I'm a weak kicker and a strong puller, so I have put the pull buoy away because I don't feel it adds much for me. I get that thing wedged in there and I can swim endlessly. my workouts are so much better without one, imo.

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Swim. Bike. Run. Tacos. Not always in that order.
@ryan_hurley

pulling with paddles and a pull buoy has a place within a workout but it's important to use them correctly. if you use a buoy....don't kick....defeats the purpose.

albert

Paddles? Yes. Buoy? No.

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Team Timex 2014
@ajhodges

Open water specialist Mark Warkentin almost exclusively pulls. He's a 10K Olympian and 25K word champ. He recently won the MIMS record breaking attempt as well. Check out the two links below.


http://www.freshwaterswimmer.com/2011/01/pull-buoys-ctd/
http://www.freshwaterswimmer.com/2011/01/pull-buoys/

This is my first season really training for tris and before I came from a running back ground so you can say I had no upper body strength at all. I'm still doing a lot of running and cycling so I try to save my legs for those. I still do some kicking, but as I am focusing on getting the upper body a bit stronger I do a lot of pulling (with paddles and pull buoy mostly). Todays workout was 3200m and 2000m of it was pull with paddles and buoy.

I never use a pull buoy anymore.

Here was my issue with it. I found that when I stuck one between my legs that I started to practice a bad body position because I did not have to use my core to hold a proper position in the water, the buoy did it for me. Then when after the pull set I went back to swimming without it, I had a hard time getting my a$$ and legs back up.

I think of my position like a boat either "not on plane" or being "on plane". I am a faster swimming when my body is one plane because I am more horizontal in the water, but I had to work on that a lot to get there and the pull buoy held me back from doing that.

I find a lot of people who are not very fast in the water, almost always have bad body position and their kick is generally too big, but they love pulling with a pull buoy because it gives them better body position and if they don't kick it helps to reduce their drag from their kick which is too big.

I think if you are a good swimmer and have no problem with body positioning in the water use the pull buoy, but if not, skip it.

Yes, but he's also an Olympian & a World champ. For the rest of us mortals, doing pulls exclusively would shred our shoulders (even with perfect form). It'd be like going to the gym and doing 10,000 reps on the weight bench. Too much, and for 99%, not necessary.

I like paddles, but I use them sparingly.

My $0.02

Take care,

Brian

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Swim. Bike. Run. Repeat as necessary.
Welcome to the Church of Briantriology!

I am no swimmer by any means. I do reps of 100s and 200s for a mile at a time for 3 times a week - strictly with a pull buoy and at a 28 min pace. I will see how this arm only approach works out this spring. When I use the crutch of the wetsuit, I do a double kick every so often to keep my legs up.

If you had perfect form, then this would not be an issue.

There is no perfect form btw.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Pulling can help you to get used to the feel of "floating" or balancing on the water surface. You should feel a slight arch in your back while the buoy lifts your hips. The idea is to know this feeling and imitate it when you swim w/out one. It also helps to take focus off of balance so you can focus on stroke technique. Pulling with paddles is even better for building upper body strength.

I dislike any pool toys that impact my balance (mostly because my balance is awful and needs work) so I do no pull drills with a buoy. I guess I could do them with my snorkel but I haven't tried it.

I use the pull buoy if I'm training for a wetsuit legal race since it simulates the positioning I get in a wetsuit. It's a very valuable training aid in that regard in my n=1.

I will either not use it or use it sparingly when training for a non-wetsuit race.

I have the Texas 70.3 in early April which will be wetsuit legal. Probably 75% of my swimming will be with a pull buoy leading up to that race. I then have Ironman Texas six weeks after that. I probably won't use the pull buoy at all for that six weeks leading to IMTX. My next race after that will be Musselman HIM which will be wetsuit legal so the pull buoy will again make a prominent appearance in my swim training. The next couple of races after Musselman will be non-wetsuit so it will get ditched again.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Pulling has its place. It can be considered either a technique drill or a strength workout. Done as small portions of you swim workout, its a drill to help you with your hand angles in the water. Done in larger portions, it's like weights for the arms...working the muscles (though be careful about the volume...you can really overdo the shoulder joints).

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Proud to post only occasionally.

http://tribomber.wordpress.com

I don't much care for them- never really build enough swim-specific strength to be fast & consistent that way, so I more rely on rhythm to get through a workout, and the lack of kick screws up my rhythm.

Not a ton, even back in my swimming days we would would do the 1st 1/3 to 1/2 of our distance sets as pull or pull with paddles. A word of advice to those why try paddles for the first time, don't but a pair that is much bigger than your hand.

http://www.trisports.com/strokhan2.html

I currently use the #2 Yellow. I used to have #, 2 and 3. Most of my distance work was with 3, I would wear 2 if my shoulder was bugging me. I would use 2 for strokes as well.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

I am of the opinion that both buoy and paddles should be reserved for people who have already developed good form and body position.
The buoy should be used as a training tool, not a crutch. People who rely on it to get a better body position in the water are using it for the wrong purpose. Rather, it should be used to isolate the arms and better your pull.
Same goes for the paddles. Paddles will increase the pulling surface of your HAND, but that may allow you to neglect the pulling surface of your ARM. Once you have developed proper arm position, then paddles can be used as a strengthening tool.

Both have their place, but IMO should not be used nearly as much as many triathletes like to use them.

I'm such a weak kicker that I don't really need a buoy. When I pay attention to my stroke I realize that my legs are just there for balance and the initial kick on the push off. I still log some of the better times in the swim. I would probably have to concentrate more on kick exercises myself.

I find the pull buoy very effective at reducing my oxygen consumption which means I can work the arms harder than I would full stroke. I can achieve a higher stroke rate, and can reduce my breathing to every 4-6 strokes, which also helps with technique.

The downside is that the increased upper body workrate is VERY stressful on the shoulders, so I can really only tolerate about 400m of max effort pulling 3 times a week.

I'm still very new to swimming and coming form a 20+ year cycling-exclusive background, a tough hurdle for me to clear. No upper body strength / stamina, etc.

For me, paddles and pulling helped immensely when I began swimming in helping build my endurance. I couldn't swim 100m freestyle to save my life....but when I used paddles and a buoy, I could swim 500m with no issues. This helped me substantially in building the upper body endurance I needed to swim freestyle w/o the paddles and buoys (can now complete 3000m workouts with no issues, etc).

I still use paddles early in my workouts because it helps my form / stroke significantly. If I swim a couple hundred meters as a warm-up, then pull for a couple hundred and go back to freestyle, my form is great improved and I am much more efficient.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Paddles will increase the pulling surface of your HAND, but that may allow you to neglect the pulling surface of your ARM.

Not sure I agree with you here. First of all, when you have paddles on, it is virtually impossible to drop your elbow during the pull, and this is the very reason paddles were used in the first place. You have to keep steady downward and backward pressure on the paddle, or it will catch in the water and instantly tell you that something is wrong. This is especially evident if you take of the wrist strap and just use the finger ones..So by using paddles you enforce the use of the arm. Of course it does increase the hand surface, but that is the point isn't it??

And buoys are not a crutch either. They help show swimmers what it feels like to have a good body position. For triathletes it mimicks wetsuit position and the decreased need to even have a kick beyond for balancing. It is all well and good to perfect your form in the pool, but wetsuit swimming is a totally different animal, and if that is all folks are going to do, then why not do more training that is sport specific?

I think pulling has its place. It always gives my swimming boost and a I see good improvements in our athletes with the sets. As far as form goes, as an athlete as you develop, you should challenge yourself and try new stimuli and master their use. Also, you should build up to pulling sets just like you would with any normal workout progression. Let the body adapt to it gradually. Now, if you are using a pull buoy in regular workouts to keep up to a friend because your kick is terrible and your have bad body position then you will have problems. Don't use it as a crutch. Use it to help you get better.

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Scott McMillan, M.Sc
Twitter@Factor9Coaching | Factor9Coaching.com | Facebook

Pulling with the pullbouy between the ankles is a great body position drill. I suggest doing 25's for those who are new to this drill.

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___________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

Pullbuoys used in your form drills are great for helping you feel the "roll". I also use them in warm-downs just before ending a workout - say a 400m warm-down, 100 crawl, 200 crawl with pb, then last 100 crawl, to see if you feel more arm-length, more roll, more high elbow, whatever you are trying to "imprint" the feel of so that it becomes more and more natural. I feel it's great for helping refine technique, but that's just me.

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I'll see you in the run

Having never swam until 3 years ago, the pull buoy definitely helped me to be more comfortable in the water so I could focus in on body position/technique rather than "sinking" At some point the usefulness diminishes but for a starter, its a great tool