This forum is mainly populated by us adult athletes who did not grow up swimming and took it up largely swim because we have to in order to complete the swim to do a triathlon. For us getting to the pool is not that easy in most cases (it is easy for me, now, was not for 17 years) and we don’t have a ton of time in the pool anyway. I have a bunch of questions and interested in the range of answers:
What are the benefits you see using a pull buoy?What do you work on when you use it?Does that work transfer to swimming without it?How often do you use it (what percent of workouts)?What percent of your workouts are kick oriented?Do you “not kick” in wetsuit races?How do you find no wetsuit open water races?
This forum is mainly populated by us adult athletes who did not grow up swimming and took it up largely swim because we have to in order to complete the swim to do a triathlon. For us getting to the pool is not that easy in most cases (it is easy for me, now, was not for 17 years) and we don’t have a ton of time in the pool anyway. I have a bunch of questions and interested in the range of answers:
What are the benefits you see using a pull buoy?What do you work on when you use it?Does that work transfer to swimming without it?How often do you use it (what percent of workouts)?What percent of your workouts are kick oriented?Do you “not kick” in wetsuit races?How do you find no wetsuit open water races?
pullbuoys are a cruel joke. I can’t stand that stupid piece of foam.
You can work on your pull by isolating it. And you catch. Good for those of us who have to think about kicking properly. When your legs are really tired from biking and running you can still workout your arms. Having said that I think it shouldn’t be more than ten percent of your workout time.
You can work on your pull by isolating it. And you catch. Good for those of us who have to think about kicking properly. When your legs are really tired from biking and running you can still workout your arms. Having said that I think it shouldn’t be more than ten percent of your workout time.
That’s fair and I see that. But what about getting to the point where you can almost not use your legs at all and rely on body position to drive your hips up and rely on a very light 2 beat kick that consumes very little oxygen…or adding zoomer fins with a light 2 beat? Do you think that the floaty shorts might be even better?
As far as what percent of your workout it should be used in, I don’t really know, and different coaches do different things. Personally, as soon as someone can swim with an ankle strap without beating the water into submission, I have them switch to that and the pull buoy is never seen again. In that case somewhere between 10 and 15% of total distance.
On the other hand, I read an article last summer (and can’t find it now) that suggested that older swimmers and beginners do their warm up with a buoy to relieve stress on the shoulders until they are loosened up. Kind of makes sense, but I’ve never seen that done.
When I was learning to swim ‘for real’ as an AOS, the pull buoy was a valuable first step in showing me how unbalanced my pull was, especially after isolating the arms by banding the ankles.
For leg lifting though, I hate the thing and see it a lot more as a crutch. I swim +5 to +7 slower WITH the buoy than without it.
This forum is mainly populated by us adult athletes who did not grow up swimming and took it up largely swim because we have to in order to complete the swim to do a triathlon. For us getting to the pool is not that easy in most cases (it is easy for me, now, was not for 17 years) and we don’t have a ton of time in the pool anyway. I have a bunch of questions and interested in the range of answers:
What are the benefits you see using a pull buoy?What do you work on when you use it?Does that work transfer to swimming without it?How often do you use it (what percent of workouts)?What percent of your workouts are kick oriented?Do you “not kick” in wetsuit races?How do you find no wetsuit open water races?
1 - It’s awesome.
2 - Yes
3 - Sometimes
4 - Every workout
5 - not as much as i should anymore 10% should be 20%
6 - Dunno - never used a wetsuit
7 - See 6
In all seriousness - the pull buoy is great for isolating arms, and strengthening the pull. For low-in-the-water swimmers, it can also help to reinforce the feeling of riding higher, once body position and kick are re-tuned. These days, because I just swim for fitness, not to race or anything, I use my pull buoy and paddles almost every workout, because I love the feel. I could just cruise that way forever (add a snorkel if it was long course).
I swim slower with the buoy than without as well. Not that much slower though. Half the swimmers in my lane love the pull sets because they are faster with the buoy.
This forum is mainly populated by us adult athletes who did not grow up swimming and took it up largely swim because we have to in order to complete the swim to do a triathlon. For us getting to the pool is not that easy in most cases (it is easy for me, now, was not for 17 years) and we don’t have a ton of time in the pool anyway. I have a bunch of questions and interested in the range of answers:
What are the benefits you see using a pull buoy?What do you work on when you use it?Does that work transfer to swimming without it?How often do you use it (what percent of workouts)?What percent of your workouts are kick oriented?Do you “not kick” in wetsuit races?How do you find no wetsuit open water races?
1 - It’s awesome.
2 - Yes
3 - Sometimes
4 - Every workout
5 - not as much as i should anymore 10% should be 20%
6 - Dunno - never used a wetsuit
7 - See 6
In all seriousness - the pull buoy is great for isolating arms, and strengthening the pull. For low-in-the-water swimmers, it can also help to reinforce the feeling of riding higher, once body position and kick are re-tuned. These days, because I just swim for fitness, not to race or anything, I use my pull buoy and paddles almost every workout, because I love the feel. I could just cruise that way forever (add a snorkel if it was long course).
1 - you’re wrong. it sux ballz
2 - getting to the next set.
3 - meh. no more so than actual swimming, I think.
4. i do it because coach makes me. unless i don’t feel like it anymore
5. probably 15-20%
6 let you know after i get a wetsuit. I’d probably do it the same as an 800/1500 (2 or 4-beat hybrid kick)
7 last one I did I was 2nd out of the water, 1st onto the bike. wetsuit legal sprint distance local race. I didn’t have one so I raced old school with my top rolled down into my shorts.
This forum is mainly populated by us adult athletes who did not grow up swimming and took it up largely swim because we have to in order to complete the swim to do a triathlon. For us getting to the pool is not that easy in most cases (it is easy for me, now, was not for 17 years) and we don’t have a ton of time in the pool anyway. I have a bunch of questions and interested in the range of answers:
What are the benefits you see using a pull buoy?you have more time to make sure your arms hold the water ( or in other words the same benfit as kicking with a bord ) it can teach body position and you could start with a big one and cut of a bit every so often as you go along ,
What do you work on when you use it? holding the water with hands, body rotation , feeling what good water positon should be
Does that work transfer to swimming without it? better arms do transfer into better swimming
How often do you use it (what percent of workouts)? i guess that depends on what you want to work on ,one the best improvements of a bad swimmer i have seen was bella bayslis and it is alleged that she would not swim without a pb and she made it from a 1.07swimmer to 53 ( and when she was 1.07 she had a coach that has coached many top world class atheltes) some use people very little. i use it form 0% to sometimes up to 70% in a session i guess an average 25% per session over the year usually for longer reps never for max stuff.
What percent of your workouts are kick oriented? whenever you swim without a pb
Do you “not kick” in wetsuit races? i guess that depends you can still kick when you need it but overall the wetsuit does most of my kick work. but i would certainly kick at start of race , when speed changes ,and around buoys . overall it also depends on the gender and so many aspects.
How do you find no wetsuit open water races? not much differetn in my case , I am defo a better wetsuit swimmer but still 57 min without one . its much more important how much i swim and if i do enough intenrsity , that has 5 fold bigger impact than what tools i use . you are a bit like anne haug i guess , she was always complaining that the aussie triathletes use too much paddle an pb and dont do enough technique drills . the only issue is germany has 1 male and 1 female itu front pack swimmer australia a good few more at the moment so its dosnt seem to be negative. if you swim hard with a pb its grand , what i think you are complaining abut is people floating around in the water and pretending they swim. if you use it right its a benficial tool nothing special but nothing bad either like any tool.
What’s the point of this condescending post? To make yourself feel better by trying to make others feel bad? You know the purpose of a pull buoy. It’s used to isolate the pull phase. If used incorrectly, which is what you’re getting at, it is used as a crutch by swimmers with poor body position.
If someone chooses to overuse a pull buoy to compensate for flaws in their swim then it’s their problem and they’re just hurting themselves. There’s no need to act like you’re better than those people, many of which struggle with swimming and probably always will struggle.
what was condescending? He had some questions and interested in people’s varying answers to those questions. I didn’t see it as being condescending in the least.
OK, sorry if you read into it as condescending and it could be read that way. I see a variety of opinions about this topic and have used the tool to different degrees and considering adding more back in now. The response from Tallswimmer is probably a good one. I know the purpose is to isolate the pull and I buy having more oxygen for that, but without the rest of the body doing the right thing, not sure how much is gained for most of us. For me I never found it transferred well to wetsuit, because the wetsuit still allows the body to do everything it does without a wetsuit just doing it higher up. The pull buoy for me (and many others) tends to change what the core is doing. Its just easier to swim flat with the pull buoy which goes to the question about how does it transfer back to no pull buoy swimming. Maybe I have to do something more to keep a better hip rotation with the buoy.
Edit: I have changed the title of the thread to “What the Benefit of the Pull Buoy”. This will be a more collaborative entry point in starting the discussion. The only thread title set the wrong tone.
Can I ask you what we should to to focus on in terms of proper hip rotation with the buoy and keep timing good? I agree that more swimming and harder swimming of all kind regardless of tools will add up.
What are the benefits you see using a pull buoy?
Isolates “front end†so you can focus on underwater pull.
What do you work on when you use it?
Underwater pull
Does that work transfer to swimming without it?
Yes
How often do you use it (what percent of workouts)?
Usually 300 yards during warmup then another 400-500 yards during a 2,000 yard main set. Usually equates to 20-25% of a total workout
What percent of your workouts are kick oriented?
7-10%
Do you “not kick” in wetsuit races?
No, 2 beat kick typically
How do you find no wetsuit open water races?
A little slower than with wetsuit as I’m still working on body position.
Another thing I’ll add is that when I do a set of 100’s, like 16 or 20, I’ll use the pull buoy every 4th or 5th 100. This allows me to get a feel for better form while “refocusing” on the underwater pull/body position. I don’t go easy on this 100 either. The 100 right after that is usually pretty good then a few more 100’s my form starts to lose it a bit but then I grab the buoy again etc. I’ve mentioned this to a few coach’s and I didn’t hear many objections and one coach even thought he might try it.