Are you planning to swim with fins in 2022?
Or do you belong to the group of triathletes that wear fins from the time they get in the water until they get out?
Or You’re just getting started & you might be curious about the purpose of swimming fins.
Irrespective of your level:
This article will teach you everything you need to know about swimming fins.
You will know the following in the next couple of minutes:
- The benefits of swimming with fins
- If you don’t use them properly, how can they harm you?
- How to safely swim with fins
What is the use of fins when swimming?
Fins, which are attached to your feet act as a perfect extension of your body.
Fins basically make your feet longer (and wider)
- Do you need to wear fins while practicing in the pool?
- Is using fins when swimming for training always a good idea?
The advantages and disadvantages of swimming with fins are as follows:
Benefits of using fins when swimming
You may be familiar with some of the benefits of fins if you already use them.
- Fins increase your body’s overall strength and resistance, especially in the legs.
- Your cardiovascular endurance and physical fitness will increase by wearing fins.
Your legs will get stronger
Many swimmers prioritize developing their upper body strength. However, the swim kick should be a crucial component of your swimming technique when executed properly. You’ll be able to focus more on your legs when swimming with fins. Additionally, you will habituate to always using your legs.
Improve your kick technique
Wearing fins will help you to position yourself in the water more effectively if your kick is rather weak or your legs sink.
Fins will make you feel as though you’re swimming above the water’s surface when you use them for swimming.
And if you’re not used to using your legs when swimming, this effect will be even more noticeable (something that happens to many triathletes)
Remember: Always keep your fins below the water’s surface when using them, just like you would when swimming normally. Moving your feet (fins) outside costs you efficiency and energy.
You’ll feel as though you’re swimming faster in the water if you use fins. Try to recreate this feeling when you take them off.
By alternating between swimming with and without fins, you can repeat this pattern over and over again until your body does the movements correctly, and you position yourself at the perfect height when swimming.
Get more flexibility
Swimming with fins will help you improve flexibility in your ankles.
If you can extend the range of motion of your ankles, you will be able to move faster in the water.
This is especially interesting for you if you are among the swimmers who do not have much flexibility.
If you have the feeling that when you kick, the momentum slows you down or takes you backward instead of forwards.
Learn to swim faster
Your swimming speed in the pool can increase by up to 50% when you use fins.
You can swim more quickly and with a higher body position if you use fins.
You may practice all other motions (head, arms, etc.) at this pace thanks to the fins.
Using fins will put less effort into your shoulders
Swimming fins can be used for warm-up exercises:
From the start of the workout, you’ll safeguard against overly straining your shoulders.
As you continue to make progress on it, do this if you have a tendency to quickly overload your shoulders.
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Swimming problems with fins
There are very few reasons not to swim with fins. However, it’s important to understand the situations in which wearing fins while swimming might be harmful. Additionally, be aware of the negative effects that too much fin use can have on you.
You can end up depending on using fins all the time!
The idea of swimming with fins is that they improve your technique & get used to making movements correctly when using them.
Then you take them off and continue practicing these movements.
Use fins only as necessary for a particular purpose. Not because it makes training easier for you.
Basic tips for fin training
Ensure that your kick is short.
Maintain the same pace as if you weren’t wearing fins.
Just like you would if you weren’t wearing them, short, hard kicks.
Pay attention to how the arms and legs are positioned:
- How many strokes require a kick?
- Each breath’s rhythm
- Synchronization of the upper and lower bodies
Extend out each stroke:
- Swimming with fins should require fewer strokes per length than swimming without fins.
And as a final tip…
Remember that although training with swimming fins can be fun or very beneficial, it also has its drawbacks. That you become too dependent on them.
Keep in mind that fins are training tools for swimming just like the other tools.
If you’re looking for more tips on how to improve your swimming, check out our other blog post on the subject listed below. Thanks for reading! 🙂 Don’t forget to subscribe our RocketSwimming YouTube channel so you never miss a new video or training tip! We publish new content every week!
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