Flippers / Fins

Former Member
Former Member
What is the current thinking on flippers / fins? (ie, professional coaching recommendations). It seems like their use is very pervasive these days but when I was a swimmer growing up (US Swimming) we did not use them...and I swam with some kids that went to Olympic trials...so it was a good team. My masters team uses them ALL the time. They don't do kick sets without them. They even use the flippers for main sets at times, and some swimmers sneak them on to keep up with their lane, which messes up the lane order (and in fact they should swim in a slower lane if they cannot make the workout in the faster lane without flippers - IMO). And they use them when they are slow in other strokes (ie, IM's, back, butterfly). Some of these swimmers have mastered kicking with fins (esp those that use huge scuba fins), but they can't kick worth beans without the fins. Is there any research/articles on fin usage? What do the top swimmers do? Thanks!
Parents
  • IMHO, fins are typically used as a sort of crutch, usually for people with a weak(er) kick. instead of working on building leg strength, many people pull on a pair of fins just to keep up on kicking sets, instead of sliding down a lane for the set. using fins in this situation is very detrimental IMO to becoming a better swimmer. too many people allow themselves to get lazy on kick sets when wearing fins, especially the long scuba style fins. when i swam age group, that type of fin was banned from our pool during our workouts. those fins are the epitome of laziness- they take so little power to get propulsion as compared to zoomers (or my personal preference, no fins). so scuba fins = NO! never ever, other then when scuba diving of course :) zoomers and other short fins = okay in certain situations... like while injured, trying to work on ankle flexibility (especially if you're a runner!), or as frank mentioned during fly sets. something i still don't understand- using fins during warm up, if kicking is included... why? as far as i'm concerned, it's laziness. but does anyone have a good reason on wearing fins during warm up??? so to answer one of your questions (finally, sorry for the rant :) ) i would advise against scuba fins. zoomers and other short fins are not hard to find, and i don't think they're that expensive (i wouldn't know, i haven't gotten a new pair of fins since age group...) and they're designed for swim training. scuba fins aren't.
Reply
  • IMHO, fins are typically used as a sort of crutch, usually for people with a weak(er) kick. instead of working on building leg strength, many people pull on a pair of fins just to keep up on kicking sets, instead of sliding down a lane for the set. using fins in this situation is very detrimental IMO to becoming a better swimmer. too many people allow themselves to get lazy on kick sets when wearing fins, especially the long scuba style fins. when i swam age group, that type of fin was banned from our pool during our workouts. those fins are the epitome of laziness- they take so little power to get propulsion as compared to zoomers (or my personal preference, no fins). so scuba fins = NO! never ever, other then when scuba diving of course :) zoomers and other short fins = okay in certain situations... like while injured, trying to work on ankle flexibility (especially if you're a runner!), or as frank mentioned during fly sets. something i still don't understand- using fins during warm up, if kicking is included... why? as far as i'm concerned, it's laziness. but does anyone have a good reason on wearing fins during warm up??? so to answer one of your questions (finally, sorry for the rant :) ) i would advise against scuba fins. zoomers and other short fins are not hard to find, and i don't think they're that expensive (i wouldn't know, i haven't gotten a new pair of fins since age group...) and they're designed for swim training. scuba fins aren't.
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