.
isolates the arms, allowing you to focus on that part of your stroke. being able to turn your arms over at a consistent rate whilst maintaining power is good.
i used to love it when i could pull as hard as i want for a fairly long time. twas the kick that always gave out first (cept for races of course)
Don’t much care for it. I’ve got decent body position to begin with. I rely too much on kick to keep myself from over-rotating, so the buoy screws that up, as well as screwing up the general rhythm of my stroke. (I do better concentrating on cadence than stroke length, especially when I don’t have the time to build arm strength up properly)
My coach says NO pull buoy.
What’s his reasoning?
as a swimmer in high school and college I can tell you why I used them then…and not now…
It helped focus on the arms and isolate any bad techniques so the coach could see and fix…The same reason for the kickboard.
Personally, I now just cross my ankles and get same the result.
Think of it as single leg drills while on the bike.
-T
Jill, fascinating you should say that. I’m just getting my head around using my kick to time my stroke - I find I work harder but go much faster with a regular kick. I never used to rotate, really, but I use my kick now to help achieve this.
The pb is much easier, but screws with my rotation and timing. I can see why people ban you using it.
pullboy is good for training the stroke rate, ie keeping that turnover going.
i do see some people relying far too much on the pullbuoy tho.
yeah, and I find when I use it properly, it KILLS my arms…
I’ve got a significantly asymmetric freestyle. Major, major loping action going on. So there’s a point where I really need a nice sharp kick with my left foot in order to stop the left side of the rest of me from over rotating and get my right side rolling back for arm entry.
A while back, Doug Stern was describing freestle kick as a waltz- BOOM- boom boom. My left foot’s first kick is the big BOOM in the waltz rhythm.
pullbuoy you can go pretty hard and not be too out of breath as well. personally i find it similar to swimming in a wetsuit in terms of body position in the water. i am quite high in the water when swimming normally anyway.
Ditto. My body position with a pull bouy feels like my bp with a wet suit on.
additionally, you can learn to roll…and enables you to reach to the wall (or shore) and really roll.
i don’t use it more than a 400, and is for technique work only. it is a good aid to lengthen the stroke, roll, and slice the water.
He says they are a crutch. Paddles are good though.
Perhaps he will chime in on his reasoning…
Hmmm,
I actually don’t even kick hardly at all when swimming. I can keep up with the fast swimmers in the pool for even 2900 yards straight without kicking.
I’ve tried to kick and it just throws me off balance and wears me out quicker.
I’ve been told I have really good form by swim coaches, but… I’m not sure how good coaches they were.
Anyhoo,
Trae
bang on fulla -
i sink like a rock, and am a way faster lake swimmer than pool swimmer, so i find the pull buoy helps replicate my wetsuit position.
-mike
I hate the pull buoy. They don’t teach you anything, just a crutch. And no, they don’t simulate wetsuit swimming.
And no, I don’t coach ironclm, but I’ve had lunch with her coach, we talked about caramel churros 
I’ll never be an awesome swimmer. I don’t even like swimming. My legs sink like rocks. If I tripled my time in the water it might save me a minute over 2.4 miles. I find that a poor return on investment. (best I’ve done is 1:10)
Instead, I train like I race - but with a pull bouy instead of a wetsuit.
That pull bouy works just like a wetsuit to lift my heavy, dense legs up behind my body. It saves me 8 seconds per 100 - I’m not a great swimmer and I don’t care to become one.
I find the pool interminable. Use of a pull bouy makes it tolerable.
yeah, i should’ve qualified that (and saved a smackdown from smartass) by saying that i think pull buoys AND kickboards (AND paddles, etc etc) are all best used sparingly. to train for swimming, you can’t beat plain old swimming.
-mike
(still, it feels nice to float. . .)
Being a swimmer in High School and College I can say that I like the pull buoy a lot. I personally like the pull buoy, not because I can swim faster or it is a crutch, but it helps me losen up and lengthen my stroke and to stretch it out. The buoy should help keep your hips up which make it easier to focus on hand/arm positioning. . . I have two different master swimming coaches now and one hates the pull buoy and the other loves it. I would say it is different for everyone and no one can say it is bad or good, just depends on the swimmer and their level of ability and what they need to work on.