ELEMENTS OF SPEED

GETTING FUNDAMENTALLY FASTER

by Jim Rusnak

THE TURN

Charlie Yourd, head coach of the Bloomington-Normal YMCA Waves, was named Illinois Age Group Coach of the Year in 2002.  He offers some advice on both two-handed touch turns for breaststroke and butterfly, and on flip-turns for freestyle and backstroke.

One common element to all four turns is the streamline.

"I frequently see kids not getting into as good a streamline as they're capable of," Yourd said.

Yourd says it's important to get into as tight a streamline as possible as you come off the wall, with your arms tight together, elbows straight and one hand on top of the other.  Keep your chin down, your head level between your arms and your back flat.

While streamlining off turns is one of the most important techniques to perfect, Yourd listed a number of other things to think about during turns:

Breast and Fly Turns:

Hit the wall on a full stroke at arm's length.  Avoid gliding in too far or hitting the wall on a short stroke with your arms bent.

The instant you touch the wall - or even an instant before - tuck your knees into your chest, and change direction by leading with your head and elbows going straight back.  "Turning your head and body around to the side is the slow way to go," Yourd said.  Also, the tighter you can tuck your knees, the faster you will be able to change direction.

Streamline, and begin your dolphin kick (for butterfly) or your breaststroke pullout right before you begin to lose any speed from your push-off.  "On the breaststroke pullout, frequently swimmers rush and do it too soon,"  Yourd said.  "You need to make the most of your timing and speed off the wall."  If you're doing butterfly, make sure you do smaller, faster kicks from the push-off (just like off the dive) before settling into your regular rhythm.  This will help keep your body in a streamlined position.

For the butterfly, break out from the turn the same way you would off the start.  No breathing on the first stroke.  "This helps set up your body position and gets your body in rhythm with your stroke," Yourd said.  "If you breathe on the first stroke, your body will sink."  For the breaststroke, make sure you kick on the breakout stroke so you explode to the surface of the water.

The Flip-Turn

As you approach the wall, snap your head down on the final stroke, tuck your knees up quickly, flip straight over on your back and leave the wall in that position. "What slows kids down most is when they turn their body as their feet are on the wall,"  Yourd said.  As you push off and leave the wall, streamline, roll over on your side and then onto your stomach for freestyle.  If you're doing backstroke, streamline and stay on your back.

Just before you begin to lose speed from the push-off, begin your kick.  Again, if you're doing a dolphin kick, make sure you are using a smaller, faster dolphin kick.

Break out from the turn the same way you would from a start.  On backstroke, do not lift your head.  Keep your head back to maintain your speed off the wall.  "Your strokes should get you into your shoulder and rotation rhythm," Yourd said.

One final pointer - Yourd, like most coaches, recommends not breathing into the wall in any freestyle races.  "The faster you go into the wall, the faster your turn is going to be," he said.  No breathing out of the turns on shorter races, either.  Whether or not to breathe on the first stroke out of the turn in longer races (400 meters and up) is up to each individual swimmer and his or her coach.  "You need to get as much air as you can in longer races,"  Yourd said.  "But you need to get your arms moving off the first stroke without losing speed."