I have been working on my freestyle/crawl stroke and it appears that vertical forearm drills are really helping me increase my dps.
After doing a little research I have come across a product called fistgloves that seem to really force you to use your forearms. The gloves force you to ball your hands up into a fist and as a result do not allow you to use your palm/fingers while swimming.
Today I decided to try swimming some laps while balling up my fists WITHOUT the fist gloves. It seemed to work pretty well. My stroke count went up, I started to get a little case of dropped elbow on my left arm but started to do a better job using my forearms during my stroke.
So...my question is whether there is really any benefit to actually buying a pair of fist gloves or can I pretty much get the same result by simply balling up my fists? I have no problem spending the $10 or whatever they cost if there is any real benefit to purchasing this product.
I have a pair of Fist Gloves, somewhere in my house. I haven’t used them myself for a while, however every now and then I’ll take them to the pool for others to use.
As Swimlong mentioned, you can get pretty much the same results from swimming with fists without the gloves. There is a slightly different sensory feel with the gloves on, but the drill is the same. However, if you can do fist drills without the gloves, then save your 10 bucks.
And to Dima, fist swimming does NOT force you to swim with proper technique. Only you can force you to swim with proper technique. What fist swimming does do is work one aspect of your pull. Think of your arm as having 3 distinct pulling surfaces (the hand, the forearm and the upper arm). Each surface area needs to catch, pull, push, exit and recover. Fist gloves (and fist swimming) are used to reduce the hand surface and allow you to focus on the other 2, just as swim paddles are designed to increase hand surface so you can focus on your hand motions and strength.
I have a pair of Fist Gloves, somewhere in my house. I haven’t used them myself for a while, however every now and then I’ll take them to the pool for others to use.
As Swimlong mentioned, you can get pretty much the same results from swimming with fists without the gloves. There is a slightly different sensory feel with the gloves on, but the drill is the same. However, if you can do fist drills without the gloves, then save your 10 bucks.
And to Dima, fist swimming does NOT force you to swim with proper technique. Only you can force you to swim with proper technique. What fist swimming does do is work one aspect of your pull. Think of your arm as having 3 distinct pulling surfaces (the hand, the forearm and the upper arm). Each surface area needs to catch, pull, push, exit and recover. Fist gloves (and fist swimming) are used to reduce the hand surface and allow you to focus on the other 2, just as swim paddles are designed to increase hand surface so you can focus on your hand motions and strength.
