Review: Finis Positive Drive Fins and ISO Paddles

Apr 6, 19 14:13

Post #1 of 8 (3612 views)

I got given a set of these fins and paddles on Friday. Hit the pool this morning to give them a rip.

ISO Paddle. This paddle is supposed to self-correct your stroke. On entry the paddle gives feedback for hand position and drag. The paddle stays in place if your pull is good. If your pull is messed, they will wobble.

These guys were fun to use. I found my entry & reach wasn't that precise, & was able to position better. I didn't have a problem with my pull - that was all good. I was able to gain some speed with them which is nice to have. In my flip turn they helped me into the wall and also position better coming off the wall. All added up to faster laps!

Positive Drive Fins: OK what were these flatbread-looking things all about? Strapped them on and hey they were pretty cool too. I liked that they didn't interrupt my kick timing that much. I was able to 6 beat away and get great propulsion too. A plus is they are compact and fit in the swim bag.

While I like swimming with standard rectangular long and short fins, they disrupt the normal stroke it's not close to real swimming imo. Not so with the +ve Drives.

I did a set of 50M intervals 40-45's on 15s rest and was able to bust them out. The precision and improved kick force for an extra boost. Definitely staying in the bag! Pix on instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv7KMImhWn1/

Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com

Last edited by: SharkFM: Apr 6, 19 14:18

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Re: Review: Finis Positive Drive Fins and ISO Paddles [SharkFM] [ In reply to ]

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devashish_paul

Apr 6, 19 14:19

Post #2 of 8 (3597 views)

SharkFM wrote:

I got given a set of these fins and paddles on Friday. Hit the pool this morning to give them a rip.

ISO Paddle. This paddle is supposed to self-correct your stroke. On entry the paddle gives feedback for hand position and drag. The paddle stays in place if your pull is good. If your pull is messed, they will wobble.

These guys were fun to use. I found my entry & reach wasn't that precise, & was able to position better. I didn't have a problem with my pull - that was all good. I was able to gain some speed with them which is nice to have. In my flip turn they helped me into the wall and also position better coming off the wall. All added up to faster laps!

Positive Drive Fins: OK what were these flatbread-looking things all about? Strapped them on and hey they were pretty cool too. I liked that they didn't interrupt my kick timing that much. I was able to 6 beat away and get great propulsion too. A plus is they are compact and fit in the swim bag.

While I like swimming with long and short fins, they disrupt the normal stroke it's not close to real swimming imo.

I did a set of 50M intervals 40-45's on 15s rest and was able to bust them out. The precision and improved kick force for an extra boost. Definitely staying in the bag! Pix on instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv7KMImhWn1/

I bought both at pretty well the same time. I love the fins and like you said, they don't disrupt stroke like long (or short fins). They also seem to force the toe in angling of the foot given the angle of the fins.

The ISO paddles, I did not really enjoy. They seems to be OK on back and breast stroke for me, but on free and fly, I am doing something that's not quite right. I probably just need more time on them as my catch is bad.

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Re: Review: Finis Positive Drive Fins and ISO Paddles [SharkFM] [ In reply to ]

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devashish_paul

Apr 6, 19 14:23

Post #3 of 8 (3591 views)

images

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Re: Review: Finis Positive Drive Fins and ISO Paddles [SharkFM] [ In reply to ]

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RafaelMB

Apr 7, 19 4:54

Post #4 of 8 (3458 views)

SharkFM wrote:

ISO Paddle. This paddle is supposed to self-correct your stroke. On entry the paddle gives feedback for hand position and drag. The paddle stays in place if your pull is good. If your pull is messed, they will wobble.

These guys were fun to use. I found my entry & reach wasn't that precise, & was able to position better. I didn't have a problem with my pull - that was all good. I was able to gain some speed with them which is nice to have. In my flip turn they helped me into the wall and also position better coming off the wall. All added up to faster laps!

I wouldn't hold my breath trusting that the ISO paddles would do much for your technique. I have been using them for almost a year and I feel they're great at muscle isolation, but don't hold a candle to the other Finis paddles (Agility, Bolster, Instinct and Freestyler) when it comes to technique awareness & correction. But when I say they're great at isolation (thus the ISO in the name), I mean it! There's one thing that these paddles helped me a lot with: I used to tense up my fingers while I swam, and the shape of these paddles taught me to relax my hands a bit while swimming.
Oh, and if you feel that your crawl entry isn't good, the Freestyler paddles will help you A LOT! I have been using them also for about a year and they're an absolute hit.

Last edited by: RafaelMB: Apr 7, 19 5:00

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Re: Review: Finis Positive Drive Fins and ISO Paddles [SharkFM] [ In reply to ]

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iamuwere

Apr 7, 19 5:26

Post #5 of 8 (3431 views)

Those fins look interesting.

I don't know about any of Finis' claims about the paddles and staying in place if you're doing the stroke right. I am not a bad swimmer (sub 30 half) but not great by any means. I usually use the Agility paddle as my day to day paddle since I don't like messing with the rubber tubing on most paddles, but never once have they ever thought about coming off or even wiggling due to poor arm position. I could almost completely drop my elbow and I still wouldn't think they could come off easily.

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Re: Review: Finis Positive Drive Fins and ISO Paddles [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]

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imswimmer328

Apr 7, 19 6:20

Post #6 of 8 (3404 views)

Don't swim fly with paddles. Incorrect water entry can cause your hands to skate over the surface of the water and really mess up your shoulder

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Re: Review: Finis Positive Drive Fins and ISO Paddles [iamuwere] [ In reply to ]

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SharkFM

Apr 18, 19 20:52

Post #7 of 8 (3209 views)

iamuwere wrote:

Here's some demo of the fins - I overlapped with my son's swim session so got him to shoot some clips while finishing off. The fins give a boost or some stability similar to a pull buoy but also work the legs. I'm swimming a bit like a CROSSFIT-AH still some work to do in the shoulders OMG, but some decent splits for me. Just getting back in the water a bit.

<https://www.instagram.com/...;igshid=mopibxsc5ekc

Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com

Last edited by: SharkFM: Apr 18, 19 20:53

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Re: Review: Finis Positive Drive Fins and ISO Paddles [SharkFM] [ In reply to ]

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TheStroBro

Apr 18, 19 22:39

Post #8 of 8 (3143 views)

Mentioned elsewhere in the thread...but...ISO paddles seem to clearly be aimed at isolating muscles.

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

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