These Hints & Tips are to
help you understand what the teachers and coaches are training you to do. They
show how a turn for example should be executed and what to avoid. Where
appropriate the FINA Law is quoted that the officials follow and judge you
against. A summary of the DQ Codes Officials use can be found here.
Backstroke Turn - Video (read the bit below
first!)
SW 6.4 When executing the
turn there must be a touch of the wall with some part of the swimmer's body in
his/her respective lane. During the turn the shoulders may be turned over the
vertical to the breast after which a continuous single arm pull or a continuous
simultaneous double arm pull may be used to initiate the turn. The swimmer must
have returned to the position on the back upon leaving the wall.
What this means for the swimmer
is that once you turn onto your front you must either be turning or 1 or both of
your arms must be doing a continuous pull that ends in a turn.
SW 6.5 Upon the finish of the race the swimmer must touch the wall while on the back in
his/her respective lane.
Common
Disqualifications:
If you roll on your front with
your arms by your side and do not turn immediately you can be disqualified, some
judges and referees may allow a short pause but if one or both of your arms
aren't pulling you will be disqualified.
If you do more than one arm
stroke on your front then you will be disqualified.
You must push off on your back
which is the natural position out of the turn, if you somehow manage to end up
on your front you will be disqualified.
Breaststroke Turn - Video (read the bit below
first!)
SW 7.1 After the start and after each turn, the swimmer may take one arm stroke completely
back to the legs during which the swimmer may be submerged. At any time prior to the first
Breaststroke kick after the start and after each turn a single butterfly kick is permitted. The head
must break the surface of the water before the hands turn inward at the widest part of the second
stroke.
SW 7.2 From the beginning of the first arm stroke after the start and after each turn, the body
shall be on the breast. It is not permitted to roll onto the back at any time except at the turn after
the touch of the wall where it is permissible to turn in any manner as long as the body is on the
breast when leaving the wall. From the start and throughout the race the stroke cycle must be
one arm stroke and one leg kick in that order. All movements of the arms shall be simultaneous
and on the same horizontal plane without alternating movement.
SW 7.3 The hands shall be pushed forward together from the breast on, under, or over the
water. The elbows shall be under water except for the final stroke before the turn, during the turn
and for the final stroke at the finish. The hands shall be brought back on or under the surface of
the water. The hands shall not be brought back beyond the hip line, except during the first stroke
after the start and each turn.
SW 7.4 During each complete cycle, some part of the swimmer’s head must break the surface
of the water. All movements of the legs shall be simultaneous and on the same horizontal plane
without alternating movement.
SW 7.5 The feet must be turned outwards during the propulsive part of the kick. Alternating
movements or downward butterfly kicks are not permitted except as in SW 7.1. Breaking the surface
of the water with the feet is allowed unless followed by a downward butterfly kick.
SW 7.6 At each turn and at the finish of the race, the touch shall be made with both hands
separated and simultaneously at, above, or below the water level. At the last stroke before the turn
and at the finish an arm stroke not followed by a leg kick is permitted. The head may be submerged
after the last arm pull prior to the touch, provided it breaks the surface of the water at some point
during the last complete or incomplete cycle preceding the touch.
This can seem very complicated
but watch the video and you will see that once the swimmer turn and drives off
the wall streamlined he does once powerful pull down past his hips he holds that
position until he starts to slow and then drives his arms forward and does a big
breaststroke kick. As he starts to slow he begins his first full breaststroke
and you will see that the rule say your head must break the surface before your
hands start the in sweep part of the pull! For Junior swimmers this means
almost immediately as they have very little if any out sweep, make sure your
head clears the surface in time!
This pull and kick are used at
the start from a dive as well.
The dolphin/fly kick can be
difficult for swimmers to get right and for the majority of Junior swimmers it's
not of any benefit until they do it well, the most important thing is that it is
just a downward kick and done as the arms are doing their big pull down to your
sides. Any kick upwards or second kick will get you disqualified.
Note. Older
powerful swimmers can have a stroke cycle that looks very much as though they
are doing a dolphin kick at the end of every stroke, this is a grey area because
modern breaststroke has an action very similar to butterfly which generates a
lot of power, as long as the downwards kick looks part of the strokes kick cycle
and not separate it is allowed.
Other Videos can be found on the links below
SwimSwam
Swimvortex