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Turns - "Practice" Turns

Posted by Glenn Mills on Mar 08, 2011 09:30AM (14,619 views)

To swim your fastest, one thing you always have to keep in mind is how FAR you swim.  Swimming straight in a race means you're swimming the shortest route possible to the finish.

Why Do It:
Bad habits can form in practice without the swimmers really being at fault.  Being aware of what's happening can help you control your own destiny.

How to Do It:
1.   When you're swimming in a crowded lane, chances are you're biggest job on a turn is to avoid the other swimmers.
2.  Most swimmers approach the wall directly, and then, as they exit the wall, they veer out of the way of the swimmer behind them.  This builds the habit of always pushing off at an angle and can lead to circle swimming in races.
3.  If you can, when the swimmer in front of you pushes off, try to get your feet on the cross to limit the push angle.
4.  The best solution is to veer across the lane prior to your turn so that you can practice a straight push off each time.

How to Do It Really Well (the Fine Points):
Teach your lanemates how to approach and leave the walls with more thought.  Working as a team in developing better technique can lead to higher success rates for everyone.


Tags turn, Turns, training, racing


Responses

Responded Mar 08, 2011 05:14PM

This works the best when swimmers are aware of their teammates.
If they know where their teammates are (right behind them or at the other end of the pool) they can move over to the left side of the lane BEFORE the turn and make a straight turn.

As a coach i always tell my swimmers to do that as much as possible for 2 reasons :
1) A straight turn and
2) If a faster swimmer is behind you, he/she can start to pass you on the RIGHT, before the turn. That way they can start earlier and after the turn they are in the middle of the lane, giving them the whole length of the pool to pass you.

It does however take a lot of focus to get everybody to do it right, aspecially when there is 10+ people in a 25m lane..
Responded Mar 08, 2011 08:45PM

For safety reasons, all lap swimmers should adopt the habit of moving to the left side of the lane (#4) just before their turn regardless of whether they're dong an open turn or flip turn. Moving over is a form of taking posession of this side of the lane, it sends a message to swimmers behind you that you are not stopping. Swimmers flipturning-turning off the right side of the wall are very dangerous as they are cutting any traffic that is closing in behind them. In summary, if you approach the wall on the right side of the lane you are sending a message that you are coming to a stop.
I appreciate GoSwim promoting this habit but the safety aspect of this issue goes beyond lane etiquette or swimming shorter distances and it should have been addressed as such and then the issue of swimming a shorter distance might have been addressed!
Thank-you for bringing the issue forward.
Al.
Responded Mar 09, 2011 03:04AM

Playing devil's advocate and posing a question: what if swimming in a straight line means that you, off of each turn, are swimming into an opposing current and are, in effect, swimming upstream?

Perhaps a slight circle is better because you avoid swimming into your current coming off each wall.

Or, perhaps to avoid the incoming current, you need to push-off deeper and stay below the current?

Just some random ponderings....
Responded Mar 09, 2011 04:31AM

Are you not suppose to glide on your back after the flip turn? And after the glide initiate the turn over for the stroke? These guys seem to all turn before they even have a chance to glide on the back. Maybe I'm missing something...
Responded Mar 09, 2011 09:14AM

Personal view this one. I think they should push off on their back then initiate the fly / flutter kick, rotating towards your front as you go. Some will actually stay on their side so that they can use the first stroke to 'vault' over to the other side to help swimming on the side rather than too flat. Here, one or two seem to twist on the wall, hence losing time but the essence of the practice shown is more to do with not causing a 'pile up' but pushing off into the on coming swimmer. At our club we insist they move towards the opposite side of the lane as they approach the wall so that they can push off down the correct side of the lane on the way back without then cutting across the oncoming swimmer behind. As Al said, swimming straight on as you approach the wall tells the swimmer behind that you are intending to stop for some reason. It really depends on the etiquette set by your club. By playing devils advocate, Windrath, highlights that every drill or practice has a down side too. Indeed, by pushing off deeper as he suggests cuts off the swimming against the current but might encourage going too far and too slow underwater on your streamline, because of the depth of push off. Every practice in a crowded training pool is a compromise, so we should not criticise those filmed for the purpose of these videos without full knowledge of the whys and wherefores. Sorry to ramble but, as usual, just my thoughts
Responded Mar 09, 2011 11:27AM

Thanks GW and absolutely. The points of some videos are to give the best option when in a compromised situation. Take the thought for what it is rather than using that opportunity to judge what the subjects are doing within the video. I also think that Alan's points do have more to do with lane etiquette rather than the point of this particular video... sorry.

As to Windrath's point, I like to take my guidance from the absolute top, the people that will create the MOST turbulence (not like myself) while swimming. Imagine the finals of the NCAA Championships in the US. 8 men swimming the race in less than 20 seconds. The WAKE or wall of water and turbulence that follows them down would be the ideal situation for the point you're discussing... this is the race with the MOST.

I've yet to see any of those athletes circling in any way.

Now, not saying it's not something to think about, but I'm thinking we're not carrying enough water along with us at the speed human's travel in, that the push off in a streamline position isn't more effective (spearing right back through it), than trying to go around it.

Just pondering here too. ;)
Responded Mar 09, 2011 12:42PM

I attend a swimming pool in which the difference in level between the practitioners, it makes me dream of fluency in this treinos.Aqui in Brazil, due to the fact of lack of preparation of teachers of Swimming, trainees who often assume the office without a transition from more experienced professionals .. We will see this in the elite teams of students referred from schools to the high-nível.Utopia!

Responded Mar 10, 2011 12:37PM

Glen, you said 'I also think that Alan's points do have more to do with lane etiquette rather than the point of this particular video... sorry.'
My apologies, I understood exactly that was the case: ie learning to swim less distance and avoid circling the lane', and said different in my post through my own confusion with the length of my own post. Will teach me to read what I have typed more closely before submitting.
Responded Apr 28, 2011 02:42PM

Thank-you Glen for posting this swimming tip again; You are quite correct in pointing out that optimally we swim a shorter distance when pushing off from the center of the lane wall. I hope you weren't too frustrated by some comments that addressed other issues like mine that promoted point #4 which would have everyone moving over to the far left of the lane as your models were doing at the end of the video. I also acknowledge that we are then not swimming a shorter distance by moving over to the left, but our pool is so crowded with swimmers of varying speeds and experience that close calls (of collisions) are becoming far too frequent an event. My apologies for hijacking your Swimming Tip and using it to promote my own perspective.

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