For myself I love fins and hand paddles. I get a really good feel for hand placement with the hand paddles and its great work for my back, shoulders and arms. It also works well for muscle memory and I can see if my hand is coming into the water too flat based on the amount of bubbles I get when my hand enters the water. I like the fins because I can do a good amount of leg drills that work everything from my hips, quads, glutes, name it. Pull Buoys have always been readily available at my local pool but I did invest in the other two but they are pretty inexpensive buys.

I used to use hand paddles but they started hurting my shoulder; while I did have a previous injury, shoulder strain can increase when using hand paddles due to the additional water you are pulling. So do use, but be cautious and pay attention, as always.

I have also found that fins tend to cramp my feet (even when sized correctly), so I stick with a kickboard. Depending on what your series of drills say, you should try them both.

Kickboards are available for about $10, pull buoys even less, Zoomers are $35, and Placid is what, about $550? On the plus side, the gear and drills kep you entertained during your swims, and that alone can be worth the investment!

Well as a swimmer in high school and college I may have a little different spin on this than some here in the Trifuel community.

First and foremost when it comes to swim training for tris a kickboard is going to be your most valued swim training tool. 2 reasons: First, it will give you a great chance to loosen up your legs from a hard workout the day or so before. Second, it will help build stabilizer muscles in your legs which will ultimately help in preventing injuries to your legs.

In my opinion pull buoys are worthless. There is nothing you cannot capture in the swim stroke with a pull buoy that you cannot capture without. Kick your feet if in a pool. If you feel like you ever need to work on your stroke without a pull buoy throw on a wetsuit and do an open water swim concentrating on dragging your feet and perfect "open water" technique.

Remember swimming in a pool versus open water are two entirely different stroke techniques. That is just my 2 cents.

I guess I don't see the benefit of kick training if I don't want/need a strong kick when I race. I look forward to my swim workouts as a chance to rest my legs a bit. I like pull buoys because they simulate the buoyancy of wearing a wetsuit and they also allow you to slow down your stroke & concentrate on form without having to worry about keeping your legs up. For those of us who do not come from a swimming background, I think there are benefits to this.

Thank for all the advice and comments on the issue...I did have shoulder dislocations/tears/surgery in the past so maybe i'll trash the idea of using hand paddles and just buy some "cheap" (in terms of tri gear) swim gear! Thanks again!