Effortless Swimming · Skills
TL;DR: Most adults who start swimming later never get taught the flip turn (tumble turn), so they learn it by trial and error and make the same mistake: using the arms to flip. The correct turn keeps the hands by the sides, flips with a chin tuck and a dolphin kick, and lands the feet on the wall already in streamline. Here is the turn step by step, the error 90% of swimmers make, how to stop running out of air, and how to learn it in a week.
Why adults struggle with flip turns
It’s difficult to figure out how to flip turn on your own. Most people who begin swimming as adults never learn the correct way simply because they’re never taught. They go through trial and error for years and never quite nail it, so they touch-turn and lose a second or two every lap, or they flip and come off the wall gasping and crooked.
The good news: the flip turn is a skill, not a fitness thing. There is one big mistake behind most bad turns, and once you know it the rest falls into place.
A quick word on names. Flip turn and tumble turn are the same thing. Americans say flip, Australians and Brits say tumble. Everything below applies to both.
The biggest mistake 90% of swimmers make
They use their arms to flip.
As they approach the wall they put the arms out in front of the head and scoop the water in a circle to throw themselves over. It feels like it helps. It does two bad things: it kills your momentum into the wall, and it leaves the arms in the wrong place when the feet land, so you have to fight a lot of resistance to get them into streamline before you push off.
Good turners do the opposite. After the last stroke, the hands finish by the hips and stay there while the body flips over. Then they slide straight into streamline as the feet hit the wall. No scooping, no little spin with the hands.
If you fix nothing else, fix this. Hands by your sides as the body flips.
How to flip turn, step by step
- Approach at speed, head down. Don’t breathe on the last stroke into the wall; look at the T on the bottom and judge the distance from it. Slowing into the wall makes the flip harder, not easier.
- Last stroke: pull both hands to your hips. One arm is already there from the previous stroke; the final pull brings the other one back to meet it. The arms are now by your sides.
- Chin to chest, dolphin kick. Drop the head, tuck the chin and give one dolphin kick to throw the hips over. The kick initiates the flip, not the arms.
- Hands stay where they are. As the body flips, the arms don’t move. They end up pointing toward the far wall, which is exactly where streamline is.
- Feet land on the wall shoulder-width apart, knees bent. You’re on your back or rotated no more than about 45 degrees, upper body straight, hands together overhead.
- Push off in streamline. Drive off the wall, squeeze the arms together behind the head, and begin rotating to your front as you go.
- Dolphin kick, then break out. Two or three dolphin kicks under the water, roll onto your front, and start the first freestyle stroke as you reach the surface. No breath on the first stroke.
Done well, the whole thing is one smooth movement: pull, tuck, kick, land, push. The common version is: pull, scoop, flail, land crooked, surface, gasp.
How to not run out of air in your turns
The second most common complaint after “I can’t flip” is “I can flip but I come off the wall gasping.” Two causes.
You’re holding your breath. From the last stroke to the breakout can be four or five seconds. Holding air in that whole time, with the heart rate up, is what creates the panicky feeling. Exhale slowly and continuously from the moment your face drops into the turn, through the push-off, to the breakout. A trickle of bubbles the whole way. You arrive at the surface ready to breathe in, not desperate to breathe out.
You’re staying under too long. Distance swimmers and triathletes don’t need a sprinter’s underwater. If you’re taking four dolphin kicks and surfacing at eight metres, you’re spending oxygen you need for the next lap. Two kicks and a clean breakout is plenty for anyone swimming 400m or more; shorten it until the turn costs you nothing.
Brenton goes deeper on the energy side in why most swimmers run out of air in flip turns. If breathing is a problem for you in general, not just at the wall, the freestyle breathing guide is where to start.
How to learn the flip turn in a week
Five progressions. Spend ten minutes at the end of each session and most swimmers are turning by the end of the week.
1. Somersaults in the water
In the middle of the pool, away from the wall, tuck and somersault forward. Chin to chest, knees in, arms by your sides. Get used to going upside down and coming back up without panic. Exhale through your nose the whole time.
2. Push off, somersault, streamline
Push off the wall a few metres, swim two strokes, finish with the hands at the hips, then somersault. Come out of it pointing back at the wall you left, arms in streamline. No wall contact yet; you’re learning the hands-stay-still flip.
3. Flip from a glide onto the wall
Glide into the wall with arms by your sides, tuck and dolphin kick, and let the feet land on the wall. Don’t push off yet. Feel the position: on your back, knees bent, hands together overhead.
4. Add the push-off
Same as step 3, then push off in streamline, rotate to your front, two dolphin kicks, break out. Still from a glide, so you can concentrate on the wall and the push.
5. Full speed from four strokes out
Swim four strokes into the wall, no breath on the last one, and turn. Judge the distance from the T. Too close and your knees are bent too much; too far and you land with straight legs and no push. Adjust by half a stroke and go again.
Turn practice set
- 6x somersaults mid-pool, rest as needed
- 6x push off + somersault + streamline
- 6x glide in, flip, land (no push)
- 6x glide in, flip, push, break out
- 8x 4 strokes in + turn + break out, 20s rest
Common flip turn mistakes
- Scooping with the arms. Kills momentum and puts the arms in the wrong place. Hands by the hips, let them stay.
- Breathing on the last stroke. Lifts the head, slows you into the wall, misjudges the distance. Head down from the flags.
- Turning too close or too far. Too close means bent knees and no push; too far means straight legs and no push. Use the T on the bottom.
- Flipping flat, landing on your stomach. You should land on your back or at most 45 degrees rotated, and roll over during the push-off, not before it.
- Holding your breath. Exhale continuously from the tuck to the breakout.
- Pushing off without streamline. Hands apart, head up, and the push-off goes nowhere. Squeeze the arms behind the head.
- Staying under too long. Two dolphin kicks is plenty for distance swimmers. Surface clean and swim.
The flip turn is one of the skills, with push-offs and finishes, that we count as free speed in how to swim faster. For the rest of the stroke, start with the swimming technique guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a flip turn and a tumble turn?
Nothing. They are the same freestyle turn. Flip turn is the American name, tumble turn is the Australian and British name.
Why do I get dizzy or run out of air doing flip turns?
Usually because you hold your breath from the last stroke to the breakout. Exhale slowly and continuously through the whole turn, and shorten your underwater to two dolphin kicks so you surface sooner. Dizziness also fades quickly with practice as your body gets used to the rotation.
Should I use my arms to flip turn?
No. Using the arms to scoop yourself over is the most common flip turn mistake. Finish your last stroke with both hands at your hips, tuck the chin and dolphin kick to initiate the flip, and leave the hands where they are so they end up in streamline as the feet land.
How far from the wall should you start a flip turn?
Roughly one body length. Use the T mark on the bottom of the pool as your reference and judge from there rather than looking up at the wall. If your knees are bent too much on landing you were too close; if your legs are nearly straight you were too far.
Do triathletes need to learn flip turns?
You can race without them, but they make pool training faster and more continuous, which is closer to open water, and they save energy compared with touch-turning if done efficiently. Keep the underwater short, two dolphin kicks, so the turn costs you nothing.
The goggles I swim in
A good turn depends on seeing the T on the bottom and the wall coming without lifting your head. Fogged or leaking goggles are the hidden reason a lot of adults misjudge their turns.
The NanoClear Strike is the pair I point our swimmers to. The anti-fog is bonded into the lens itself rather than coated on top, so it doesn’t wash off after a few weeks, and the soft contoured gaskets stay sealed through the rotation of a flip.
Three nose-bridge sizes fit narrow to wide faces, with a wide field of vision for pool and open water.
