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ARE FINS USEFUL IN SWIMMING?
by Kevin Koskella
www.TriSwimCoach.com
One of the most commonly asked questions I
hear as a coach is, “Should I use fins?” The answer depends largely on
your goals, your skill level and the type of fins.
Often, especially in masters swimming, swimmers wear fins merely to keep
up with other swimmers in their lane, or to advance to the fast lane and
make tighter intervals. If you are strictly swimming for fitness, and do
not care about your stroke technique, swim time, or energy conservation in
a race, then this is a perfectly acceptable reason to use fins. Fins,
especially the
Zoomers-type, can help you go faster in a workout and burn more
calories.
Most of us in the triathlon world are
concerned with more than just fat burning. There are certain situations
when it’s appropriate to use fins during a workout. Fins can help build
strength in your legs. They can also allow you to consume more oxygen
during your swim, which enables you to support the use of more muscle mass
at greater intensity, and for a longer time. However, using fins on a
regular basis for the desired effects of swimming faster and keeping from
sinking in the water is ill advised.
If you have little or no kick, or your kick
makes you go backwards while kicking on your back (not uncommon among
runner-types), using fins for a short period of time will help your stroke
and speed. The kind that works best are the shorter kind (Zoomers are the
most popular). The reason is that using the fins allows you to concentrate
on improving your upper body technique, as well as your overall endurance,
without having to think about your kick at the same time.
Since 90% propulsion comes from upper body in
swimming, as a beginner it’s wise to concentrate your training on this
aspect of the stroke. After stroke improvement and endurance
are built, start weaning off fins, and do more and more of your swimming
sets with bare feet. You may find that not only have you made faster
improvements in your stroke and speed, but your kick improved slightly as
well, due to improved ankle flexibility.
Fins, especially the shorter, Zoomer-types,
can be a very effective tool in swim training for open water and triathlon
events. They can also be addictive and actually prevent you from improving
your stroke and your race times. If you are looking into using fins, make
sure you first understand how they will help you in accomplishing your
goals.
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Clinic delivered to your email box over the next 10 days!
Kevin
operates www.TriSwimCoach.com,
a resource for beginning through intermediate level triathletes looking
for help with swimming. The site features a free e-mail newsletter the
e-book titled “The
Complete Guide to Triathlon
Swimming.”
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