I was swimming last night with paddles and a guy next to me offered a suggestion to swim without the band around the wrist. (He was an all American swimmer at the Univ of Texas so I figured I better listen). He mentioned that paddles help but hurt because they don’t promote wrist flexibility. Is that the case for not using the strap around my wrist.
I tried a 300 set without the band and it didn’t really fell any different. My fingers hurt a bit more though. I wanted to ask him the reason for not using the band but he left in the middle of my set.
I never heard of not using the wrist band before, until last night
I’ve heard it keeps you from using poor technique. I use Finis Freestyler paddles - they don’t have a wrist strap.
Without. If you have bad form the strap will help cover it up. With no strap the paddle comes off.
And the type of paddle is a complete other discussion. My Coach says Strokemaker - all I know is that my shoulders are okay…
If you didn’t notice a difference, that is good. Not using the wrist band forces you to have better mechanics. Poor stroke mechanics, the paddles come off or start flopping around. You want them to stay pressed against your hand.
I never had a coach that allowed us to use paddles with wrist straps. The idea was that they were supposed to go all sideways on you if you were using incorrect pull technique.
Without, always! Incorrect hand entry or front end extension show up huge without the wrist strap.
Interesting, I never knew!
Phew, I always use “without wrist strap”. I just wanted to wait till real swimmers offered the input before I offered my engineer’s 2 cent’s worth. Intuitively, when I first started using paddle, it seemed that the wrist strap was the dumbest thing there as the paddle should stay pressed against the hand if the swimmer is applying force properly. The only reason for the single finger strap appears to be to keep the paddle on the hand during the recovery and immidiately upon entry…after the catch in theroy you could have “no strap anywhere”
Yes, without paddles is the way to go–otherwise it is very easy to lead with your elbows underwater. Also, be careful that you are not grabbing around the tops and sides of your paddles with your fingers/fingertips. That will also lead to bad form.
Danielle
I have never been to a Doug Stern clinic, but I’ve seen the paddles that he employs in those–and they are completely strapless. I would imagine for the reasons that you mention. (although you would have to use your fingers to grab around them during recovery and entry)
-Danielle
Another question then … Let me think how I can ask this without offending people
How many fingers go into the loop on the paddle? I put 3 in and keep my pinky out (i fully expect this post to be banned soon!). Should I put my 3rd and 4th finger in and keep my index finger and pinky out? I have done both in the past.
as almost everyone here has said… do not use the wrist strap. The paddles will help you shape your stroke…
My favorite paddles are strokemakers and I use the yellow size. I’m 6-4 and these paddles are the perfect size for me. Anything bigger tends to mess up my stroke.
I’ve tried the TYR Mentor paddles. They are decent. I would go for the biggest sized paddles if you are going for mentors… but go with strokemakers
as cooterbob said… one bird.
Different paddles have different room for fingers. I use old school Han’s paddles, and the design is such that if you try to put more than one finger through the strap, you will lose all circulation in that part of your hand, and your affected fingers will turn an interesting color.
I don’t know if I can use 1 finger though. I have the TYR red paddles and there is a hole in the middle. I think my finger is going to go through it
Those tyr paddles are just average. I used them about 10 years ago. They won’t require you to have a perfect stroke even when you take the wrist strap off. Get some strokemakers.