Flip turns worth the energy/effort to learn?

Just so you know, this is one of those "controversial" topics that there really is no consensus on.

Yeah, I'll take some of that popcorn and keep my opinions to myself on this one.  Lesson learned last time! 

The consensus is that no one agrees.

I, personally, think it is generally worth the time and effort. 

I like them so I do them.  IMO, stopping at the wall breaks the rhythm whether you stop and turn around or flip turn.  Flip turns feel less like they're breaking the flow than stopping and turning around at the wall.

Also, every now and then I have a chance to do an indoor tri (winter in Michigan has been known to last 8 months some years).  Flip turns give me a major advantage there and have helped me pass my equally fast but non-flip turner competitors.

I would guess...  Umm, carry the 3 and divide by 7....  approximately .02 calories to do a flip turn

I would have said 0.42.

I am not afraid ... nor tired of discussing this. Katie asked a good question and I think she deserves a good answer.

Are flip turns necessary for becoming adequate/proficient at swim training in a pool? No.

Are flip turns worth the energy/effort to learn? Absolutely. Here are some of my reasons, and after I give them I'll dig up some good "how to" videos (I think there are some right here on BT). I will add that the vast majority (I can only think of one exception on this site) of good swimmers advocate learning and doing them.

1. They help you maintain a smoother rhythm and speed in the pool. An "open" (non-flip) turn is a dead stop at the wall no matter what. Flip turns help you maintain that ongoing speed. You don't come to a dead stop in open water every 25 or 50m.
   
2. In general, to be a good biker, practice like the good bikers.  Good runner?  Practice like the good runners.  Swimmer?  Same, and good swimmers do them.
3. Flip turning also helps your breath control in manageable and transferable ways for open water. 

4.     It gives you better technique and better water awareness.  It helps you become aware of your arms, hands, legs, and torso in the water.  All these little things add up in the long run and help you become better aware of yourself in the water.  

 I have plagiarized mercilessly from other good swimmers in stating these reasons.

Yanti for President!!!

I've been swimming for under a year, but am in great (for me) swim shape having averaged in the range of 10K yards for the last several months. 

I have learned the flip turn, but no matter what cannot make it stick during a HARD workout (and most pool workouts are pretty hard). 

I feel like I'm going to drown going that long without a breath.  I literally will get light headed / tingly half way back across the pool due to lack of Oxygen.  How do we overcome this?

How Phelps can flip then dolphin for 15 yards off turns in 200M races I cannot fathom...LOL.  I'd pass out and slowly sink to the bottom of the pool! 

I do them.

/thread

Here's a good video/article to help you get started:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=1388

Yes ma'am.

A good streamlined push-off is critical and a chance to practice good body position every time off a wall.

ETA: Do we have a good streamline/push-off video article on BT?

10k yards per week or per month?

If you're getting lightheaded and tingly, I don't think the problem is the flip turn (though you may need some additional practice doing them as well--quick in, quick out. No slowing down). My guess is that you are swimming too hard and/or inefficiently, and not breathing enough. Impossible to say without a video.

THIS is a great line

I agree with almost everything you mention, and would love to be able to do flip turns, will get it eventually, BUT....I have to disagree with the bolded section, however you look at it, you are going one direction, then completely reversing direction, one way or another there is a stop and reverse.  it's smoother with a GOOD flip turn, it helps maintain rhythm, but a bad flip turn (too early, too late) can halt you just as effectively as an open turn. 

(my qualifications for this statement...I can only manage bad flip turns right now and I definitely lose pace/time and rhythm).

Are they worth it to the OP's post, I think so, but they are not similar to open water swimming in the lack of dead stops IMO.

I'll add on as well.  When I was first learning to swim better I'd try doing flip turns and I'd be gasping for air and it would kill me the next lap.  So I couldn't do them and was much faster without, simply because I needed to breathe.

However, as my technique and efficiency has slowly improved I'm moving through the water much faster, but my effort is far less.  I can do flip turns for a 500m set and never really feel like i'm in oxygen deficit, and its due to efficiency of my swimming more than the turn itself. 

Also, I was swimming about 12-13k meters per month for about a year and never really saw a lot of improvement on my time/efficiency (and couldn't do flip turns).  It wasn't until the last few months when I bumped my swim up to about 11k meters per week that I've really seen a lot of improvement.

Daniel has the best answer on here.