Pedal

My Stance on Swimming Aids

As a general approach, I've always kept my distance from swimming aids. For years, I haven't used equipment like fins, paddles, pull buoys, or snorkels in my training, with the exception of a kickboard. Of course, there are important reasons for this.

On Technique

Let's start with technique. Swimming is a sport that humans have only been able to master technically after years of dedicated effort. Learning to swim is easy; swimming with proper technique is another matter entirely. I believe that equipment like paddles, pull buoys, or fins have a negative impact on learning proper technique. The reason is that they mask the crucial movements necessary for acquiring correct technical habits. For instance, the movements involved in a one-arm drill with a paddle differ from those performed without one. The body and mind need to comprehend the intended movement in its natural, unassisted state and develop habits accordingly. To maintain a specific form for body position, legs, arms, and breathing, the body's responses must be disciplined. For example, someone who uses a snorkel has less awareness of rotation compared to someone who doesn't. Their side rotation while breathing is already more pronounced than for someone who uses a snorkel. Consistent and disciplined practice of body movement and form leads to the automatization of the movement over time and persists thereafter. A person who worked on their technique in childhood will continue to swim with the same ingrained technique in later years.

On Performance

Swimming is a cardiovascular sport. In short, it's about the capacity of your heart, lungs, and circulatory system to nourish your muscles. Unless there's a specific health issue, our muscular, nervous, and skeletal systems are adequately equipped for swimming. What I'm discussing here largely applies to master swimmers who focus on long distances. In the pool, 50m and 100m short-distance athletes sometimes train with increased load, using paddles, to build muscle mass and thereby accelerate energy production by burning oxygen faster in a short time. When the load increases, muscle mass also increases. This type of training is suitable for the goals of short-distance athletes. Of course, there are exceptional athletes like Popovici in this regard. The disadvantage of this type of training, however, is the potential for joint deformation due to excessive load. Especially with the shoulder joint, which has the widest range of motion, excessive strain can lead to prolonged breaks from training. Paddles are also used in long-distance training, but their use is much more limited. Smaller paddles are more beneficial for aerobic training, meaning at speeds up to 60% of the heart's maximum beats per minute over long distances. Long-distance aerobic training aims to increase oxygen utilization capacity.