I’ve been doing the standard backstroke turn for ages, and it’s worked just fine for me. But lately, I’ve been wondering—are crossover turns really worth learning? Do they make a significant difference in speed or efficiency, or is it just a small advantage?
For those who’ve made the switch, was it difficult to learn, and do you feel it improved your times?
Crossover turns are faster. If you want to improve your time it’s worth it, if you’re swimming for exercise, not as much.
Clay said:
Crossover turns are faster. If you want to improve your time it’s worth it, if you’re swimming for exercise, not as much.
Yeah ive practised them but not perfected thek enough for races
I always liked the backflip turn.
Oaklan said:
I always liked the backflip turn.
Is that the same as a suicide turn?
Why is this faster than a bucket turn?
Kris said:
Why is this faster than a bucket turn?
You can start the turn earlier, so you don’t have to swim as far. Part of the turn your body is in air, which has less resistance than the water
Kris said:
Why is this faster than a bucket turn?
Swimming backstroke into the wall and touching on your back means all your momentum is going into the wall and it’s tough to change direction to flip your lower body over your upper body, which you have to do in a bucket turn. A crossover turn means you are driving down slightly with your upper body going into the wall and doing something more like a flip turn with a half twist. There’s a very small difference that only comes out once you’re comparing a good crossover turn with a good bucket turn
Pssssh. I’m still crushing an old school backstroke bucket turn.
I like the cross over turns. Tried to do the old turn last year, and my shoulder did not like it
My trainer only learned the normal front turn-turn
I always learned the backflip / bucket turn
I can do the crossover turn, but just can’t get myself to do it at similar speed. It’s at least a second slower for me
Unless you are one of the top swimmers in your region, it isn’t worth the time investment or risk. It is a slightly fast turn (less than half a second), but you do lose a breath before the underwater pull out of breaststroke. It’s a fun skill to practice on occasion, like when half the team is missing on a Friday or something like that.
I can’t imagine voluntarily swimming backstroke unless there was a coach shaming me into it. Context, used to be a competitive IM dude and concussed myself on the wall in the backstroke leg too many times and now I just can’t stand the stroke.
@Denny
It’s my favourite. It seems to undo all of my postural sins (too much screen and desk time).
Ray said:
@Denny
It’s my favourite. It seems to undo all of my postural sins (too much screen and desk time).
…damn, maybe I need to start loving backstroke too. My posture has also suffered from sitting at a desk/typing on a computer.
@Penn
Carrying a heavy (but properly worn) backpack while walking can help too. 
@Denny
Its my favourite, clearly doing something wrong 
They are only faster if you are very, very good at it. I mean D1, big conference caliber. And even they don’t all do it, and it can be less consistent. I do not think it is worth learning unless you are on that type of trajectory.