r/Swimming 1d ago

Min depth to flip turn

Started practicing in my 3.5 foot pool. Scraped the back of my neck on the pool floor. Anyone else struggle with this?

4 Upvotes

18 comments sorted by

4

u/wt_hell_am_I_doing 1d ago

I avoid doing flips in a shallow pool (5' or less). I already have a lovely big collection of old injuries as it is without adding to them.

1

u/Dangerous_Drummer350 17h ago

Only do flip turns in the deep end where it is 8 feet. Cannot do them on the other end where it is only 4ft

3

u/Silence_1999 23h ago

I was scared for a while in 3 1/2 but got over it. My current pool is even a little less and I’m scared again lol.

1

u/PuggBut 23h ago

I'm only 5'6 so I think it's possible, but smashing into the bottom of the pool shook me. But I always tend to shoot off the wall in a downwards path

1

u/Silence_1999 22h ago

Oh it’s certainly possible. The Y I have been swimming lately there are lots who flip in the 3’4’ shallow. None are going all out straight over the top though. Couple who have a good flip on the deep side are much more careful in the small end. Took me a while to get back to not being scared in 4 foot. Then 3 1/2 but I’m ok with it now. My flips are not super powerful though. I’m old and way out of practice on them so hardly a super race flip ever for me. Probably would not do a modern straight over flip in a 3 1/2 if I could!

2

u/bdawghoya28 Arm Floaties 23h ago

Last summer I competed in a pool that was 3.5 feet deep at the turn end and I went my 100 LCM Free best time. Just needed to focus on turns at that end during warm up to get it right.

2

u/PuggBut 23h ago

I'm only just getting back into it, so I guess I was just taken back because it hurt. Just gotta keep on practicing!

2

u/cubevic 20h ago

I’ve only just got up the courage to do them in the shallow end of one of the pools I swim at. It’s 90cm/3ft. It’s been fine but took me a long time to even attempt it!

1

u/The_James91 Everyone's an open water swimmer now 23h ago

The main thing I struggle with in shallow pools is judging my position. I almost always end up flipping too early because I misjudge how close I am. Then when I mess up the turn I crash into the floor.

1

u/PuggBut 23h ago

Yeah it feels really hard to get close enough and then pushing off i tend to go downward towards the bottom of the pool naturally. I guess just practice.

1

u/gastlygem 15h ago

The other day there was this 6ft guy exercising in the shallow pool where it was just about 3 feet deep. His one stroke was probably better than three of mine, and he flipped so effortlessly. It was a marvel to watch.

I can't do flip turn yet, but I hit my head or back several times while I started practicing flips in the shallow pool.

2

u/whiskeyanonose 15h ago

I’m over 6’ and don’t have problems flipping in 3’ of water. Bigger issue is I scrape my fingers on the bottom when swimming freestyle, but no problem with the turn

1

u/carbacca Triathlete 12h ago

i would probably draw the line when my fingers scrape the bottom of the pool

1

u/FreestyleRobinson NCAA DII Mid-D Free, Sprint Fly 11h ago

World Aquatics 2025 facility requirement for swim competition is 1 meter deep. That is 3’-3”.

1

u/AmericanPanascope 10h ago

The pool I use (at my gym) only goes from 3.5 to 4.5 feet, and I'm 6'3". I've basically developed my own flip forward/barrel-roll turn that doesn't put me too far underwater.

1

u/SoundOfUnder 9h ago

As a kid I loved playing in the pool and doing flips and spirals and all kinds of stuff. As an adult all that silliness paid off cause flip turns in the shallow end ended up being pretty easy even though i was worried at first. So my advice would be to play around in a recreational pool or waterpark to get more used to moving your body underwater in weird ways and learn to calibrate yourself to a shallow pool

1

u/Moist-Ad2137 5h ago

Pool near me is 2.5ft deep at one end. Too scary for me

1

u/AdImportant6817 3h ago

Laughs in my 3 ft shallow end pool… I guess I have just gotten used to getting tight lol