Anyone tried these? Did it help your stroke? How often do you use them?
Been using these for two months. They help alot. Teach you how to pull with forearm not hand. Also teach you balance. According to Terry from Total Immersion, you should be using 50% of your swimming time. Goto their website and read up.
I use them off and on. They do help you “feel” the water, and you really feel the difference right after you take them off. But I suffer from all of the problems in your above post, and I’m not sure if the fist gloves have helped any. You can try swimming with your hands in a fist to get a pretty good idea of what the gloves will feel like.
First off let me say that I do not own a pair of fistgloves, so I cannot comment on how good or bad the product is. I do have one question though, why would you spend your money on a product that you can emulate just by closing your fingers and making a fist? In fact I would say that closing your hand and making a fist would be better than the fist gloves because you would have to stop swimming and take them off to get the actual feel of the water that you are trying to accomplish with that drill. Here’s a tip: swim a 25 or 50 (depending on the length of pool) with a closed fist, then about 1/2 way back on the return length open up your hand and start swimming normal. I think you will be amazed by the feeling. My $.02 is to save your cash.
First tried them at Total Immersion and have used them off and on ever since. They’ll let you know immediately if your balanced in the water. If your not, you’ll pretty much sink. I have actually stopped using them and just make a fist and it works just as well. It also allows me to swim 50 with a fist and then immediately swim another 50 without them. You really do feel like your hands are the size of dinner plates when you take them off.
I agree with the closed hand idea. But when you swim 200 or more at a time. It gets tiring. Plus the gloves are only $8-9 anyway.
From waht I can tell from pictures, you could go to a medical supply shop, but a box of latex gloves, tie the fingers together and get the same thing for a fracction of the price… Havign said that I think that the fist drill is a good one, like any training tool it helps but not essential, the same thing could be said about weights… why use weights when you could do pull ups, push ups, and sit ups… to each his own
Well, I got some for free, so the $ issue is nil. I am more curious about their efficacy. Has anyone actually noticed their stroke improving through their use?
Golf balls fellas. That’s all you need.
Just don’t drop one when you’re on the deep end of the pool.
Racquet balls and tennis balls also work.
Big EE
I used them for a few months along with the TI video tape. The gloves do make you concentrate on rotation and balance because otherwise you just thrash around. What made more difference than either of those was when I found out one of my pool mates was a former swim coach. He pointed out a few things I was doing wrong and I almost immediately dropped 3 strokes and a couple of seconds per 25yd. In other words, getting someone to watch you will do more than anything else.
As a former swim coach at a year round program the best advice/training tool etc you can spend your money on, in any of the 3 sports, is someone who can look at your stroke and improve your technique. $400 spent on technique in swimming will yield more time savings than a disc wheel and aero frame for the overwhelming majority of triathletes. Case in point: I train with a guy who thinks nothing of dropping $100 here and there all season long to shave 5 grams or get the latest aero goody when his swimming sucks. He can’t even break 22:30 for 1.5km. I’ve tried to get him to drop $50 on a technique coach. “Ain’t gonna happen” is his reply. He would be much further ahead if he hired a swim coach to help him with his technique. Swimming is one of the hardest technique sports in the world. Better technique is speed and extra energy for the rest of your race. I’m now stepping off my soapbox.
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to answer the question originally posed. . . . .i am a very bad swimmer. i am using the fistgloves nowadays and honestly they work really well. the reason they are better than holding your fist closed is just that - they hold them closed FOR you. ( duh). you can then get on the business of what you are there for. they are a LOT thicker than any exam style glove, and last a goodly while. as for golf balls, you still have to hold the things - the gloves let you relax your fist and enjoy the benefit. i wonder if the rest of you “don’t need em!” guys all do your squats with cinderblocks in the backyard, or if you go to a weightroom. . . . . . . . .for eight measly bucks you can hardly go wrong. get two pair, just for the cinderblock crowd. sheesh.
You don’t need to buy gloves. Simply close your hand and make a fist. When you get a good “feel” for the water, pool open your hand. You immediately get the proper feedback. Better than stopping to take off the gloves.
I agree totaly with TTN closing the fist is just not the same and for eight bucks it is the best value in Tri training.
Joe
Price doesn’t have anything to do with it. Our Masters workouts have lots of alternating fist and open-hand drills/repeats – we’ve done zillions of yards alternating both. You’d never keep up if you had to stop and put gloves on and take them off all the time.
I’m sure they’re a great tool, and definitely not very expensive. But you’re missing the point – they aren’t always practical.
Big EE
Thought I would dig up this old thread. I actually bought Fistgloves before reading this but thought I’d give my ‘first impressions’. Why did I buy them? Well, I don’t come from a swimming background, although I did swim competitively in high school. I wasn’t really serious back then. My stroke isn’t bad but I think you can always improve. I guess I bought them for fun really, to see what they were like ($8 does not break the bank either).
For starters, they are actually quite difficult to put on, but I’m sure I’ll figure out some easy technique after a few sessions. I swam 30mins with the gloves and pull buoy yesterday. The first few 100m sucked. Felt like I was going nowhere fast. I really had to concentrate on my catch. At first I was doing slooooooow strokes trying to feel the power and then I could increase the pace. Then I took them off. WOW. My hands felt like huge plates and I had the strange sensation of feeling the water on the reach and catch. Just felt really strange and cool at the same time. I felt like I had loads of power and every catch was solid.
I will definately be using them more often. I guess maybe 1 session/week will be with these gloves (I swim 3x week). It will be interesting to see the long term benefits, if any.
Would be interested to know if anyone else uses them and what their long term experiences are.
tom
Mine broke while struggling to put on. That was after having to retrieve them from the garbage at the pool. Llifeguard mistook them for refuse.
They worked good while they lasted. So does closing my fist.
If you put a few drops of hair conditioner in them, and squish it around to apply it over the insides of the fistgloves, they slip on quite easily. I thought someone was pulling my leg when I heard this tip, then I tried it - it really does work.
I have been using fist gloves along with practicing TI techniques. I took 19 mins off my Half Ironman Swim Time, from 48 mins to just under 30mins. The benefit over “just making a fist” is that when you make a fist you are concentrating on holding that fist, and not the swim technique. When you use the fist glove, it makes the fist for you. Letting your mind focus on the rest of your swim stroke. Contact Patrick at www.trivantage.us if you have some drill type questions. Terry works with him pretty closely.
If you put a few drops of hair conditioner in them, and squish it around to apply it over the insides of the fistgloves, they slip on quite easily. I thought someone was pulling my leg when I heard this tip, then I tried it - it really does work.
I carry hair conditioner to the pool for exactly this purpose.