Pull buoys and kick boards-I just hate them SO much!

Pull Buoys are OK occasionally to help isolate the pull and focus on body position. They are also good as a drill in helping keep your knees from getting too wide in breaststroke.Otherwise their primary purpose seems to be for the coach to give the illusion of variety to a workout. Kickboards do put one in an unnatural position and I avoid them for workouts.Their main advantage seems to be that you can talk while using them. What a kickboard is really great for,is that it makes it much easier to catch little waves when bodysurfing.

My swim teacher again tried to get me to use a pull buoy last night, and I gave it a whirl, trying to be open to it. Immediately after my lesson, my shoulders were ACHING and still ache today. The tendon that runs down the center of the medial deltoid keeps twanging in my left arm. Yuck. I've noticed that among the teachers I have worked with as a swim student, many if not most have a strong attachment to/dependance on the board and buoy. I say I don't want to use those tools and prefer to do drills without or with fins, and they seem unconvinced that I know what I'm talking about, and try to coax me to "get used to it". I'm frustrated. I'm a big girl, but I feel like I'm taking on an institution here, like there are more people than not that can't imagine life without the kick board and the pull buoy. On a happy note, though, I did my first real flip turn last night! Chances are if they're pushing pull buoys and paddles, they don't have shoulder problems. Make sure you tell them about yours! Fins are a decent substitute for pull buoys on certain drills and sculling. I also use fins on long sets because of cranky shoulders. When I first joined a masters team, I got a lot of sh*t for it. It bothered me somehat at first. But now, if jibbed, I just rag on the offenders when they have to resort to pull buoys when they're tired. :thhbbb: People who do not have shoulder problems should count themselves lucky and be more tolerant. We're not all cookie cutter swimmers, and we can't -- and shouldn't -- train the same. :2cents: If the devices hurt, don't use them!

You get on with your own bad self. More women have shoulder problems than men. If you do have shoulder problems, you definitely shouldn't use paddles. Probably true. And I don't want to come across as if I think I'm some kind of ironman who's immune to injury. I just haven't seen any evidence that paddles actually cause injury. Sure, if you have bad shoulders and find that paddles hurt, don't use them.

I just haven't seen any evidence that paddles actually cause injury. Sure, if you have bad shoulders and find that paddles hurt, don't use them. I have teammates who frequently use paddles and pull buoys. No evidence of shoulder strain whatsoever. Either bionic boy shoulders or they're just lucky so far. Probably quite good for building upper body strength if you can use them!

Congrats on your first flip turn! If your shoulders are sore after you work out, tell your instructor. Shoulder problems is a HUGE reason to not use a pull buoy or paddles. If they try to make you, find somewhere else to swim. Using a pull buoy for 10 minutes is not worth the rehab time you will spend later.

I love pull buoys. I can relax and, or course, I get less winded. I can;t stand kicking on my back. My kick is so weak that I feel like I am dragging a manhole cover along the bottom of the pool. At least with the kickboard, I have the illusion that I am going faster. Using the kickboard hurts my neck.

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 don't beleive in paddles either! I have bad shoulders and have not used paddles for about 20 years. They are hell on your shoulders and I don't think they contribute anything to perfecting your stroke. I rarley even use a pull buoy. I've noticed that the swimmers that excell in practice on pulling sets are not necessarily the faster swimmers. The faster swimmers are usually the ones that have a strong kick.

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. I use BIG paddles quite a bit and haven't had shoulder problems. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I really don't think paddles contribute to shoulder injuries. Another guy I swim with uses paddles constantly in practice--we're talking way more than 50% of out total yardage--and to my knowledge he's never had shoulder problems, either. He uses the largest size (green) Strokemaker paddles. In general I've found men prefer paddles to women.

I use BIG paddles quite a bit and haven't had shoulder problems. In general I've found men prefer paddles to women. You get on with your own bad self. More women have shoulder problems than men. If you do have shoulder problems, you definitely shouldn't use paddles.

It seems to me that it's a mistake to use paddles the way so many young and inexperienced instructors want to use them: as a way to improve technique because they can't think up a better way to teach what a pull should feel like. Less than great technique + added resistance looks like an excellent formula for injury. On the other hand, if technique is fine, then I don't see a problem with paddles unless there's some underlying problem that only really shows up when extra resistance is added to the stroke. I NEVER use paddles for both reasons. I never use fins either because they hurt my right knee. I hate kickboards with a passion that is difficult to verbalize. And pullbuoys just seem kinda pointless. I do wish there were coaches out there that weren't dependent on these items, but alas, actually swimming a full stroke sans any kind of extra equipment seems to be really unpopular.