Is there a school of thought that states that all these "toys" (paddles, flippers, buoys, etc) are unnecessary, and perhaps even detrimental?
Absolutely. You've probably read about Brent Rushall's "Ultra Short Race Pace Training" or USRPT. If you could sum up his training philosophy in a short phrase it would be "train for racing." He believes any training that is not simulating racing is suboptimal, so that would include using toys.
Personally I would say use toys in moderation. They help mix things up if nothing else. Just make sure they don't become a crutch.
I used to use oversized paddles quite a bit and didn't had any shoulder problems. Interestingly, when I was training with a group that never used paddles is when I started having shoulder problems, but I think that was just a coincidence. I won't use big paddles anymore. I have a pair of Finis Agility paddles that I use infrequently, but never anything bigger than that.
Is there a school of thought that states that all these "toys" (paddles, flippers, buoys, etc) are unnecessary, and perhaps even detrimental?
Absolutely. You've probably read about Brent Rushall's "Ultra Short Race Pace Training" or USRPT. If you could sum up his training philosophy in a short phrase it would be "train for racing." He believes any training that is not simulating racing is suboptimal, so that would include using toys.
Personally I would say use toys in moderation. They help mix things up if nothing else. Just make sure they don't become a crutch.
I used to use oversized paddles quite a bit and didn't had any shoulder problems. Interestingly, when I was training with a group that never used paddles is when I started having shoulder problems, but I think that was just a coincidence. I won't use big paddles anymore. I have a pair of Finis Agility paddles that I use infrequently, but never anything bigger than that.
