How do you turn around in a swim lane without you having to stop?

Question

I can swim laps but I don't get how prople turn around with out having to stop there swimming.

Answer 1

do you know about flip turns.??

when you swim competively that's what you have to do or a half-turn which is what you're supposed to do on backstroke and butterfly.

when you do flipturns you're supposed to measure the distance or else you hit ur head on the wall which is PAINFUL!! (trust me). you shuold look it up because it's hard to do and to explain...

Answer 2

I believe you're asking how to do a flip turn.  Well, here's how:

First of all, keep your head down (chin tucked in) in the water ... do NOT look forward at the wall. Looking forward is a very common and terrible mistake. Look at the BOTTOM of the turn target.

You must glide into the wall with your hands at your hips (chin tucked in) however, the shorter the glide the better. So, your glide should only be about 2-6 inches long. A lot will happen at the end of that glide.

Do the next few things sequentially, but so close together they almost occur at the same time.

As you get to the wall with your chin tucked in and you think your head is going to hit the wall ... DUCK! As you duck do a dolphin kick. As you do that dolphin kick (with your hands at your hips) you turn both palms of your hands so that they are facing the bottom of the pool (palms facing the bottom is absolutely CRITICAL -- many swimmers will turn one hand, but not both).

As you bend at your waist and your head goes to where your feet WERE, press on the water with the palms of your hands - it is almost as if you are pulling the water from the top surface of the pool toward the bottom of the pool. If you do this properly, your head is going to come around to your hands and your hands will end up around your head or your face. It will feel as if your hands are doing very little. If you do it improperly, you'll feel one (or both) of your hands waving or swirling around in the water out away from your body. Still (and always) keep your chin tucked in.

Your feet should end up about 1.5 feet under the surface of the water.  The moment before your feet hit the wall, begin your push off.  Your toes will be facing either left or right. Which ever side your toes face, that is the side you'll twist onto AFTER your feet leave the wall. That means you'll be pushing off on your side and twisting instantly after you push off. Still (and always) keep your chin tucked in.

All of this time, you MUST keep your head down (chin tucked in) - with hope, that aspect of the turn is very clear! If you keep your chin tucked in, with the exception of your hands being stacked and your arms squeezing your head behind your ears, you will already be in streamline position. All you'll have to do is stretch your arms out and you're gone! You already know how to push off the wall.

Answer 3

ok, if your swimming freestyle or backstroke you do a flipturn.  when you finish your last stroke you should have your hands at your sides, tuck your chin and flip.  swing your feet around and push off.  

if you go to close to the wall you won't hit your head(unless you don't do the turn).... you'll smash your feet into the wall/gutter when you go to flip.

for backstroke, on your last stroke you want to turn over on your stomach and do the same flip.  

don't use your hands to flip, keep them down by your side so that they are ready to go into streamline when you push off.  

for breaststroke and butterfly, you do whats called an open turn.  both hands touch at the same time, you pull whichever hand you feel more comfortable with down through the water behind you and the other hand should go over your head.  then you just push off into streamline.  

for an open turn don't actually turn around, it should be very quick.  if you can, try not to breath while turning, but if you feel more comfortable with taking an extra breath on the wall, go for it.

if your doing a medley, for backstroke your not allowed to flip onto your stomach on the transition from back to breast, but you can do a flipturn where you touch on your back and flip your legs around somehow... idk how to do it though.  i don't swim the medley anyway, just the medley relay.