Learning how to do an open turn is the simplest way to change direction at the wall — you touch, tuck your knees, swing your feet under you onto the wall, and push off — all while keeping your head up and staying oriented. Often called a touch-and-turn, the open turn is the beginner-friendly alternative to the tumbling flip turn, and it works perfectly well for fitness and lap swimming for as long as you want to use it.

The short answer

To do an open turn, reach and touch the wall with your hand, tuck your knees up toward your chest, swing your feet down and under you onto the wall, take a quick breath as you turn, then plant your feet and push off on your side into a tight streamline. You stay upright and aware the whole time — no somersault, no disorientation — which is exactly why it’s the easiest turn to learn and the most forgiving one to practice.

Before you start

Practice where you can stand up and stop, with a lifeguard on duty, and never swim alone. The open turn slots naturally onto the end of a length once you’re comfortable with how to swim freestyle step by step. Because you’ll be near the wall and possibly sharing a lane, it’s worth a quick read of swimming pool etiquette for beginners so you turn without crowding other swimmers.

Step 1: Touch the wall with control

Swim in toward the wall and reach out to touch it as you arrive, rather than crashing into it:

  • In freestyle and backstroke, a one-hand touch is normal.
  • In breaststroke and butterfly, the standard is a two-hand touch, hands level.
  • Keep your touching arm slightly bent, like a spring, so you can absorb your speed instead of jolting to a stop.

Don’t glide in with your arms glued to your sides — that leaves you nothing to turn against. Reach, touch, and immediately begin the next move.

Step 2: Tuck and swing your feet under you

This is the heart of the turn. The instant your hand touches:

  1. Tuck your knees up toward your chest.
  2. Let your body rotate onto its side as your legs swing down and forward under your hips.
  3. Bring your feet to the wall, knees bent, ready to push.
  4. Sneak a quick breath here — your head naturally comes up as you turn.

The whole motion is a quick, compact tuck — think of curling into a ball and rolling your feet onto the wall in one beat. The tighter your tuck, the faster you come around.

Step 3: Plant, push, and streamline

With your feet planted on the wall and knees bent:

  1. Drop your arms and head back toward the water in the direction you’re about to swim.
  2. Push off firmly off the wall.
  3. Snap into a tight streamline — arms stretched overhead, hands stacked, head tucked, body long.
  4. Rotate from your side onto your stomach as you glide out and take your first stroke rising to the surface.

A strong push and a clean streamline are where you make up any speed you lost at the wall — don’t drift off the wall limply.

Build it in stages

If the full turn feels like a lot at once, break it apart and add one piece at a time:

  1. Standing tuck. Stand in the shallow end facing the wall, touch it, and practice curling your knees up and planting your feet on the wall without pushing off — just feel the compact rotation.
  2. Touch and plant. Push off gently from a step or the bottom, glide in, touch, tuck, and plant your feet — still no push-off.
  3. Add the push. Now push off firmly into a streamline once your feet are planted.
  4. Add the swim. Finally, do it at the end of a slow length so it flows straight out of your stroke.

Adding one piece at a time keeps it low-stress and stops you from rushing a movement your body hasn’t learned yet.

The mistakes that trip swimmers up

  • Stopping to rest at the wall instead of touching and going — it kills your rhythm.
  • A slow, loose tuck, which lets your feet drift and leaves you fumbling for the wall.
  • Planting with straight legs, giving you nothing to push against — keep those knees bent.
  • Forgetting to streamline, so you waste the whole push-off.
  • Turning right in front of another swimmer — glance and give space in a shared lane.

Keep it safe

  • Practice where you can stand up and stop, with a lifeguard present.
  • Don’t turn practice into a breath-holding challenge — the open turn lets you breathe easily, so use that breath.
  • Build endurance separately so you’re not exhausted and sloppy at the wall; how to swim laps for fitness as a beginner can help.

The next small step

Next session, stand in the shallow end facing the wall and practice just the tuck-and-plant: touch, curl your knees in, swing your feet onto the wall, and feel that compact rotation without even pushing off. Once that quick tuck feels natural, add it to the end of your lengths. And when you’re ready for a faster, no-stop turn, the flip turn is your next challenge.