Breaststroke - Flip Turns

If you want to build a great long course breaststroke, but only swim in a short course pool, here’s a quick trick to give you a couple extra strokes for training.

Why do it:

We work so hard on our underwater pullouts, that if you only train short course, you may never take enough strokes consistently to really get used to swimming long course.  This simple drill, added occasionally to practice, will give you a better chance to swim those extra strokes more consistently.

How to do it:

1 – Swim breaststroke as you normally do, but when you get to the wall, don’t touch it, flip.

2 – Don’t push off the wall, but initiate a quick breaststroke kick instead, to get you moving again.

3 – Get up immediately and start swimming back.  That’s pretty much it.

How to do it really well (the fine points):

Get as close to the wall as you can without touching, don’t turn at the flags just to get a better time (your coach will know).  Try to get back into your swimming rhythm as quickly as possible, this is typically a pretty aggressive turn.

Not only will you get a few extra strokes by skipping the underwater pullout, but the act of building your momentum from scratch will also be a bit of a challenge.  It’s a great little addition to your training.  Enjoy.