I'm curious as to which is more common -- being slower with a pull buoy or being faster, and why some people are one way rather than the other? Personally, I am far slower with a pull buoy. I attribute this to my natural buoyancy (ahem) as well as having a fairly strong kick when I want to, although I often feel as though I am not kicking very hard, so I'm not sure how much of a factor that is.
Anyway, being slow with a pull buoy becomes very frustrating in practice -- it's hard to keep up with lanemates who I am normally faster than or equal to. Not sure if there is anything to be done about that.
Former Member
Don't use a pullbuoy. If I want to do arm pulls, I just do. Legs trailing behind. (not sinking.....). I naturally ride high-ish.
The poll results are also very interesting to me... so far, lots of people both slower and faster with buoys (but more who go slower than faster) -- but most people not saying that their speed changes "much."
Thanks for posting this poll. The results are interesting (bi-modal) for the small sample.
Personally, I've found that my repeat times are much slower with a buoy. I feel that my body position changes substantially and I lose the feel for the water (but I do like paddle pull sets w/o a buoy).
Oddly, the soon to be illegal swim skins initially imparted the same feeling of make me more buoyant; and I suffered the subsequent loss of water feel. Practicing in a skin (B70) "reprogrammed" me so that I could get the feel for the water (and benefit of the buoyancy of the swim skin).
I understand that some of the latest textile swim suits mimic the paper suits of the 1980's. It will be interesting to learn how these new suits will affect a swimmer's perception of water feel.
Much much faster with a pull buoy. Could go on forever.
My legs are extremely heavy. When I float on my back, for example, my feet point at the bottom of the pool.
I am much slower with a pull buoy. My body position is normally pretty good so I think the pull buoy just puts me in a worse body position and I can't kick as well. My unscientific theory is that on the whole *well for our team anyway) the men seem to swim a lot faster with a pull buoy and the women a little bit or a lot slower with the pull buoy. Maybe something about body position and having a bit more padding around the hips to keep us floating a bit more??
...
Anyway, thanks to everyone who responded. It's good to know I'm not the only one out there who goes (much) slower with a buoy, but I'm still not sure if it's something I should be worried about.
If you need a pull-buoy to go faster, then you likely are:
a. Underutilizing your kick
b. Not using your core to maintain proper body alignment
c. Both a & b
Don't worry, you are better off working to go faster without the buoy, since you can't use it in competition, anyway! :)
I started originally with my speed being faster with a pull bouy (significantly).
Now as I've been focusing on my kick speed, I'm actually closing that gap rather rapidly.
See -> (Help my Flutter Kick is Horrible!)
Help My Flutter Kick is Horrible! - U.S. Masters Swimming Discussion Forums
If you need a pull-buoy to go faster, then you likely are:
a. Underutilizing your kick
b. Not using your core to maintain proper body alignment
c. Both a & b
Don't worry, you are better off working to go faster without the buoy, since you can't use it in competition, anyway! :)
I'd like to think that I can infer from this that since I go slower with a pull-buoy, I have a good kick and use my core for proper body alignment. I suspect that is a faulty inference, though!
I started originally with my speed being faster with a pull bouy (significantly).
Now as I've been focusing on my kick speed, I'm actually closing that gap rather rapidly.
See -> (Help my Flutter Kick is Horrible!)
Help My Flutter Kick is Horrible! - U.S. Masters Swimming Discussion Forums
I need, "Help, My Pull Buoy Speed is Horrible!" :-)
