Swim Equipment?

Paddles refer to the kind you slid over your hands like a big webbed glove and some people call fins -  flippers, they go on you feet.  Both add resistance against the water make you faster in the water.  Alot faster.  As far as training you can use them to practice taking long slow powerful strokes.  Pull your self through the water with your upper body.  Small powerfull flutter kicks with the lower.

When you pull a paddle through the water it takes some strength, when you finish that one pull your moving pretty quick.  Try paddles with a pull bouy, to add upper body strength.

Fins... when you crawl you want small flutter kicks just below the surface, with fins you have to make slow powerful kicks.  When you go from having fins on to bare feet it feels like your feet go 100 mph

A word of caution about paddles: Make sure you have good technique before using them, and then do not use them for the majority of your total swim time.  The shoulder joint can be easy to injure and long to heal.

My swim coach has me use fins for drills.  It allows me to move through the water easier while just concentrating on good form during drills. 

I use paddles for resistance.  These really work the arms and shoulders, and also help with hand entry into the water.  If you do it wrong the paddles flop around.

A swimmer that did two a day practices in HS would have some better info.

FWIW, I read somewhere (maybe even here on BT) that swimming with paddles should not be more than 10% of your total swim yardage.

I don't know if that's right or wrong, but I did read it.

JC

They work, and if used properly they put a tremendous amount of strain on your shoulders so they dont need to be used for longer periods because the harder you push the more they resist. If used for longer you risk injury, develop bad habits,abuse them and your wasting your time. 

ah, someone should tell this to flipper man, who comes to the pool faithfully every day and swims for about 30 minutes every day, 10 minutes each for a 3 different shaped set of paddles.

Paddles, depends on the type.  The Finis Freestyler is much better than the glove types as if you do the stroke incorrect it will twist off your hand, so it serve to help form the proper stroke.  On advice from a friend I used it when I started swimming more, it helped to give me the stroke fundamentals, muscle memory and form the rotation.  My first length in the pool with them was bad, they fell off twice.  By the 2nd lap it was like a light bulb turned on and I then knew what they mean about the catch, rotation & pull, follow thru.  I tried to use them in alternating sets to feel the form, take them off and keep the form, repeat.  I worked up to the point where I don't use them anymore.  However if I take some time off I'll pull them out and use them to make sure I form correct.

Fins, I used the Finis blue Zoomers in the beginning to develop my kick properly and give me some swim specific leg strength.  Again this was based on a friends feedback & BT threads. I was one of those that had an bad kick, I could could no-wheres or even backwards with a kick board. 

I watched a swim clinic at a pool a couple of years back and the instructor was telling the group that one will naturally develop efficient swimming when they force speed in the water using fins or fins with paddles.  If you never swam with fins (or fins&paddles) you'll know right away if you are rotating properly by being able to feel the your body push against the water.

You shouldn't be feeling it in the arms and shoulders.  It should be felt in the back, mostly the lats.

Paddles properly used will increase the resistance, making your stroke stronger. It also helps teach the "feel" of what it is like to grab a lot of water in a stroke. Note the warnings above. Also, many of the paddles come in different sizes. To start you want the smallest size that will fit your hand. If you go out and grab the largest hand paddle they have, you're asking for trouble and injury.

Fins have a couple purposes. They help teach a correct kick, as it's really hard to kick from the knees with them. They help increase ankle flexibility. They also teach the "feel" of what it is like to be planing on top of the water. They also increase the strength of your kick.

I don't recommend using paddles and fins at the same time, especially if you are new to them.

For speed feel, I recommend normal stroke and either fins or hand paddles. For form drills, I usually recommend fins with a kickboard or hands otherwise in a fairly fixed position. Paddles for form drills I usually pair with a pull buoy.

John

Donto and meherczeg make some great points,swim equipment can vary by design and size for different purposes. I like to use longer fins instead of my finis, they flex my ankles more also working on my propulsion, also I can anchor with my leg more to work on my core during my rotation, I dont really focus on adding leg strength using them, I try to do that in the gym. But I will say that there has been periods where I will switch back and forth between longer fins and zoomers depending on drills. I have used finis freestyle paddles before and did not like them, they dont offer enough resistance for me, I can get just as good of a workout without them. Larger size paddles offer even more resistance, I use them strictly for a resistance workout, trying to strengthen my lats,triceps,shoulders all getting equal attention. I use my shoulders more during my entry and catch and my triceps more when I finish my stroke and everything else in between. I have reached the point where If I dont have equipment its not a huge deal, I can streamline kick or cross my legs and get a good workout also.

Do we go to the same gym?  I've always wondered what benefit this guy is getting from swimming with paddles and flippers for the entire 45 minutes of his workout.  That, and all the waves he's generating while somewhat OWS like, is still very annoying.