Advanced
Turns - Staggered Hand Open Turn
Coach's take: Genuinely rigorous — video analysis showing the staggered touch risks a DQ for no real speed gain.
3.8
Open turn
Swimming / Popular
Turn at the wall in breaststroke and butterfly.
What coaches agree on
- Touch the wall with both hands at the exact same moment — that's the legal touch for breaststroke and butterfly.
- Bring your arms through one at a time — drive one elbow back first, then sweep the other hand up and over to meet it — that is what spins your body into the rotation.
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- Take your breath during the rotation itself, right as your head clears the surface on the way back, then hold it again as you drive underwater into the streamline.
Common mistakes
- Grabbing or gripping the wall or gutter, or lingering there for an extra beat, instead of just touching and pushing straight back off — the whole contact should take about a second.
- Getting lazy or slow with the knee drive, letting the legs trail or swing wide instead of snapping straight into the chest the instant the hands touch, which quietly costs more time than any arm mistake.
Beginner
Open Turn How-To | Breaststroke or Butterfly
Coach's take: Turns a fiddly skill into a checklist you can actually follow, above and underwater.
3.8
Beginner
Fast Open Turns with Chloe Sutton
Coach's take: Builds the turn with real progressive drills, not just a demo — this is how you actually teach it.
3.8
Beginner
Mastering Open Turn Swimming | Breaststroke and Butterfly Turns
Coach's take: Teaches it slow first, then race-speed, and explains why each mistake actually costs you time.
3.7
Beginner
Beginner Swimmers: Stop Pausing at the Wall (How to do an open turn)
Coach's take: Names the exact two mistakes I see at the pool every week — memorable and dead accurate.
3.7
Intermediate
Open Turns: 5 Biggest Mistakes
Coach's take: Goes past the usual arm cues into leg drive and the legality of your foot angle — real depth.
3.7
Beginner
Open Turn in Swimming | Step-by-Step Technique For All Levels
Coach's take: Thorough, well-reasoned, and easy to follow -- a genuinely complete lesson.
3.6
Beginner
The Best Open Turn Drill Progression | A Simple 3-Step Process
Coach's take: The tip about which arm to drop based on your resting side is the kind of detail you only get from a real coach.
3.5
Beginner
TURNS - HOT HAND OPEN TURN
Coach's take: The 'hot hand' analogy is a great way to make an invisible timing detail stick.
3.4
Beginner
Turns - American Open Turn
Coach's take: Clear numbered steps, and it tells you to test it yourself rather than just trust the video.
3.4
Beginner
Swimming - Open Turns for All Strokes
Coach's take: Compact, correct, and gives you a cue you'll actually remember — hot potato.
3.4
Intermediate
Open turn technique | Breastroke turn | Butterfly turn | Individual Medley turns
Coach's take: The 45/45 rotation split and foot-hiding trick are cues you don't get from a beginner video.
3.3
Beginner
HOW TO HAVE THE PERFECT OPEN TURN
Coach's take: Solid, accurate walkthrough — just doesn't go much beyond the basics.
3.2
Intermediate
Head Coach David Marsh 1-Minute Open Turn Clinic
Coach's take: Good cues from a serious coach, but this is a highlight reel, not a full lesson -- better watched than read.
2.8
Intermediate
How To Breathe Properly When Practicing Open Turns | SWIMVICE
Coach's take: Specific enough to actually rehearse, and it solves a real problem -- panicking for air right off the wall.
2.7
Intermediate
Secret for Fast Open Turns
Coach's take: Right tip, but it's one sentence of coaching stretched over a whole video.
2.3
Advanced
Advanced Flip turns and open turns :: Fire turns!
Coach's take: Good, honest tip -- includes the cramp warning most 'just do this' videos leave out.
2.1
Intermediate
Swimming - Freestyle Open Turns vs. Flip Turns
Coach's take: One good fix (push off at an angle, not flat) -- but that's about all you'll get on open turn specifically.
1.6