SnappingT wrote:
in my experience, they allow athletes to relax the core which impacts the catch of the stroke and doesn't allow for the building up of an efficient kinetic chain. If you are looking to build a strong, core driven stroke then pull buoy, paddles, band and buoyancy shorts are the worst pieces of training equipment you could use. They all allow you to varying degrees to swim without the engagement of a large majority of that chain.
Second, I don't train the athletes I work with to swim the easiest swim (with a wetsuit), but the hardest swim (in the ocean against a current). What happens in a non wetsuit swim without that buoyancy you've been training with?
It's easy to take the short cuts. Especially when an athlete uses training equipment as a crutch and doesn't want to put in the hardwork to develop efficient technique with a powerful stroke. In my experience, buoyancy shorts are a hindrance and not a help.
Best regards,
Tim Floyd
I think I understand what you're saying, Tim. I'm the OP, an adult swimmer with no previous swimming experience that can barely squeeze out 2:45/100 yds with a pull buoy. Going to the pool is demoralizing, embarrassing, and one big mental game each and every time. Maybe, if I keep using my pull buoy (or buoyancy shorts) then I'll eventually use them less and less. I'm referring to the crawl before you walk, walk before you run analogy.
I'm sure I'll get "looks" from the better swimmers at the pool. There's a certain clique in the tri community that likes to call out athletes that don't do things the way
they do things. My wife struggles to keep a 13:00 min/mile pace while running, and has to take walk breaks. There's many runners like that and the last thing I would say is they're taking shortcuts and not putting in the hard work. One day soon, she'll be running 11:00 min/mile steady as long as she keeps training (which she does). Likewise, one day I'll be swimming 2:00/100 yds too.