Pull buoys and kick boards-I just hate them SO much!
Former Member
Am I all alone in this?
I am a newer swimmer, aspiring to join our local masters group, however, I loathe pull buoys and kick boards! I love doing kick drills with no board, it feels purer and more ergonomic. Kick drills with a board torque my neck up and shoulders out of line and make me feel like a slow barge to nowhere. As for pull buoys, I just don't get the benefit. They throw me way off balance and are so distracting that I can't really focus on just my arms. Wouldn't using fins for the arm-focused drills be equally beneficial?
I ask because these crutches I mean tools seem to be an intrinsic part of the masters workout, and I'm worried that if I eschew them, I will throw off the timing of my lanemates, or somehow not fit in to the group flow.
Am I a budding purist or an inflexible whiner? Should I just get over it and use the board and buoy? Or is it acceptable to adapt the workout without these items?
Willow
Parents
Former Member
i shun the regular use of swimming aids. in certain situations, especially in learning, i think swim aids are useful. but in the final analysis i'm in the same camp as geochuck on this one, leave them alone. then again i don't swim with a group, so i can see how that would be awkward (which is one of the primary reasons i don't swim w/ a group). :-o
personally i've almost never used swim aids/tools (like pull buoys and kick boards). like some other folks here i feel they disrupt the flow and balance of my stroke. but i think the best thing to do is what feels good for you.
in a related thought: there have been a number of threads on shoulder problems here, and i wonder how many of these folks use paddles, which i would think would way over torque the shoulders and lead to injury. hummmmmmm....
i've had very little coaching and instruction in my many years of swimming. i was doing front quadrant swimming before i knew it existed as a specific term/technique (it just seemed like the natural thing to do). i've done a lot of personal study, especially in recent years with all the info on the web (including this forum), but mostly i've just tried to get a feel for the water. i must be doing something right because a 3 time olympic gold swimmer who has made a career out of swimming/coaching recently complimented my front crawl.
don't forget to have fun with your swimming.
Reply
Former Member
i shun the regular use of swimming aids. in certain situations, especially in learning, i think swim aids are useful. but in the final analysis i'm in the same camp as geochuck on this one, leave them alone. then again i don't swim with a group, so i can see how that would be awkward (which is one of the primary reasons i don't swim w/ a group). :-o
personally i've almost never used swim aids/tools (like pull buoys and kick boards). like some other folks here i feel they disrupt the flow and balance of my stroke. but i think the best thing to do is what feels good for you.
in a related thought: there have been a number of threads on shoulder problems here, and i wonder how many of these folks use paddles, which i would think would way over torque the shoulders and lead to injury. hummmmmmm....
i've had very little coaching and instruction in my many years of swimming. i was doing front quadrant swimming before i knew it existed as a specific term/technique (it just seemed like the natural thing to do). i've done a lot of personal study, especially in recent years with all the info on the web (including this forum), but mostly i've just tried to get a feel for the water. i must be doing something right because a 3 time olympic gold swimmer who has made a career out of swimming/coaching recently complimented my front crawl.
don't forget to have fun with your swimming.