(Part 2) Best swimming training equipment according to redditors

Jump to the top 20

We found 75 Reddit comments discussing the best swimming training equipment. We ranked the 48 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.

Next page

Subcategories:

Swimming hand paddles
Swimming kickboards
Swim belts
Swim vests
Swimming training fins
Swimming training paddles

Top Reddit comments about Swimming Training Equipment:

u/razrsharp67 · 11 pointsr/triathlon

I'm not a triathlete (yet!), but I am a nationally ranked college swimmer. If you have 57 days, that gives you just under two months of swimming. I don't know how you're currently training for the swimming piece, could you elaborate?

Some of this advice probably won't be helpful in two months, but I hope it can help you in the long term.

(If this comes across as too basic, I sincerely apologize. I just don't know your swimming experience).

Swimming needs to come from all parts of your body. Running and cycling use your legs, but swimming will need to focus on a bunch of different muscles, as I'm sure you already know.

The forumla for speed in swimming is (distance per cycle) x (tempo). The farther you go with each stroke and the faster you take them will determine how fast you go. We'll focus on the first half of the equation first.

The front crawl emphasizes a six beat kick per one cycle. A cycle is two arm strokes. So every you pull your left arm and then your right arm, you need to have kicked six times (optimally). Some high quality swimmers can use a four-beat kick, but let's not do that. To raise your distance-per-cycle (DPC) you're going to have to work on your kicking and your arm strength. As I'm sure you know, the swimming kick is a straight leg press from the hip. Keep your core engaged and tight throughout the entire kick. Swimming is completely centered around the core and the kick. If you want to be a successful swimmer, you need to have a strong core. This will keep the muscular connection between each cycle, meaning you won't lose energy as you recover your arms.

To strengthen your core:

Grab a med ball of 8-12 pounds. Do each exercise for 50 seconds on, 10 off for 2-4 (whatever you're comfortable with) rounds.

Russian Twists w/ ball

Flutter kick toss ups (lay on your back, kick your legs in a flutter kick pattern, and toss the med ball up vertically from your chest)

Bikes w/o ball

Plank on front

Plank on left and right sides, holding ball in off arms

Seated rows w/o ball

Then do leg lifts. Lift to 6in off the ground, hold for 20 seconds, Then lift to 90 degrees, break for five, back to 6in to hold for twenty. Repeat.

Crunches w/o ball

Full sit ups w/ ball.

Bridges w/ ball (basically a sit-up where you lift the ball over your head)

We will do these exercises before every swim practice without fail. They suck, I know, but your six-pack abs will thank you for it.

Now kick-ass abs are great, but how do they help swimming? Swimming is primarily a core-driven sport, which is something a lot of people don't realize. You need to have a tense core (my coach likes to say engaged) through the entire swim. You cannot falter in this. The tense core allows you to rotate your hips on each arm pull (which you absolutely should be doing!) As your arm enters the water, your corresponding hip should be down towards the bottom of the pool/lake/whatever. To elaborate: say your right arm is entering the water above your head. At that same moment, your right hip should be down towards the bottom. As your right arm pulls down along your body, you need to snap your hips. This will involve pushing your left hip down towards the bottom as your left arm begins to enter. How does one do this? Well with an engaged core of course!!

Now this is all a lot, I know. But bear with me. If I'm rambling, tell me, and I can give some more succinct advice!

You'll need to strengthen your legs and your arms. Buy yourself a kickboard and a pull bouy. (I don't know where you're training, but for simplicity's sake, I'm going to assume it's a 25 meter pool). You'll want to use that gear by itself in order to strengthen your individual body parts. Paddles will help, but are certainly optional.

Now two months certainly isn't long enough for you to become Phelps, but you can greatly improve! I'm going to assume that a 150 meter distance is difficult for you. Well, you're going to have to get over that obstacle simply by swimming more. I don't know how else to do. I know that swimming at times just sucks, but I promise you that it does get easier!!


Try this: (If this is too hard, tell me)

(focus on good technique and feeling the water)

3x50 m swim on 2:00.

2x25 m swim on :45 (try to swim these faster, work up your aerobic base. You should not be at an anaerobic pace)

2:00 break to grab your kickboard and grab some water.

3x25 m kick on 1:30 (focus on keeping your toes pointed, your core engaged, and make sure you're kicking from the hips)

1x50m swim on 2:00. (focus on adding what you worked on during the kick back into the swim)

2:00 break to grab your bouy (optional: and paddles)

3x25 m pull on 1:15 (focus on high elbows, smooth entry of your hands, and good hip rotation! )

1x100 m swim on 3:00 (add everything together)

1x200 m swim on 6:00 (Just keep your head down, and push through this. It'll be over soon)

2:00 break.

(Go back to the top and repeat all of that three times, or as many as you're comfortable with).

1x50 m swim ALL OUT on no interval. Just finish and be breathing hard.

2x50 m swim on 2:00 to warm down.


Repeat all of this at least three times a week. Feel free to adjust the intervals to fit your ability level. If you give me more information on what you can do, I can taylor this more accurately to you.

Now that will help your arm and leg strength, and get you more comfortable with swimming for longer distances. If there is something you don't like tell me, and I can work with it.

Now there's one more thing you should get to address the second half of the swimming equation. You should pick up a tempo trainer. It'll beep on an interval. You should be breathing on every third arm pull, and you should be taking roughly 1.3-1.5 seconds per cycle. Set the beep to that time, and just swim with it in. Wear a cap, and let it beep over and over. It's terrible, I hate them, but they work and that's what makes them good. You can time your pulls with them, time your kicks with them, whatever. But the main point is to get consistent . You need to maintain a constant tempo throughout the swim. As you get better and stronger, you can increase this tempo. I'm a short distance sprinter, and I pull at about .9-1.1. You shouldn't be that fast, it'll only serve to tire you out earlier than you need to.


Alright I know that was a wall of text, and since it's one in the morning, it might be a bit difficult to sort through. I hope that it helps! Best of luck to you in your first triathlon!! If you have any more swimming questions, I probably can answer them, and I would be more than happy to help! Cheers!

u/redd1tr1dingh00d · 3 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Most Random

Most Weird

Common Item I've seen this on a few lists.

The item I wanted most is currently out of stock in my size. :( It is a multi pouch belt for cosplay and festivals so I don't have to carry a bag. Second most wanted is probably the monofin.

u/feint_of_heart · 3 pointsr/bodyboarding

Have you got some fin keepers? Losing a fin sucks. I like these ones. The triangle keepers make my feet cramp up.

Work on your fitness. It's much more fun when you're not gassed all the time. Learn to duck dive properly. There's plenty of how-tos on Youtube. It'll help you save energy.

Try to relax when you're getting worked over by a wave. If you tense up you burn more O2.

u/wharpua · 3 pointsr/swimmingpools

A new children's swimming school opened near us this winter - really stellar facility, so many things were well considered, highly impressed with it. One thing they use in every lane when my 3yo is taking lessons is this Finis Swim Teaching Platform, and all of the kids love them.


We've got a large shallow area, but it's adult-shallow, not toddler-shallow. As much as I'd love to get one, we've got a vinyl-lined pool, so that's basically a non-starter. Our liner is near the end of its lifespan, and is really the last remaining item that we'll need to replace soon. If we got one of those then I'm sure it'd wear a hole in the liner in no time.

u/unabatedwonder · 2 pointsr/nogagreflex

On top of goggles, a swim cap, and a speedo, you should look into swim paddles. They are for your hands and they help develop your form and they tone your muscles since they add resistance. They are kind of addicting and it can be hard to go back to paddle-less swimming after training with them.

http://www.amazon.com/Speedo-Contoured-Paddles-Red-Medium/dp/B005HYLQUM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375838679&sr=8-2&keywords=swim+paddles

u/_TheBro_ · 2 pointsr/Swimming

The hard part will be to get a decently executed technique (probably aiming for front crawl) from training alone. And it's the technique you'll need first.
Maybe you can bring a device (tablet in a clear waterproof bag, e.g. ziploc bag) to watch videos and immediately execute what you saw/learned. Watching home and trying later makes it hard.
Also: Ask you pool supervisor if you can borrow a Pull Buoy and a Kickboard. With these you learn leg/arm motion better because you train them separately and can concentrate on one thing at a time.
Once you achieved a decent technique, you can aim for performance.

u/hockeystimpy99 · 2 pointsr/Swimming

I am a relatively new lap swimmer and also love gear. I bought speedo medium paddles, a pull-buoy and fins http://www.amazon.com/Speedo-SCSP-Contoured-Swim-Paddles/dp/B005MVXPQ8 . The paddles are streamline hard plastic with 3 rubber straps, one for your thumb and index, one for your middle finger and one for you ring and pinkie. They stay snug while swimming. I think paddles should be used cautiously because there is a possibility of shoulder injury. This is why I went to a medium paddle. However, paddles are effective. Their use allows one to really feel hand and arm position during stroke. It is quite apparent when ones hand enters the water at an incorrect angle.
Using these aids in drills over the last month or so has allowed me to increase my lunch time 25 minute swim to 1250 meters. My fastest 100m pace is 110 seconds / 100m. Not bad considering I have never done any lap swimming in the past.

u/SagittariaKnows · 2 pointsr/legaladvice

Then you need to talk to someone who wants to sue a public pool.

This isn't a criminal matter where you can call the cops and report chlorine issues.

If you are in NYC you can report it to NYC pools by calling 311. If you are outside NYC you can google who is responsible for the pool in your city or country and file a complaint.

> Completely destroyed, non functional lifeguard buoy never getting replaced for years

One of these?

>absent backboard for spinal injuries

They don't have a backboard like this?

>non-tainted windows causing severe water surface glare during the day

I have nothing that can fix surface glare of sunshine on water.

You can tint them but tainting them is a completely different topic.


>disgusting skimmer pots that have never been cleaned

OK

>I could go on.

Have you done anything to help the situation or do you just want to sue for damages you don't have?

There are companies and non-profits that need help and volunteers and feedback everywhere. Have you brought this up to anyone? Did you ask what you can do? Or do you want to get money because they failed?

u/chlorine_kelsey · 2 pointsr/Swimming

A binder of workouts would be good. His own gear would be a great gift: they sell pull buoys, fins, [kickboards] (http://swimming.epicsports.com/prod/32101/the-finals-kickboard-swim-training-aids.html), and a mesh bag to put it all in.

Swim lessons aren't a BAD idea, but sometimes swim instructors aren't very good. What your husband probably needs is an actual coach. I know there are some sites (can't find them right now) that you can send in an underwater video of his swimming stroke to be analyzed by a professional (but that might be annoying?). This site has lots of swimming technique videos. I have some of these videos and they are actually pretty good.

I hope that helps!

u/dodge84 · 2 pointsr/Fitness

Definitely go for it. Just get one of these for the race number.

u/thatawesomedude · 1 pointr/Lifeguards

We don't put them on in the shallows, we'll hold onto them until it's deep enough to swim. Basically, after you dive under the first wave or two, take 3 or 4 strokes to get to deeper water then thrown the fins on. We spend a LOT of time training with fins, including ranked races against other trainees, so getting proficient to the point were it takes sub 5 seconds to put them on is expected.

Also, I'd like to point out that the fins we use are not normal swim or five fins, but are usually body surfing or body boarding fins, like these, these, or these.

u/theleveler2600 · 1 pointr/surfing

If you don't have shoulder issues, pick up a set of swim training paddles to increase your shoulder and lat strength.

These are great for helping you unlearn cuping/closing your fingers if you do that (they should be slightly spaced) and good for power.

These are better for power and strength (but can strain shoulders more)

u/0xac1d · 1 pointr/surfing

Just get ankle straps and swim without your board. They sell them on Amazon. It's pretty boring, but effective.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HPS53RE/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_FRE1CbHY07A38

u/swimswam2000 · 1 pointr/triathlon

Swim Buddy Touring Pink Personal Swim Float for Open Water Swimming, Superior Puncture Resistant Material, Extremely High Visibility https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01LBTFZ80/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_XBoBCb7YHBZ4R

Get one with a handle.... strap the watch to that

u/walker1554 · 1 pointr/Swimming

I don't like zoomers, they're made of hard rubber. I like the cheap snorkeling fins that are made of the stretchy rubber that wraps the foot so there isn't any rubbing. They work great, and they're loose enough that your kicking tempo won't be slowed down too much. Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Long-Floating-Fin-Blue-Yellow/dp/B001M0O4XQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1458252453&sr=1-1&keywords=swim+fins