Learning The Flip Turn In Just 1 Lesson: Surprising Results

That's it. Yay. And now she can move about with ease. Now you're moving around with ease. Now we'll teach Denise flip turns. A flip turn happens at the wall to change direction. But first, teach a full somersault in the water. It's a full 360, your head comes up where it started, like this. So, my head is here, and my feet are down here. A full somersault brings me right back where I started. But you're really just doing half a somersault. You come in head first, flip to your feet, and push off the wall, heading the other way. You'll end up lying on your back. Then roll onto your belly and keep going. We'll start by leaning forward a little. Land on your toes, not flat-footed. Extend both arms in front of you. Jump up and forward while pulling down with both arms. And throwing your chin to your chest. And curl up until your brow meets your knees. Keep your eyes on me. Okay. Okay. Let's try it out. She goes, whoa. Do you really want to do this? Yeah. Yeah. Excellent. So, lean forward onto the balls of your feet. My feet should fit beneath your heels. Good. Then pull off to the side like that. With both arms at once. Notice how it carried you forward? A moment ago. That's our goal. We've just built up some momentum. You can then put that momentum to work. Or turn that momentum into a somersault. But we need to get that first movement started. We can't start from a flat position. This is really difficult. Ready? Yep. Take a deep breath. You pulled it off. Open your eyes. This is kind of odd, right? Yeah, doing somersaults is pretty strange. Any water up your nose? Alright, that's good. That's about as bad as it gets. Was the way I flipped you okay? Not too intrusive? Good. We'll practice this about six times, okay? Good, good, good, good. Okay, so I get you off the bottom of the pool. Yeah. Yeah, you're bringing your knees to your chest. Yep, but there's momentum. That'll keep you moving, right? Okay, correct. The harder you jump, tuck your head, and roll, the better. With adults, I don't force them to slam their heads down. With kids, I say, drive your head down. Like one of those hammerhead sharks. Bam. Okay? That's it, that's it, that's it. And you may continue paddling with your arms. To help you flip. You did that perfectly. Nicely done. I was really worried you wouldn't get this. But you're nailing it. That's the clip for your nose. That helps a lot. Got it? Yeah, without the nose clip, I wouldn't be here right now. Okay, that's good. You almost didn't make it. All the way around that time, I gave you less support. I wanted to see what mistakes you'd make. That's when I learned. So the tighter you tuck, the faster you'll spin. You'll spin more easily. Chin to your chest. Push your head toward your knees. Usually, everyone's pretty tight here. You are, but you need to tighten up your upper body. You need to tighten the top half of your body. She nailed it. She did it. Yeah, all by yourself. Perfect. You pulled it off. Yep, that's three finished, three more left. Ready? And now she can move around with ease. You're moving around with ease now. We've completed two, or perhaps four, with a pair still left. Got it. I adore it. One more time. That's fantastic. That's awesome. Like I said earlier, this is my first time teaching an adult beginner a flip turn. You just thwarted me. You really got the better of me. I'm not sure it'll be that simple. So everyone can learn it. That's pretty neat. Okay, next you'll practice this move at the wall. And spring away from the wall, okay? We'll practice it at this wall. Now, when you get close, you'll flip, then bring your feet to the wall. Then push off with both feet, heading toward the surface. I'll make sure you reach the surface safely. Your feet might be too high, and you unintentionally lowered yourself. In that case, I'll catch you and bring you back up. But let me show you here. Some swimmers over-rotate. So I'll show you the way you should do it. If that happens, don't worry. I'll lift you from the bottom. Quite a few learners already come with this instinct. The right instinct to protect their head. So they're afraid they'll hit their head. But I've told people you can move around as close as your fingertip is to your thumb. And don't bump your head, okay? This lets you get right up close to the wall. And avoid hitting your head. That's because as your head drops, it sinks right away while shifting toward the back. So you won't go down and forward and hit your head this way. We avoid that because your head goes down and backward. So the closest you'd get to the wall is the closest your head gets to it. Sure, I'd recommend going roughly this far. Yep, stay an arm's length away, pull toward the wall, and flip like that. Good job. Just like that. Move in. Come on, complete the rotation. Nice. Good. And here's another simple one to practice by yourself at home. You can do dozens in a row. Try not to get too dizzy, all right? All that somersaulting can make you dizzy. Well done. Congratulations. You can swim and do flip turns. I've never sent anyone home doing flip turns. That's fantastic. It's quite enjoyable.