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!
Former Member
Originally posted by craigbrigantine
I've never worn fins for swimming, nor do I plan on it. I don't see how fins strengthen your legs....
Well I think they can but then what do they do for your arms?:confused:
I can understand your frustration. Our coach would give someone all h@@@ if he felt that they were abusing their fins!
I must admit, sometimes when I wear them during sets (my coach will tell me when to do so, usually to avoid too much straing on my cranky shoulder, and only after swimming as long as I can without them, if I need to) I feel like I'm cheating and I get mad having to wear them.
Admittedly, they can be fun to wear, but I know I'm only hurting myself in the long run.
BTW, though, I take great pride in the fact that I can mostly outkick many others during kicksets without fins... when they have to wear them.
But I do believe they've helped over the years...
I can understand your frustration. Our coach would give someone all h@@@ if he felt that they were abusing their fins!
I must admit, sometimes when I wear them during sets (my coach will tell me when to do so, usually to avoid too much straing on my cranky shoulder, and only after swimming as long as I can without them, if I need to) I feel like I'm cheating and I get mad having to wear them.
Admittedly, they can be fun to wear, but I know I'm only hurting myself in the long run.
BTW, though, I take great pride in the fact that I can mostly outkick many others during kicksets without fins... when they have to wear them.
But I do believe they've helped over the years...
Fins definately have their uses... I've used them when starting back after a break so Idon't pull a shoulder muscle- which I've done. they're also good for helping develop flexibility and a strong kick.
But, yes, using them all the time is akin to cheating and they should only be used sparingly and under supervision :)
swimsb:
I agree with Brian that you need to fill us in about this fin use in context to your total workout on both a daily and weekly basis before we can say you have FDS.
Another question is how are you doing the 125 IM swim with fins? Are you doing a rolling 100 of strokes meaning a 100 Fly on 1, 100 Back on 2, 100 *** on 3, and 100 Free on 4 and doing it two times through adding a 25 for each stroke and doing the exact IM order as you go through? What kind of fins are you using? And how is your breastroke kick using the fins?
In my group, no one seems to wear them, although I was in a masters' group previously where a woman wore them frequently. Being a newbie at the time, and having no clue about whether they had any performance enhancing benefits, it didn't especially bother me, plus she was in a faster lane (tho I don't remember anyone saying much of anything, including the coach, not that I'd know if anyone had).
But while practicing on my own, I'll notice various people with fins on--and no masters swim experience at all--swimming faster than I do w/out fins, and oddly it bothers me more in that context. I expected the woman using them in practice to be faster than I was b/c she had more experience, and I had no particular expectations for myself, so it felt fine about it.
But being beaten by people who motor along and have not been doing the workouts I've been doing... that I'd find irritating--until I figured, so what? in the open lap swimming period, everyone does her/his own thing, and the main rule is to give others room, share lanes when needed, swim in a speed-appropriate lane, no rules against fins. And I got to talking with one of the "fin-using" swimmers who aside from that is a pretty nice person, very considerate of my space when we share or use adjoining lanes... and lent me a swim cap one day when mine broke.
I'm actually afraid of trying fins... I might get to like them too much once I beat my fin-using friend and then I'd be hooked. ;) I'm getting to close to where I can stay even with her even w/out fins, so I think she's helping my swimming! :)
Even if you are going somewhat fast with scuba fins, thye are doing too much of the work.
What does that even mean? Too much of what work? Is the point of practice to just do whatever you can as fast as you can, without traing aids till you're too tired? Or is the point to focus on certain aspects at certain points? If it's the latter, then it makes no sense to complain that fins "make things too easy." Fins make some things easier so you can focus on other things.
I can assure you that the fins sets we do are just as exhausting as non-fins sets, either because the interval is altered or because of the distance.
