you were a competitive swimmer as a child or adolescent, chances are that you never learned how to do a freestyle flip turn, which allows you to approach a wall and reverse direction without breaking tempo. Rather than spending money on private swim lessons, try following this simple progression that will allow you to gradually teach yourself to do flip turns.
Step #1: The flip
The first step is learning to do a flip in the water that is straight and stable. In the shallow end of the pool, find an area that is not occupied by other swimmers. Stand on the lane line on the bottom of the pool, facing the deep end of the pool. Gently push off the bottom and do a front flip with your legs together. The flip is performed by tucking your chin and throwing your legs over your body in a tight, tucked position. You only need to push off enough to do a flip, not come out of the water. When done correctly, you will end up facing the same direction after the flip as when you started. Think of it as a gymnast doing a front flip on a balance beam: you want to do a tight flip that lands in the same spot as where you started. As you get better, focus on not pulling yourself over using your arms; rather, use the momentum from pushing off the bottom to drive the flip.
Step #2: Glide and flip, part 1
Now you need to learn to flip while moving. In a wide-open, shallow area of the pool, face the deep end of the pool and push off the bottom in a gentle glide with your arms in a streamlined position (that is, hands over each other, arms straight), then flip your legs over and stand up on the bottom of the pool. Once you are able to glide and flip without thrashing, practice this maneuver above the line on the bottom of the lane. You should glide straight along the line, and land on the line following the flip.
Step #3: Glide and flip, part 2
Once you can smoothly glide and flip, you are going to add a back float at the end of the flip. This back float mimics the action of hitting the wall with your feet. Standing on the line on the bottom of the pool, do a glide, a front flip and, instead of landing on the bottom of the pool, continue rotating until you are floating on your back. Check your position relative to the lane line; you should be lying directly above the line.
Step #4: Flipping at the wall
Once you are comfortable landing on your back, you are going to turn around and practice doing the glide and flip into a back float at the wall. Start under the backstroke flags to give yourself plenty of room. Glide toward the wall and flip at the end of the line on the bottom of the pool (the cross or âTâ). Your goal is to land your feet on the cross painted on the wall while on your back after the flip. Try flipping earlier and later until you are comfortable about being able to flip and land on your back with your feet on the wall. As you become more comfortable, practice finishing with your hands above your head in a streamlined position, which will set you up for the push-off.
Step #5: Swimming and flipping
Once you are comfortable with landing on the wall, back up before the backstroke flags and try slowly swimming freestyle toward the wall. At the appropriate distance, go into your flip and land with your feet on the wall, hands above your head for the streamline. Practice this until you can smoothly go into the flip without breaking your stroke. It is not a good idea to take a breath on you r last stroke at the wall, since this can cause you to flip crookedly.
Step #6: Finishing it off
The last step is the easiest: once you can swim into the wall, flip and land with your feet on the wall, the final step is to push off the wall on your back in the streamlined position. After you have pushed off the wall in a tight, straight streamline, turn over onto your stomach and come to the surface to start swimming again. Many adults make the mistake of trying to turn around on the wall either during the flip or after the flip but before pushing off the wall. The fastest, most efficient flip turn involves pushing off on your back then turning over onto your stomach during the streamline. Now that you have mastered the flip turn, go out and swim some laps to show off your new skill!
