A look at how TritonWear measures Turn Rate, what is considered good vs bad, and how to improve it.
What is Turn Rate?
The speed of your body turning during your Transition. Your turn is measured in revolutions per minute.
How is it measured?
Turn Rate is measured the moment the turn starts. For flip turns, we start measuring Turn Rate when the head dips beyond 90” to parallel, while for open turns, we start measuring when the fingers touch the wall.
The Turn Rate measurement ends the moment the push starts for the next split, which is when the feet hit the wall and start pushing. As with other Transitions metrics, this metric is only calculated for turn ends of a rep; this will not be calculated for the finish lap of a rep.
What is a good Turn Rate?
A good Turn Rate is a high Turn Rate. This is measuring how fast you switch your body from heading in one direction to repositioning yourself to push and explode out into another direction. The faster you are in and out of the wall, the shorter your overall Turn and Transition Times will be. However, it is important not to sacrifice good form, as a high Turn Rate with a poor streamline will not be well-positioned for your push. This will cause you to lose overall time in the Transition, and Speed for the Underwater phase of your next lap.
How to Improve Turn Rate?
The scope of a good Turn Rate is to change direction and pick up speed. To improve your Turn Rate, it is important to minimize any unnecessary movements.
- For flip turns, this could be the use of arms while turning. Your arms should remain still beside your hips and ready to get into the streamline.
- For open turns, avoid lifting the body upward or into the wall. Aim to change direction as fast as possible by falling back into the streamline, not up and back.