Struggling with air during flip turns

Hello

I really struggle with getting enough air when I do flip turns. I feel like I need to come up fast to breathe. What’s going on? Should I be exhaling while flipping? Is it about my lung capacity?

One reason could be your lung capacity. But more practically, I suggest you only exhale during the part of the turn when your nose is pointing up. I stop exhaling near the wall and begin my turn, then exhale briefly when my nose is up to keep water out, then stop exhaling. I do a couple of dolphin kicks and start exhaling again just before I break the surface. That gives you more distance than exhaling the whole time.

@Zorion
Thanks a lot! How can I increase lung capacity faster?

Windsor said:
@Zorion
Thanks a lot! How can I increase lung capacity faster?

The quick answer is just keep swimming. But you can do a few things to help. During sprint sets, take a deep breath and see how far you can go with it. If you’re in a 25m pool, try using 3 breaths for a full length at first, then try with 2. Eventually, you can aim for 1. Beginners would need some time to reach that. On longer sets, like 15 minutes without stopping, use 5-stroke bilateral breathing. If that’s tough, switch to 3-stroke. As you get better, try adding in some 7-stroke or 9-stroke breathing when you can. 4 or 6 strokes are fine too if bilateral breathing is difficult, but I prefer bilateral for several reasons. I also often use 4 or even 2 strokes when I need to breathe before a turn.

The best tip I received was to stop exhaling close to the wall, then as you flip, exhale through your nose firmly, and then stop exhaling through your nose when you’re facing forward again. After that, I do 1-2 dolphin kicks without exhaling, and then I start exhaling before I break the surface.

You shouldn’t exhale during the turn, even if it feels natural later. It’s better to only start exhaling when you’re just about to come up again, which could be after the last couple of dolphin kicks or even after 2 strokes, depending on how long you can push without feeling out of breath.

After practicing for some time, it becomes natural to not exhale during the turn, but at first, it can help to push your upper lip against your nose.

Something that improved my endurance after the tumble turn is swimming backstroke. In backstroke, you need to turn a few strokes after seeing the flags, do a 1/3 stroke of freestyle, then tumble turn, and dolphin kick on your back until you’re past the flags again. This builds good endurance, but it does take time.

@Florian
How do you keep water out of your nose without exhaling?

Clarke said:
@Florian
How do you keep water out of your nose without exhaling?

I think it’s about getting used to it. Eventually, you won’t have to think about it, just like when your head is underwater during swimming. You won’t actively keep water out of your nose even if you’re not exhaling.

For the tumble turn, since it’s more vigorous and pushes air out, you might avoid it by pushing your upper lip against your nose.

@Florian
I used to nail flip turns, but I took a long break from swimming. I just tried flip turns again a few weeks back, and even though I remembered the timing and distance, my nose and face hurt so much. I’m scared to try again, but I really want to get flip turns down again.

Clarke said:
@Florian
How do you keep water out of your nose without exhaling?

Hum during the turn. It’s a low volume way to push air out your nose while keeping your mouth shut.

How long can you hold your breath while swimming? Or how many strokes can you take while swimming hard before needing to breathe?

Breathe out slowly through your nose.

I try to take a breath right before hitting the wall so that I do the flip turn with full lungs.

Just keep practicing. You will improve the more you practice.

I feel the same way. Learning the flip turn was easier than actually using it in practice. Doing 100m with 3 flip turns really challenges my breathing!!

I do these drills to help with breath control:

50m with fewer and fewer breaths, down to not breathing at all.

100m where I breathe every 3, 4, or 5 strokes.

I haven’t done these for long, but I feel like they are helping.

For context, I can swim 150+ lengths in 75 minutes with 2 stroke breathing.