Gallery
SWIM HAND PADDLES
What is a swim hand paddle?
The swimming hand paddle is made of polystyrene, plastic or carbon fibre. It can be flat or oval or convex.
It attaches with rubber or silicone bands around the fingers, the paddle is in the palm of the hands.
It stops water moving through your fingers and allows you more power to push the water.
A hand paddle with a convex shape on one side and concave shape on the other could be beneficial to reduce feel then improve it simply by switching it around during the recovery phases.
Hand paddles
They can improve the feel for the water from the catch phase to the press to the push.
If you only put one finger thru loose silicone (rubber) tubing and your hand does not catch the water the hand paddle can come off or you experience a flutter feeling like a you have a fish attached to the end of your finger tips.
Hand paddles work the chest back shoulders & arms –
Muscle groups that are worked a little harder using hand paddles include biceps, Latissimus dorsi, Pectoral muscles & Triceps.
It is not uncommon to have a slower and fewer strokes per length after removing the hand paddles than swimming before.
Hand paddles are now widely used, just as fins for the legs have been used in training for years. Old training techniques had us doing many kick sets with fins on our feet to increase strength and speed, and now, with new training techniques, hand paddles are used in a similar way.
These include the latissimus dorsi, pectoral muscles, biceps and triceps to name a few. By increasing the strength in these muscles, we in turn improve our speed, and gain greater distance per stroke.
Low elbow during the front crawl stroke – when using hand paddles it is more noticeable that your hands are dragging thru the water if you have a low elbow
Correct hand position – any area that needs working on will he highlighted using hand paddles. Correcting any fault is usually much easier to correct with the use of hand paddles.
Consider swim hand paddles not just for sprinting but also for drills.
Arm emphasis swimming using a pull buoy (foam float) held between the thighs or legs to allow you to float and have no need to kick.
Benefits of using swimming hand paddles includes:-
Improved technique, increases awareness of a good and bad stroke.
Slows the stroke down (similar to using a wet suit) greater feel for the water.
Improves body awareness.
Increases distance per stroke.
Greater feel for the water.
Improves swim muscle groups.
More powerful hand and arm movement (more specific to swimming than weight training)
Time efficient training workout because you will fatigue sooner.
CAUTION – stop if you experience pain in the shoulder or elbows.