How to perfect flip turns
How I did it: I've had this goal on my list for a while and it seemed like one of the easier ones to knock out. On May 1st, I set a deadline of June 1st to get it done. (And I'm trying to set time deadlines for one goal at a time going forward. Makes it more manageable.) I'd stop swimming laps after 35 minutes and spend my last 10 minutes working on the turns. I started first just relearning how to do summersaults in the pool --NOT at the wall, but in the middle of the lane where I couldn't bump into anything. That was pretty easy. Then I brought myself closer and closer to the wall. Then I tried swimming in toward the wall and doing it. Eventually I got it down, but then I asked someone at the pool, a "real swimmer" and he advised me I was doing them wrong. You don't do a tight summersault. You do a dolphin kick and do flip over but your legs stay relatively straight (not bending at the knees as much as I was doing). It helped at first to be wearing swim fins on my feet to get more power for my dolphin kick.
Lessons & tips: Dedicating myself to one of my goals for a month was very effective.
Finding people who knew how to do flip turns helped.
OH, and be sure to blow air out your nose when you flip upside down in the water or you will get a headache immediately!
Resources: goggles!
