Tips for perfect open turns

We have already discussed the key points of the freestyle (here) and backstroke (here) turns. So, today we are going to give some tips for a perfect open turn. There are five variations of open turns, four of which are similar: breast to breast, fly to fly, and the individual medley (IM) transition turns of fly to back, and breast to free. The fifth kind, the back to breast IM transition turn, is performed differently and will be analyzed in an another post. 

When doing these four variations of an open turn keep in mind the following:

Approach

For these open turns, the swimmer is coming into the wall doing either fly or breast, and judging the wall correctly is more challenging than on flip turns.

• Gauge for a full stroke. Swimmers should start preparing for the wall from several strokes away. It is better to adjust the last several strokes slightly than to adjust the last one drastically. Gliding or short stroking kills speed.
• Touch with two hands. The two hands touch simultaneously every time. Even though the rules do not stipulate it, it is safest to touch at the surface with the hands level. If swimmers get lazy and touch with one hand in practice, chances are good that they will do the same thing in a race and get disqualified. Keep things simple and practice the way you want to race: legally and fast.

On the wall

Whether coming in doing breast or fly, the turn on the wall is the same. Quickness and simplicity arekey; slow turns usually include actions that don't belong and that take time to perform.

• Pull away. Never grab onto the gutter. Touching at the surface, the first hand barely touches the wall and then pulls away immediately along with the shoulder. The second hand stays put, pressing against the wall. This combination of pulling away and pressing puts the swimmer on his side.
• Pivot and drop. After the swimmer has pulled away and while the second hand is still lightly pressing onto the wall, the knees pull up quickly and tightly. As the knees drive to the chest, the second hane leaves the wall, so for a split second the body is pivoting and nothing is touching the wall. The second hand tucks behind the ear on its way to meet the first hand in a streamline. The feet plant on the wall with the toes pointing to the side of the pool, and the swimmer pushes off the wall on his side. Turning onto the stomach before pushing off, though common with younger swimmers, wastes time. Simply ensure that the shoulders are past the vertical and the body is more on the front than on the back (the opposite is true for the fly to back IM turn).
• Turn on a line. Swimmers should never grab onto the gutter and lift the body up, nor should they duck the head deep under water before the push off. The head goes in and out of the wall in a line.

Send away

There are two variations of the send away. On fly, back, and free push offs, swimmers leave the wall with underwater dolphins. On breast push offs (will be discussed in another topic, hopefully within the day), swimmers leave the wall and perform the breaststroke underwater pullout sequence. Either way, good send aways mean speed. Follow these points for the dolphin send away:

• Explode. When the feet are planted to push off the wall, the body should be a straight line from the rear to the fingertips. It is a taut body that will be immediately streamlined. The push off is powerful and explosive.
• Streamline, use hyperspeed, and break out. The body is straight and taut, the head is tucked under the arms, and the hands are one on top of the other. Underwater dolphins should be small, tight, quick, and powerful so that the body maintains its streamlined posture. The breakout is horizontal, with full forward momentum.

Image source: [1]