Back when I was swimming competitively, we never used fins. No one I knew even owned a pair.
Now, they seem to be popular. The local masters team uses them. Today I was in the gym pool and a young fellow -- looked to be maybe a high school team swimmer -- got in and started doing kick sets with fins.
Seems to me, if you want to get good at kicking with your bare legs, you practice kicking with your bare legs. In many sports, training is done with added weights, but since the fins make kicking easier, I don't see the benefit.
But then again, why would a training method be popular if it didn't work?
So what's the rationale?
Former Member
Since FINA has opened the door to mechanically assisted swimming by approving the use of tech suits, I've always wondered why they don't go to the logical extreme and approve the use of fins in competition also? :confused:
Dolphin 2
Since FINA has opened the door to mechanically assisted swimming by approving the use of tech suits, I've always wondered why they don't go to the logical extreme and approve the use of fins in competition also? :confused:
Dolphin 2
In Europe they have monofin races.
6. Fun. It's fun to cheat once and a while. Should not be a total substitute for naked kicking.
Naked kicking sure sounds like more fun than it actually is.
That's pretty old school.
Well, yeah... I'm just getting back in the water after a 29 year, uh... hiatus?
:cane:
I got lots o' catching up to do.
Did my first workout yesterday, and I was surprised how much "like riding a bicycle" it was. The thing is, I'm sure lots of advances in training and stroke have been made in 3 decades.
Heck, when I competed, you had to go all the way to the wall on your back in backstroke, and you got DQ'ed in breaststroke if your head went underwater.
ETA: Thanks, everybody, for the advice. Btw, I got a pair of Swim Stuff fins on the advice of the local team coach, and they turned out to be painfully narrow across the toe, so I can't use them. DJ Sports recommended TYR Flexfins for a wide toe. Anyone here got any experience with this?
Agree with most of above BUT about 90% of the swimmers on our team simply use the fins to keep up with the people in their lane, swim in a lane they do not belong any more or to avoid regular kicking (because their regular kick is terrible). It's either fins or paddles or a pullbouy or all of the above ...
Interesting. I might have to get that book. I'd have to adapt it to my purposes, of course, but it looks like it could be very useful in coordinating my strength training with swimming.
My goal is to see if I can get competitive again. It may never happen, but it's something to shoot for, and I do better when I have goals -- preferably extremely difficult ones.
I just purchased the book myself. It appears to have loads of excellent advice for workouts, drylands, stretching and RC work as well. (BTW, I took 24 years off myself -- old dogs can learn new tricks!)
I use fins the following ways:
-- lactate kicking sets (example: 5 x 100 @ 4:00)
-- some endurance/tempo/fartlek kicking (I like doing Chris Stevenson's kick mountain with my monofin.)
-- underwater dolphin kicking (especially 25s or 50s, which I call "shooters," though I do this without fins as well)
-- speed work (fast 25s, 50s)
-- cardio sets -- I use fins to save my shoulders on long cardio sets. However, as noted above, I bust my ass on these sets and don't just cruise along. The cardio/strengthening effect is magnified. As Geek notes, you should be blasted after this.
-- fly -- I swim fly w/fins to save my shoulders. Fly is a leg driven stroke, and fins help builds leg strength. It doesn't seem to make a huge difference when I get in and race without fins either.
-- dolphin kicking with my monofin.
I rarely do any easy aerobic or social or recovery kicking with or without fins.
I use long blade fins and dislike zoomers. I don't have any recs on fins for wide toes ... Go to a specialty swim store and try some on. If you want ideas for specific sets with fins, you can glance through my blog.
Good luck!
I'm going to see if anybody has the flexfins around here.
DJ Sports offered to exchange me a pair for the Swim Stuff fins, but I've already spent 12 bucks on shipping by ordering and returning the fins that the local masters coach recommended, which amounts to paying $12 just to try on a pair. I'm not inclined to do that again.
If anyone else out there has "duck feet" (narrow heel, wide toe) and can recommend a brand and model, please do.
Also, for folks who use fins, how do you use them in training, specifically?
Like I said, we literally never used them, so this is all new to me.
Here's an excerpt from Salo's book on the importance of kicking and kicking with fins
Interesting. I might have to get that book. I'd have to adapt it to my purposes, of course, but it looks like it could be very useful in coordinating my strength training with swimming.
My goal is to see if I can get competitive again. It may never happen, but it's something to shoot for, and I do better when I have goals -- preferably extremely difficult ones.
