well, the shoulder started hurting last night during a pool workout (still does). i read on another thread that doing open turns on the same side continuously can screw up your shoulder, and i fear this is happening. i have no swimming background and picked it up about 2-3 years ago. i just can’t seem to get the roll done quick enough. i think i understand the arms at the sides part, then i tuck the chin and begin to roll. for some reason i can’t get that part down. frustrating as hell–about halfway thru the roll i end up coming to a stop. any advice from you fish is appreciated!!
ps–i turn on one side b/c i usually circle swim with someone and pushing off witht the other arm isn’t much of an option.
Practice doing somersaults in the middle of the pool. This will help you to learn where you are in the somersault without having to worry about pushing off the wall. As you get better at the somersault you can stop at the halfway point and kick out your legs a bit. Doing this in the middle of the pool also has the added benefit of pissing off people who are trying to swim laps. I can see the thread now “Poll rant part 245: A-hole doing water acrobatics in my lane”
i have done these a couple times–only when there are open lanes–and they seem to go ok. i guess i just need to get a better feel for getting my legs over and around. does it matter that i am one of the least flexible people around. on my college track team, the shot putters had more flexbility than i did. thanks for the reply!
First off, remember that a flip turn starts with the contraction of the ab muscles. That is where you ‘start’ to turn.
Try this–you’ll need your own lane.
Use 2 kick boards and hold them down your sides as you float into the wall. This will keep your body in line and allow you to ‘practice’ turning without your poor technique getting in the way. As you flip, let go of the boards and push off, as you would to continue swimming. Do this several times until you feel comfortable enough to try without the kickboards.
You may feel funny trying this, but our coach made us do these in school, and we were 4:40 500 freestylers. Forget about how you look, they will help you get comfortable making turns.
On my high school team, the new swimmers learned turns in a 3 step proccess. They would start by practicing in the middle of the pool. After that, they would do flip turns into the wall that ended with them either pushing off on their backs or putting their feet on the wall but not actually pushing off at all. Don’t worry about rolling onto you stomach until you’ve figured out how to flip onto your back. After they had those two things down then they would work on rolling onto the stomach. All of a sudden one day it will all fall together and then you can work on fine tuning. Good luck.
first of all, I’ve never heard that about open turns hurting your shoulder. i wish I could see a tape of you doing it…because open flip turns aren’t that big of deal.
but to answer your question, keep practicing your flip turns.
take 10 minutes every time or every other time and do nothing but work on them. like someone suggested, practice summersaults in the lane in the shallow end and then take that to the wall. do them over and over and over for 10 minutes.
i do believe that flip turns do require some instincts. when to tuck your chin and roll, etc. but more than anything it’s momentum of you swimming into the wall.
if you can, hire someone to help you. it’s worth the 20 bucks or whatever to do this.
Personally I prefer open turns and they help me to not develop a headache as I normally do with alot of flip turns. when I was in high school I ended up in the hospital from severe dehydration from over training. while in the hospital they kept taking my blood and it made me so weak. well I ended up falling down and hitting my head very hard on the floor. ever since then flip turns bother me. So I save flip turns for the speed sets because i enjoy the power of them, and doing only a few won’t bother my head…this is a personal preferance.
I have to guess this has nothing to do with your turns. Your probably doing something wrong in your stroke that stretches you wierd, and then you feel it when you grab the wall. Not watching your stroke, though, it’s impossible to say for sure. see if you can’t find a coach or at least an experienced tri-buddy to take a look at your swimming.
Regarding flip-turns. Make sure you are really throwing your legs. One of the most common problems people have is trying roll and then letting their legs drag behind. When your practicing turns, start your roll, and then pretend that you are trying to throw the water out of the pool with your feet. (Just don’t get to close, because you’ll smack your ankles on the wall.)
When your hands are at your sides going into the turn, turn your palms down (towards the bottom of the pool) and do a quick “curl” motion with your arms as you tuck your chin and bend. This will bring your legs over. You’re probably already doing this but not noticing. Try emphasising it more.
I have to guess this has nothing to do with your turns. Your probably doing something wrong in your stroke that stretches you wierd, and then you feel it when you grab the wall.
I definitely agree. You should learn flip turns anyway - they aren’t that hard to learn and make swimming much more enjoyable. However, remember that you are only treating the symptom and not solving the problem.
I found it helpful when learning to also practice in the ‘middle’ of the pool, but with a twist. Push off from the wall as if starting a lap, giving you quite a bit of momentum and speed. Then do the turn/sommersault. Then push your legs as if the wall were in front of you (which it isn’t). Once you can get used to doing a sommersault while moving, take it to the wall. Swimming faster helped me out quite a bit. Sommersaulting from a standstill in the middle of the pool didn’t help me at all.
Doing flip turns to one side only (or tumble turns down here!) will not hurt your shoulder unless you are doing some freaky stuff during the turn. I swam competitively for 17 years to an international level and only ever turned in one direction. Any shoulder problems will most likely come from poor technique or a sudden increase in volume. Perhaps you should check out some stroke correction classes from a qualified coach? Hope the shoulder comes good for you.
I think you misunderstood his post. He thinks his OPEN turns are what are hurting his shoulder. It’s possible depending on how hard you are hitting the wall and if you are grabbing it or whatever. To improve your flip turn you definitely have to practice and have someone who knows how to flip watch exzactly what you are doing. There are lots of ways to go wrong…
Exactly. After reading the post about the open turns a few days ago, I decided I would make a concerted effort to do flip turns. Just back from lunch time swim, and I was sucking badly, super slow on my turns. I watched the guy in the lane next to me, and noticed how he almost flicked his legs around by using his abs. Next go at it, I let the abs do the work. Whamo! insta-faster flip turn. It’s all in tha abs baby. Think of it this way, in a SCM pool, doing 2000m with flip turns is like doing 80 bonus situps!
And why coach used to make us do at least 200 sit ups before practice.
Throw your head in the direction you want to go, and your body will follow
Core muscles really are the engine to drive the turn
Arms- beginner mistake is to try to do to much with them. Push them in the water until they’re pointing them in the direction you want to be going after the turn is completed. Then freeze them in place- after that point, you don’t scull with them, or use them anymore to get your body turned around. (that’s the core muscles’ job) I had coaches who would make us practice turns while holding drum sticks with both hands to get that point across.
Legs- dolphin kick from the hips helps you find the right turn rhythm. And yes, it is going to take 1,000 turns to really get a feel for how to automatically end up hitting the wall with your feel ‘just right’ (neither floundering because you missed the wall nor in a bloody ankles scenario) But it will eventually come to you if you keep practicing.
