Swim Paddles do they really help your form?
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CadenceGuy posted 1 year ago.
For me yes, I use the TYR brand. Its all muscle memory, your hand with the paddles on it will learn at what angle its grabbing the most water. Also hand placement going into the water if your hand is too flat youll get a lot of bubbles. For me they help, its also good as a workour for your shoulders, back, arms, lats etc.
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PJT posted 1 year ago.
I think it depends on if you are talking about maintaining good form or developing good form.
They might help you maintain good form. However, I would not rely on paddles to develop or improve form. If you use them improperly, you can increase your risk of shoulder injury due to the extra force you exert with them in the water.
I use them from time to time for strength building, but they aren't a big part of any workout.
So, first make sure you are already using good form. Then add the paddles if you want.
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harmsz posted 1 year ago.
I swam in college and rarely used paddles because of the risk of shoulder injury and the pain they caused, but most of my teammates used them all the time. Just using a pull buoy can build up strength.
I agree with PJT above, if you have good form and a smooth, long stroke the can definitely help you get stronger and learn how to hold the water better. Otherwise, I don't believe they help you learn good form, and I have seen paddles ruin people's strokes and shoulders before.
If you haven't used paddles before, Speedo and TYR also make paddles that curve to your hand and are more forgiving. The ones above are flat, require more strength, and are more likely to slip if you don't have the perfect stroke.
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xc800runner posted 1 year ago.
They don't help a lick when it comes to improving your form. Stroke drills will. Using paddles is essentially swimming resistance work, similar to riding/running hills. You'll build shoulder, back and forearm strength with them, but they won't teach you how to swim like a fish. I have a set of the contoured speedo paddles that I'll use for probably 1/3 of my slower, distance workouts (accompanied by a pull buoy) and concentrate more on stroke length and glide than speed.
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eeprof posted 1 year ago.
You can use paddles to help your form by using them in a stroke drill. I use them by not hooking my fingers and only attaching it to my wrist. What you will find is that if your catch is "sloppy" the paddles flop off your hand. This is not something you do really hard - it's a stroke drill - so easy stroke concentrating on form. But I agree with the shoulder comments, these can hurt your shoulders if you use them too much. It's too easy to over-train. By the way, mine are simply some plexiglass rectangles with hospital tubing that I made myself. They work great!
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CoachTy posted 50 weeks ago.
Be very careful not to use them too often as they lead to shoulder problems due to the added stress of holding more water. I do think they are a positive to feeling the water and holding it. I would do a drill set like this:
4x.
1 x 50 @ Free with Paddles
2 x 50 @ Free without the Paddles focusing on trying to hold just as much water as you did with the paddles.
The more water you can hold the less amount of strokes you will need to take. Thus...you just became more efficient.
-Coach Ty
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wirebook posted 50 weeks ago.
Coach Ty nailed it - ensure you start off slowly and don't do too much.
I recently started using them.
I started with 100yards L, and then 100 yards R, and each week I added 50 yards to it, and now do 250 yards L, then 250 yards R.
-Ray
Tri Blog: Http://dcrainmaker.blogspot.com
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1168 days
zerorossi posted 48 weeks ago.
harmsz wrote:
I swam in college and rarely used paddles because of the risk of shoulder injury and the pain they caused, but most of my teammates used them all the time. Just using a pull buoy can build up strength.I agree with PJT above, if you have good form and a smooth, long stroke the can definitely help you get stronger and learn how to hold the water better. Otherwise, I don't believe they help you learn good form, and I have seen paddles ruin people's strokes and shoulders before.
If you haven't used paddles before, Speedo and TYR also make paddles that curve to your hand and are more forgiving. The ones above are flat, require more strength, and are more likely to slip if you don't have the perfect stroke.
Is your avatar a pic of a GSP?
I was thinking about purchasing some training paddles. Something like this:
http://elsmoreswim.com/product_info.php?cPath=32&products_id=3503
Do these training paddles help with your freestyle swimming form? If so, which ones do you recommend?
Thanks!