Swim Paddles for Triathletes Newsletter
In the past few months, I’ve been educating myself and experimenting with the Finis line of equipment for potential use on beginner level swimmers to help with stroke technique as well as intermediate-advanced swimmers looking for both
technique improvement and more speed in the water.
Over the next few newsletters I will be sharing what I have discovered and how it may help you in swimming, whatever level you are right now.
I’ve talked about Zoomers and the many benefits of these fins. Today I’d like to share with you another product I have grown to love- Freestyler Paddles. And of course, you get a tri-specific kick-ass fat burning workout to help you keep
making gains!
Enjoy,
Kevin
“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.
-Og Mandino
Stroke-Fixing Paddles
I have been against the use of paddles ever since I suffered a shoulder injury in college, and the one thing that aggravated it was doing pulling sets with paddles. I stopped using paddles then and continued to get faster, with no shoulder problems.
No reason to use them, I thought. Even forgetting about the shoulder problems, I was against the concept behind most paddles: use them and become stronger in the water. Strength is important but paddles are not the way to develop it!
I changed my mind when I started practicing with the Freestyler paddles from Finis. These are completely different from traditional paddles. In fact they are designed specifically NOT to cause shoulder problems!
What I like about the Freestyler is that its purpose is actually stroke technique and efficiency improvement, the most important aspect of training, not strength. They force you to bend your elbow and enter your hands in the water at just the
right angle, and give you the feeling of being on top of the water with a long stroke.
For beginners, using these paddles with Zoomers fins is an excellent way to produce the long, gliding stroke that is essential to succeed in triathlon swimming.
For intermediate or more advanced swimmers, use just the paddles on your long swims to keep your stroke in check.
I recommend doing a workout in this order to get the most out of the equipment:
- Start with warm up and drills
- Main Set with no equipment
- Straight swimming with paddles (and fins for beginners), possibly working on breathing and keeping a low stroke count.
- Warm down with no equipment.
The warm down at the end should feel like you are gliding on every stroke, and the changes the paddles forced you to make are being reproduced without them, and you will have almost instantly made improvements to your stroke- without a
coach or guide of any kind!
To order the Freestyler Hand Paddle as well as Zoomers Z2 fins, click on the link below. For a 20% discount on your order, make sure to type in discount code ‘aggies20’!
Freestyler Hand Paddle/Zoomers with 20% off
Workout of the Month
Cruise= an interval you can comfortably make with 5-10 seconds rest per 100 yards or meters.
WARM UP: 3x(200 Free/100 Non-Free)
DRILL: 12×50’s
Odds: 25 Fist Drill/25 Count Strokes
Evens: Descend (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12)
Rest= :20
MAIN: 4×300’s
#1) 6×50’s @ cruise +:05
#2) 3×100’s @ cruise
#3) 300 90% effort 6×50’s Free Golf, Rest= :20
#4) 300 with Freestyler Paddles, maximize distance per stroke
WARM DOWN: 200
TOTAL: 3200 Yards