I don't use these often, and I wonder if one can become a good swimmer without them? I think of folks who grew up near water and are "natural" good swimmers; I'm sure they didn't need these tools to learn swimming? Nothing wrong with using them, but I don't seem to have the patience to use them. Today I just kicked across the pool without kickboard and it felt fine.:agree: Can't we improving the kicks without using the kickboard? Samethoughts about the fins and pull buoys... Am I missing something?