Great turns are a continuous action with no delays.  NCAA Champion Joao de Lucca shows us what to do, and what NOT to do.

Why do it:
The wall isn't moving toward you, so you need to continue your momentum toward the wall until the tuck is initiated.

How to do it:
1 - First let's look at what we typically see with young swimmers.  During the approach, the eyes come up to sight the end of the pool.  Then there's the delay and glide.  THEN there's the big setup for the massive dolphin kick to push the swimmer over.  Honestly, you don't have time for all of this.
2 - Now let's look at how Joao flows through his turn.  It's continuous.
3 - If we ONLY focused on two easy points, the eyes and the feet, we can see how the head stays down, and the feet keep moving.

How to do it really well (the fine points):
Be careful to NOT try to drive the flip from the big dolphin set up.  The body starts in the wrong direction to flip down which is just a longer line to the turn.  While there may still be a small dolphin during the flip, this ISN'T what drives you around... it's a combination of momentum and keeping the head DOWN into the wall.

The quick check will be "what do you see".  IF you see the end of the pool... the cross... that will be the first indication there may be a problem.  Keep the eyes down and feet moving consistently through the turn.

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Freestyle - Swim THROUGH Your Turn