Whistle Turns
Head-up swimming that reverses direction on every whistle, teaching quick turns without stopping or standing.
- Stages
- Water Polo – Stage 8
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Skills
- Head-Up Swimming, Water Polo Movement
- Equipment
- None
- Age
- 8–99 years
- Group size
- 2–16 swimmers
- Time
- About 4 minutes
- In a lesson
- Introduction / Warm-up, Skill Development 1, Game / Consolidation
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Plenty of space between swimmers – quick turns can cause collisions.
- Deep-water turns only for swimmers confident treading water.
What it develops
- Head-up front crawl with a strong kick
- Stop, start and change direction quickly
How to run it
- Swimmers swim head-up front crawl towards the far side.
- On one whistle they turn back the way they came: tuck the knees, turn the shoulders, sweep with the arms and swim off.
- On two whistles they stop and tread water, then continue on the next whistle.
- Keep the turns small and fast.
Teaching cues
- Knees in, shoulders turn.
- Sweep the water to spin.
- Go straight away – no standing.
Make it easier
- Turn using breaststroke kick and arms.
- Practise the turn on the spot first.
Make it harder
- Turn left or right as called.
- Turn to face a ball thrown by the teacher.
Common faults
- Wide, slow arc turns.
- Standing up to turn.
- Head drops into the water during the turn.
Corrections
- 'Make yourself small to turn fast.'
- 'Use your arms to spin you round.'
- 'Keep your eyes on the teacher.'
Assistant / L1 role
- Watch the swimmers at the back of the group and tell the teacher who is standing to turn so they can give the easier version.