Training Toys

WHEN IT COMES to hitting the water, triathletes love their toys. All of which is fine, as long as you’re using them for the right reasons. Here are some tips on what you should be working on this winter to improve your swim times next season, along with some products that will help you achieve those goals.

Pull Buoy

The pull buoy is probably the most underappreciated and most useful piece of swimming gear out there. Not only does it eliminate your kick, it gives you added buoyancy (hence pull ‘buoy’), allowing your body to glide along the top of the water much more easily than it could without it.

This more closely emulates the ideal body position in freestyle, so you get the feel of what you should be constantly striving for when you don’t have the pull buoy in between your legs.

An added benefit to the pull buoy is that since you don’t have to think about kicking, and your body position has fixed itself, you can shift more of your focus over to improving the other areas of your stroke. You can zero in on your hand entry and pull, and see what adjustments can be made to be more efficient.

The pull buoy also gives you a better sense of how effective body roll is in swimming. You’ll find that if you consciously focus on rotating your hips along with every stroke, it will make you go much faster.

Using a pull buoy is essential for anyone who wants to improve in the water, but specifically the triathlete who wants to use his or her legs as little as possible.

Huub Big Buoy 4

$40 One of our favourite pieces of equipment, Huub’s Big Buoy provides 34 newtons of buoyancy flotation, roughly twice as much as most other pull buoys to mimic swimming in a wetsuit. The Big Buoy 4 is so named because of the four different positions you can use it for to create more drag or buoyancy depending on the goal of the set.

Dare2Tri Unisex Neoprene Swim Shorts

$95 Ideal for both swimming and triathlon training, Dare2Tri’s Unisex neoprene shorts add some versatility to your swim training. Made from high quality neoprene, the tights can be used in both the pool and on the trails. Designed to give swimmers extra buoyancy around the legs and core area, it also helps improve your body position in the water, negating the need for a pull buoy.

Paddles

Paddles are a great tool to implement into long freestyle set to mix things up, and there’s plenty of benefits to doing so as well (besides feeling like a swordfish slicing through the water).

Strapping on a pair of paddles will add resistance to your stroke, helping you become more powerful in the water. It also gives you an idea of what makes you most efficient in the water – you’ll generally be going faster than you would normally, so every part of your stroke is exaggerated. If there’s a part of your catch, pull or entry that’s limiting you, it will become abundantly clear.

This also applies if you’re constantly having trouble keeping one of your paddles on. Remove the wrist strap (if there is one), and if one of the paddles keeps coming off, you’ll know you’ve got some technical things to work on.

One thing to be aware of when using paddles is having ones that are too big – typically referred to as “dinner plates.” Although these are great for 25-metre sprints and feeling a huge burst of speed, they can cause injury if they’re used too often or if you have a bad shoulder. To start off, use paddles slightly bigger than the size of your hands and go from there.

Blueseventy Synergie Paddles

$25 Designed in the classic shape, Blueseventy’s Synergie paddles are the perfect pool toy to help up your swimming game in the new year. The multiple holes in the paddle allow for the water to pass-through and provide various silicone tube strapping options. Available in two sizes, the Synergies are a great training tool to build strength and fitness in the water.

Arena Vortex Evolution Hand Paddle

$35 Arena has taken it to the next level with their Vortex Evolution paddles. With a unique moulding for your hands, they provide a natural, safe and comfortable grip, while the location of the hand straps make them easy to wear and the soft edges provide a comfortable fit that won’t rub against your wrists. Neither too curved nor too flat, the Vortex Evolutions are a great training companion during those extra tough workouts. They provide you with a great feel for the water while giving you a great deal of resistance to make your stroke feel more natural.

Fins

Out of all the different pieces of equipment available to swimmers, fins are generally the most popular. They give you the ability to travel through the water at speeds you just wouldn’t be able to hit on your own, and make you feel like you have the underwater dolphin kick ability of Michael Phelps (even if you’re actually pretty bad at it).

Yes, fins are fun. But, there are also several benefits to them.

One great use for fins when it comes to a typical triathlete is that they give you the ability to focus in on your stroke technique while maintaining speed. Normally, when you’re working through a drill, you’re going much slower than you normally would be. However, when using fins, you can maintain your typical swim speed while isolating the one part of your stroke you want to focus on.

Additionally, even if you want to do a drill slowed down (such as single arm freestyle), having fins on just to keep your balance and a high body position will help you focus more on the drill and less on trying not to sink.

On top of this, fins (or “flippers”) are also a great way to improve ankle flexibility and thus improve your kick, and they give you the ability to have a more efficient workout if you’ve only got a small window of time. It’s easier to get your heart rate up, and keep it there, with them on.

One important thing to avoid with fins: don’t do a long freestyle set with them if you’re not going to take full advantage. If it’s too tiring to keep kicking, and you just start dragging them behind you, it’s going to hinder your body position and promote poor technique.

MP Alpha Pro Fins

$40 Designed to mimic your natural movements in the water, the MP Alpha Pro fins are both a great tool to improve your kicking and a fun toy to give you a nice boost of speed whenever you want. The Alpha Pros have an asymmetrical short blade design to imitate your natural kicking tempo and are 70 per cent lighter than your traditional fins to provide increased comfort and improved body position. The rigid EVA foam construction ensures enhanced propulsion to give you that extra kick, too.