Ohio State Drills & Skills for All Turns

Teach swimmers how to properly approach the wall for a turn set-up regardless of stroke.

Ohio State Swim Coaches Bill Wadley and Bill Dorenkott share long axis and short axis turn drill progressions for each of the four competitive strokes. Their presentation begins with freestyle turn instruction including two unique flip turn drill progressions that each of the coaches use with his respective team. These progressions contain over 10 drills to train a swimmer on every aspect of the turn, approach, execution, wall set-up, and push off. Also included are strategies for getting off of the wall with maximum speed and power, and the all important breakout with the timing of the first stroke as well as how to align the body for a seamless transition into the breakout stroke and establishing race tempo. The technical aspects of the flip turn apply to the backstroke turn.

In the back turn segment, the coaches focus on getting the swimmer from his or her back to the front using a fast, connected rotation and transition into the somersault. Also discussed are strategies in body angle for an ideal push off and an underwater travel segment before adding the flutter kick and establishing race tempo.

Similar to the long axis turn segment, the short axis turn instruction for fly and breast include effective drill progressions from each coach. Dividing the turn into front- and back-halves, Coach Dorenkott presents a unique progression for each phase before pulling the entire turn together.

Coach Wadley presents an away-from-the wall sequence that focuses on executing a "reverse tumble" to generate a tight rotation, something he believes is essential to a fast turn. Both sequences are clearly explained and demonstrated along with a full-turn demonstration of each.

In the IM Turn segment, the major focus is on:

• Back to Breast Crossover Turn - The secret to teaching the crossover turn
• Fly to Back - Preparing to maximize the underwater dolphin
• Breast to Free - How to carry your speed through the turn

Teach your swimmers the fundamentals of the turn through effective drill progressions and attention to detail that will lead to championship results.

72 minutes. 2013.