Paddles! Hooah! What are they good for?

I think it's safe to say that if you're getting the improvement you're looking for from the equipment you're using, you should stick with it, if not, try something that will. If you have a predisposition to shoulder problems be careful using anything that may aggravate the pain. If any kind of shoulder pain pops up you should immediately stop what your doing. Don't try to be stoic an swim through the pain. Although shoulder pain can be caused by many things, the very beginning of a stroke and at the moment of the recovery is where a lot of shoulder problems begin and are aggravated. This is when a knowledgeable coach may help you recover from the pain and even eliminate the causes of your pain by changing your stroke mechanics. Forearm or EVF paddles are technical tools and are in a different ball park than hand paddles. There are forearm trainers out there that have been used successfully without causing any pain by swimmers with severe shoulder problems (a swimmer with 1 intact rotator cuff tendon told me that she could use forearm trainers without feeling pain). Nuff said about EVF trainers. I think there's a lot of great training aids that can increase your swimming performance. Most training equipment that's used correctly (read the directions) is safe and can be very helpful. Good luck and train smart. Coach T. A group of friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So the rival florist hired Hugh Mac Taggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to "persuade" them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that only Hugh can prevent florist friars.

I think it's safe to say that if you're getting the improvement you're looking for from the equipment you're using, you should stick with it, if not, try something that will. If you have a predisposition to shoulder problems be careful using anything that may aggravate the pain. If any kind of shoulder pain pops up you should immediately stop what your doing. Don't try to be stoic an swim through the pain. Although shoulder pain can be caused by many things, the very beginning of a stroke and at the moment of the recovery is where a lot of shoulder problems begin and are aggravated. This is when a knowledgeable coach may help you recover from the pain and even eliminate the causes of your pain by changing your stroke mechanics. Forearm or EVF paddles are technical tools and are in a different ball park than hand paddles. There are forearm trainers out there that have been used successfully without causing any pain by swimmers with severe shoulder problems (a swimmer with 1 intact rotator cuff tendon told me that she could use forearm trainers without feeling pain). Nuff said about EVF trainers. I think there's a lot of great training aids that can increase your swimming performance. Most training equipment that's used correctly (read the directions) is safe and can be very helpful. Good luck and train smart. Coach T. A group of friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So the rival florist hired Hugh Mac Taggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to "persuade" them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that only Hugh can prevent florist friars.