The Effortless Swimming Podcast · Brenton Ford

#405 : Why Most Swimmers Run Out Of Air In Flip Turns with Brenton Ford

·15 min

Brenton Ford treats flip turns as a learned skill, not a fitness test. He says most swimmers either avoid them or come up out of breath and dizzy because their technique falls apart. The fix starts before the turn, with a smooth approach to the wall. When the lane has a black T on the bottom, he uses it as the visual marker for where the flip should begin. That cue helps swimmers judge distance without guessing at the last second. If the pool does not have a T, he suggests looking slightly forward to judge the wall. The goal is to land at a workable distance. He says the turn should not happen too close to the wall, where the legs are cramped, or too far away, where the legs are nearly straight and the turn loses shape. Finding that spacing can take a few tries. But once the body remembers it, the turn becomes automatic. After the feet hit the wall, the next job is streamline. He shows the hands stacking one on top of the other, the thumb wrapping, and the elbows locking so the arms cover the ears. That shape keeps the line from fingertips through the body as straight as possible. From there, the swimmer pushes off the wall. The big mistake he calls out is looking forward during the push-off. That breaks the streamline and adds drag. He says the slowdown can be dramatic, more than 50%, when the head pops up early. He also notes that a sloppy streamline makes the motion feel harder and more tiring. With practice, the wall turn can stop feeling like a struggle and start feeling like a reliable part of the stroke. That matters even more in a 25-yard or 25-meter pool, where cleaner turns make the whole swim feel smoother and more enjoyable.

As heard by us

A practical wall-turn reset for swimmers and triathletes who want less strain off the wall.

Brenton Ford treats flip turns as a trainable skill, one that can make pool sessions feel smoother and less stop-start while saving energy. He lays out a simple sequence: come into the wall under control, use the black T to judge distance, set the turn from the right spot, then…

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Why you'd press play

Your flip turns keep stealing your breath.

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