HI all. I need help deciding what paddles to use. I just bought TYR Catalyst paddles size S. I am a male, 23 years old, weigh 150 and swim about 3-4 times a week. I would say that I am intermediate. Basically, I feel that the paddles provide too much resistance for me. Although, the Small size is what it recommened. I have no experience with paddles so I am un sure of how they are suppposed to feel. I am afriad that if I move a size smaller, my hands might be slightly too big for it. The XS is recommended for for males and females 11-12 years old. I am in a bind so any help would be appreciated!!!! Regards, Cliff :)
Cliff--I don't mean to sound too curmudgeonly here, but...
Forget paddles altogether. They contribute to shoulder problems, cost money, and make you swim weirdly. I may be iconoclastic here, but I think a sport like swimming is basically about you and the water. Lots of companies would like to sell you gadgets, from underwater radios to bungee cords, but this is not a sport like tennis or skiing or biking where excelling depends tremendously on buying the "right" equipment. (The one exception here, I believe, are body suits like the Speedo Fastskin, but that's another topic.)
To me, practice swimming with paddles or zoomers or other gizmos are of marginal benefit other than the distraction such items offer from the (sometimes) monotonous aspects of our practice regimens. Remember how joggers used to use hand and/or ankle weights to add resistance to their training? And how many ended up injured as a consequence of slightly abnormal gaits? I think paddles essentially do the same thing for swimmers. You are still pretty young-in your 20s, right?--so this might not effect you as much now as when you're older. But the bottom line, in my view, is that swimming speed is so tailored to the idiosyncracies of the individual human body that to try to "enhance" it with external apparatus (which you won't be able to rely on in the meets) is not doing you much good--and may be doing you some harm.
Cliff--I don't mean to sound too curmudgeonly here, but...
Forget paddles altogether. They contribute to shoulder problems, cost money, and make you swim weirdly. I may be iconoclastic here, but I think a sport like swimming is basically about you and the water. Lots of companies would like to sell you gadgets, from underwater radios to bungee cords, but this is not a sport like tennis or skiing or biking where excelling depends tremendously on buying the "right" equipment. (The one exception here, I believe, are body suits like the Speedo Fastskin, but that's another topic.)
To me, practice swimming with paddles or zoomers or other gizmos are of marginal benefit other than the distraction such items offer from the (sometimes) monotonous aspects of our practice regimens. Remember how joggers used to use hand and/or ankle weights to add resistance to their training? And how many ended up injured as a consequence of slightly abnormal gaits? I think paddles essentially do the same thing for swimmers. You are still pretty young-in your 20s, right?--so this might not effect you as much now as when you're older. But the bottom line, in my view, is that swimming speed is so tailored to the idiosyncracies of the individual human body that to try to "enhance" it with external apparatus (which you won't be able to rely on in the meets) is not doing you much good--and may be doing you some harm.