Just as important as working on your technical swimming skills, it is vital there is almost no break while performing turns for a training session to be really effective.
In order to perfect this technique, let’s take a look at methods involving a somersault turn or, in other words, the freestyle and backstroke.
The rule is simple for freestyle: you must touch the wall the end of the pool with any part of your body as you make your turn.
Obviously touching it with your hand and then placing your feet against the wall to push off is much slower than a somersault turn, so let’s take a closer look at this technique.
– Swim up to the wall checking the black line on the bottom of the pool; when you reach the T (or one stroke after that, depending on your height and speed) perform a ½ stroke and leave one hand extended along your side.
– At the same time, bend your neck forwards so that your chin is closer to your chest, place your other arm along your side and rotate the palms of your hands upwards.
– Helping yourself by pushing your hands upwards, perform a somersault by bending down with your chest and bringing your knees up towards your stomach. As you do this, rotate your body sideways so that you are in something more like a prone…
