Fins

Triathlon Forum
1

I’m looking for some feedback from the swim gurus.

One of the guys in my masters group let me use his fins for a set of fast 50’s and a kick set today. ‘Da Fin’ is the model. It was fun!..I’ve never swum that fast before (swam a 24sec 50 y free with the fins on), I had to really increase my arm turnover to keep up.

I’m already a decent swimmer (22 min oly, 56 min IM) and swim 6-8K per week now with a mix of long endurance stuff and short to mid distance intervals. I have a very weak 2-beat kick now.

Is there any benefit to adding some fin use to my workouts??

2

Certain fins help to increase ankle flexibilty more than others (i.e. zoomers more than traditional fins). But they can help some in improving the efficiency of your kick. Often times coaches give fin sets to bump yardage. This is a very common practice because it allows you to get more yards in the same amount of time… THe only problem is this doesn’t necessary result in stroke improvement.

3

I’ve found that when I swim with fins I can feel the water better and if I concentrate on my arm stroke (mostly the reach), I can feel where the little changes are actually helping me swim faster.

4

I’ve found that when I swim with fins I can feel the water better and if I concentrate on my arm stroke (mostly the reach), I can feel where the little changes are actually helping me swim faster.
My experience is actually quite the opposite, using fins makes me “go to fast” to recognize the feel of the strokes that i have going without fins - i cant get any power into my armstrokes at those speeds. For me fins are just good for legworkouts - doesn’t do any good for my armstrokes.

5

Definitely. Try doing kick sets on your back in streamline position. These are super tough but really strengthen your kick. I like the red zoomers.

6

been using the speedo training fins (short ones) together with the drills and so far it has improved my kick and no more dead spots in my kicking.

7

I’ve found that when I swim with fins I can feel the water better and if I concentrate on my arm stroke (mostly the reach), I can feel where the little changes are actually helping me swim faster.
My experience is actually quite the opposite, using fins makes me “go to fast” to recognize the feel of the strokes that i have going without fins - i cant get any power into my armstrokes at those speeds. For me fins are just good for legworkouts - doesn’t do any good for my armstrokes.

I usually take more time on my arm stroke when I’m wearing fins, and I can feel how when it’s out in front of me the water goes around it, so that if I’m not stretching and reaching it’s not as smooth.

I think I might be able to do that because my arm turn over and my kick are not related (I guess most people kick a certain # of times per arm turnover), but according to my coaches and the 2 times I’ve had my swim stroke videod/analyzed they can never figure out what my ratio is, because it changes so much, and for most other people who swim at my same pace, my turnover rate is slow.

8

Yeah, sure. Fins can be a benefit especially for improving speedwork - as you have already noticed. Your times are already pretty solid and but if you are interested in improving your speed to get some clean water at a mass start, fins can help.

9

I have both the old zoomers and the new one. The new ones are much more flexible around the foot. The old one tore up my feet. I think the have help my ankle flexibility and kicking skill.