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Swimming Turns Teaching Freestyle Turns Freestyle Pivot Turn   Teaching Points   Stand in chest-deep water approximately 10 meters from pool edge. Swim freestyle to the wall. Extend arm on the last stroke before wall to grab edge of pool gutter. Pull body to the side of pool.   Pull legs under body and begin to turn.   Take a breath and complete turn.   Extend both hands over head, pressing arms against the ears. Kick three to five kicks before beginning freestyle stroke. Freestyle Pivot Turn (Dartfish)     Coaching Tips Help the swimmer find a place to grab wall. Help the swimmer bring feet up under body by guiding feet so they are parallel to the wall. Swimmer pushes off, beginning kick immediately after feet leave the wall.     Freestyle Flip/Tumble Turn Hands do not touch the wall.   Teaching Points Stand in chest-deep water approximately 10 meters from the wall. Swim freestyle to within 3 meters of the wall. Breathe before taking the last stroke. Finish last stroke before the wall with both hands next to the hips. Place the feet about 6-8 inches below the water surface, parallel with the bottom. Extend arms over the head, pressing the upper arms against the ears. Push off the wall, kicking four times or as many as necessary before taking a stroke. Take at least one full stroke before breathing, for better body position. Swimmer kicks legs hard and lifts the hips as the head drops. Swimmer bends knees slightly.     Complete last stroke before wall with hands close to sides.   Tuck chin, begin rotating body forward and extend arms over head.   Push forcefully off wall with both feet.   Assume streamline position, breathe, then begin stroke. Freestyle Flip / Tumble Turn (Dartfish)     Coaching Tips Swimmer kicks to wall if he is too far away, following the last stroke. Assist swimmer with proper foot placement so he/she is not too shallow or too deep. Swimmer practices a mid-turn drill. Swimmer swims about eight strokes, and then does a somersault in the water. This drill can be done over 25 meters.   Faults & Fixes Chart   Error Correction Drill/Test Reference Turning too early into the wall. Swimmer touches wall with one hand before executing a somersault. Hands on wall, kick hard, then somersault, pushing off wall in a streamlined position. Pushing off wall with one foot. Encourage swimmer to push off with both feet. Swimmer conducts a vertical somersault, feeling feet pushing off bottom of pool. Swimmer feels feet pushing off edge of pool then moves into a streamlined position.

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