Anonymous wrote:Paddles helped me wreck my shoulder as a master swimmer.

Yup. I don't let my 12 and unders use paddles.

My 5 year old and 7 year old have a nice pair that my sister (Olympian synchro swimmer) got them. They have worked great! She says it helps correct their kick.

My kid’s orthopedist doesn’t like paddles until kids are in their teens.

Nothing worse than getting whacked in the hand or head by a swimmer wearing paddles swimming in the other direction.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Paddles helped me wreck my shoulder as a master swimmer.

There’s probably a sweet spot in terms of age for using paddles — teens, 20s, 30s. I could see them being too hard on the shoulders after that even if you’re in good shape. It’s also possible that the paddles you were using were too big for your current level of shoulder strength. The bigger the paddle the more resistance.

Masters are 20+
I was training in my teens, 20s, 30s.

My shoulder improved a lot during lock down when pools were vlosed, so I guess it was an overuse thing.

I quit using paddles a number of years ago. Given the number of high level swimmers (not me) with shoulder problems, I wonder if humans are meant to rotate their arms hundreds and thousands of times a day. I'm guessing cavemen and cave women didn't do this.

Anonymous wrote:Paddles helped me wreck my shoulder as a master swimmer.

There’s probably a sweet spot in terms of age for using paddles — teens, 20s, 30s. I could see them being too hard on the shoulders after that even if you’re in good shape. It’s also possible that the paddles you were using were too big for your current level of shoulder strength. The bigger the paddle the more resistance.

Paddles helped me wreck my shoulder as a master swimmer.

They are tools to help develop form, strengthen muscles and increase flexibility. They won’t magically make a kid fast.

Paddles can help swimmers understand how to pull correctly. If your form isn’t correct, the paddle will sort of slip in a very frustrating way. Paddles also provide resistance, which is good for strengthening the muscles needed for pulling. Longer pull sets with paddles should not be done with younger kids as this can lead to developing shoulder problems earlier. After puberty is probably the right time. But having younger kids use paddles for brief periods during drills that focus on pull can be helpful.

Fins can be good for reinforcing straight leg flutter and fly kick as PP noted. They can also be used as “help” for breaststroke pull/butterfly kick drills. That drill is hard and for a lot of kids, and fins will help them from getting tired and losing the pulling form. Fins can also be used to start introducing longer conditioning type sets to kids. Again it gives them that extra help so they won’t get tired as quickly. For older kids, sets with fins are great for pushing speed/anaerobic pace. A set with fins and fast intervals is good for learning to tolerate the leg and core muscle burning that will happen in a race if you’re doing it right.

They are “the key” but they can be helpful for several common strike issues.

Anonymous wrote:Fins were helpful when my kid first started year round swimming to help develop proper fly technique.

Agree with this-- fins really help fly kick. Stopping the overly bendy knees

Fins were helpful when my kid first started year round swimming to help develop proper fly technique.

Depending on the drill they can help.

Any truth to this? That fins and paddles are the key to swimming faster and with better form