Does anyone have a rec for swim paddles or other pool toys that helps correct form and stroke? I’ve had a few ppl comment to me about my lazy arm and in the last year, my times have gotten slower and slower … so I’m sure improvements can be made to swim more efficiently.
I am looking at the Finis Agile paddles - they also have ones called Freestyle. has anyone used these?
Any other suggestions would be awesome. I know that increasing volume will always help (it does for me) but I know that gains can also be made if I swam more like a seal than a turtle.
Just get a friend or coach to watch you and give advice. Or join the local masters club, where you will get training advice, stroke advice, and just about every other kind of advice associated with good swim form. I don’t see paddles as a good idea until you have a solid basic form. Paddles can put stress in places that should not be stressed especially with less than good form.
Hold off on the paddles before you fix whatever is going on.
Invest into getting a swim consultation done before you throw on paddles and put extra load on a potential risky shoulder.
Does anyone have a rec for swim paddles or other pool toys that helps correct form and stroke? I’ve had a few ppl comment to me about my lazy arm and in the last year, my times have gotten slower and slower … so I’m sure improvements can be made to swim more efficiently.
I am looking at the Finis Agile paddles - they also have ones called Freestyle. has anyone used these?
Any other suggestions would be awesome. I know that increasing volume will always help (it does for me) but I know that gains can also be made if I swam more like a seal than a turtle.
After following the Tower 26 program for several months, pulling (no paddles) with the snorkel, buoy and band has tremendously improved my efficiency. It has taught me to stay aligned (keeping head still and legs not wagging) and have proper rotation as well as keeping my hands in the correct channels during the swim. I would not recommend getting traditional paddles unless you are already a good swimmer.
Go give the Tower 26 podcast a listen (start from ep. 1), great info there.
Paddles are the last toy to add to the quiver. Fins are good, buoys are good, snorkels are good, paddles are questionable at best for beginners. You know what’s best? Process. Tower26 has one, and there is one in my sig line as well.
If you want a self-correcting tool, try the ankle band (with buoy if needed). That should at least clean up any fishtailing, left/right stroke pull imbalances, and other weird torso motions if you can swim without kicking whatsoever.
Thanks for the suggestion. I have used an ankle band but sink like a zeppelin … I will give it another go.
Just to clarify for others … I’m not a beginner swimmer as I’ve been regularly swimming for 10+ yrs (I am an adult learner tho). I’ve done squad and they’ve given me great advice … but it is hard for me to understand exactly how I need to reposition myself. Ie a fish friend of mine keeps telling me to kick from my hips - I’ve got no idea how to physically do this. Any tool that will respond when I’ve got poor form is what I’m after. A DYI basically.
Just to clarify for others … I’m not a beginner swimmer as I’ve been regularly swimming for 10+ yrs (I am an adult learner tho). I’ve done squad and they’ve given me great advice … but it is hard for me to understand exactly how I need to reposition myself. Ie a fish friend of mine keeps telling me to kick from my hips - I’ve got no idea how to physically do this. Any tool that will respond when I’ve got poor form is what I’m after. A DYI basically.
Have you been recorded while you swim? I find this very helpful when trying to explain flaws in technique or position. Not sure without seeing you, but if your friend is telling you to kick from the hips, he/she is probably seeing too much knee bend. There is a slight knee bend in order to “pop” the foot down and back, but a lot of swimmers kick way to much for distance swims and it’s usually an ineffective deep bend up and down kick, with little to no back thrust. Get someone to record you while your swimming and then point out the areas needed improvement with pointers/tips/videos/drills/etc. on how to correct them. If they can’t, post a video here and ask for feedback.
Thanks for the suggestion. I have used an ankle band but sink like a zeppelin … I will give it another go.
Just to clarify for others … I’m not a beginner swimmer as I’ve been regularly swimming for 10+ yrs (I am an adult learner tho). I’ve done squad and they’ve given me great advice … but it is hard for me to understand exactly how I need to reposition myself. Ie a fish friend of mine keeps telling me to kick from my hips - I’ve got no idea how to physically do this. Any tool that will respond when I’ve got poor form is what I’m after. A DYI basically.
Ankle bands are the corporeal punishment of swim training, with about equal effectiveness. They diminish fundamentals to effect incidentals. Your problem is focusing on micro management instead of fundamentals.
Does anyone have a rec for swim paddles or other pool toys that helps correct form and stroke? I’ve had a few ppl comment to me about my lazy arm and in the last year, my times have gotten slower and slower … so I’m sure improvements can be made to swim more efficiently.
Any other suggestions would be awesome. I know that increasing volume will always help (it does for me) but I know that gains can also be made if I swam more like a seal than a turtle.
The first suggestion, get some high quality one-on-one stroke help/coaching. But how to find a competent and smart technique coach? Well, we have some very specific suggestions here.
Generally, paddles are not good for swimmers whose stroke is really horrible. But if your stroke is ok to passable or better, certain paddles set up in a very particular way CAN actually help correct many entry, underwater, and exit stroke flaws, even mistakes so small that a coach will not be able to see them.
Simple flat paddles (example here) when sized correctly to your body and swim strength are the best. But to get the stroke improvement benefits, you MUST set them up with no surgical tubing at all except for a single piece looped around your middle finger ONLY. If you set them up traditionally (around one or more fingers plus the wrist), paddles can actually HARM your stroke and hide very significant stroke flaws. Don’t ever use them that way.
When you use paddles that are set up correctly (tubing around just middle finger), the paddles will likely be quite challenging to swim with initially. But you will adapt and make stroke changes that will make swimming with them easier and then those stroke changes will carry over to all of your swimming and significantly improve your efficiency and speed.
Swim with a team with a coach on the deck. If you are getting slower and slower in the water that doesn’t sound like a technique issue, but more of a consistency issue in training. Paddles can’t fix that.
Ankle bands are the corporeal punishment of swim training, with about equal effectiveness. They diminish fundamentals to effect incidentals. Your problem is focusing on micro management instead of fundamentals.
This. And…
Swim with a team with a coach on the deck. If you are getting slower and slower in the water that doesn’t sound like a technique issue, but more of a consistency issue in training. Paddles can’t fix that.
This.
The problem many triathletes have with swim tools it not their relevance when context is considered but creating learning with said tool hence people confusing drill work as skill work. Having a coach point out aberrations in your stroke or posture in the water with or without tools really will help.
The head is like a rudder on a ship, it sets so many other aspects of the posture, alignment and rhythm in the stroke, so if you are trying to work on those fundamentals best thing you can use to develop your skill awareness is a snorkel. It allows you to see what you are doing at the front of your stroke, it allows you to watch the ‘black line’ on bottom of pool as an external cue (to help you figure out how to be taut and aligned in water or adjust pull width/entry) and it reduces asymmetry aberrations in stroke from head rotation for breathing.
There is a body of work that clearly shows external cues better than internal cues in skill development. One example:
Freudenheim, A. M., Wulf, G., & Madureira, F. (2010). An external focus of attention results in greater swimming speed. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 5(4), 533–542. http://doi.org/...60/1747-9541.5.4.533
Last year there’s a certain triathlete I spent quite a bit of time with face to face getting them to focus of external cues with the purpose of then getting their body/mind to figure out itself what to do with their posture and pull to be more taut and aligned in the water (less drag = more speed).
I’d add paddles also do three things when overly relied on…desensitise your catch, put you are risk of poor loading patterns (injury risk) and slow muscle contractile rates (inevitably leading to gliding at front of stroke or short stroke).