Subject: RE: Wetsuit shorts Swimming in neoprene shorts all the time is cheating yourself - they're a useful tool but you do need to swim without them to really learn how to engage your core and the entire kinetic chain to get proper body position. They feel awesome to swim in, and early on I found them helpful to give me a feel for what proper body position felt like, but you don't have to work to achieve that proper position, so you're not really learning good habits.
If your goal is to be a faster swimmer, then use your current neoprene shorts as a tool, but spend most of your pool time in a regular swimsuit. If all you want to do is keep up with the rest of your squad in practice, swim in the neoprene shorts - if you're going to cheat, might as well go full bore, no need to find thinner shorts to cheat halfway.
If you want something that will give you a little help in the water but still be wetsuit-legal, you may want to look into something like a DeSoto Liftfoil. |