From: tomas@leland.Stanford.EDU (Thomas J. Monica)
Subject: Re: Paddles, Pull-bouys, Fins and Gloves
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 92 18:31:37 GMT

In article <Bu1GL7.J54@news.cso.uiuc.edu> pol30546@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Peder Larsen) writes:
>fog@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Larry Fogelquist) writes:
>
>
>>My opinion of most of these toys is that they don't do you any good at all...


A very telling statement indeed!

>
>First of all, I got a kick out of him calling these pieces of training
>equipment, toys.  More accurately I think they could be called torture
>devices, if used properly.  If someone was considering them toys, I
>wouldn't think that they were being used correctly.
>
>>Fins are useless!  They only make you miserable when you take them off and    
>>are reminded of how much work it is to go slower without them.  The only
>>thing that I use them for is working on my belly muscles for butterfly.  I 
>>also used them as a training aid when I was learning butterfly but I don't   
>>think they helped much.  Another thing that I'm toying with is using them
>>to make me go faster through the water so then I can practice pulling 
>>against water that is moving fast.  I don't know about that one yet.
>
>WHAT?  USELESS?  I used fins a lot in my training and I kicked so hard
>that my leg muscles would be burning.  I consequently developed an
>excelent kick, which is imperative in any race under 200 yards.
>
There is are some points I'd like to add about fins

(1) An excellent discussion of the uses of fins, particularly Zoomers, can be
found in the booklet that Marty Hull sends out with them. Zoomers were develop-
ed partly in conjunction with the training program of the Stanford Men's team,
which continues to use them in their workouts.

(2) Peder is right in that fins will "burn" your legs. One of their uses is to
increase aerobic loading on the body by increasing your use of the largest and
most oxygen using part of the body, your legs. This is useful in aerobic over-
load sets, where you stress your bodys areobic capacity - such as long fast setswith little rest.

(3) fins are also useful for those with shoulder injuries (larry!), in that theyreduce stress on the arms and thus the rotator cuff (THE major source of swim-
ing injury). Competetive swimmers use them to recover from such injuries.

(4) Fins are also useful for learning to "feel" race speed. It is rare that a
racer will acheive race speed in a workout. But at race speed your form changes
and you can lose efficency if you are not familiar with your stroke at that 
speed. With fins you can swim at race speed during a workout (I'd estimate a
10% speed increase) and despite the obvious perturbation due to an emphasis on
kick, you simulate race conditions. Besides, as Peder discussed, sprinter and
some distance swimmers use a considerable amount of propulsive kick.

Barry Wieck (ex-Stanford distance swimmer, 2nd NCAA Div I 1650 free in 1980?)
told me that he wasn't competetive on a national level until he switched from
a four-beat to a six-beat kick. Some swimmers such as Barry use a considerable
amount of leg even in the open water swims that Barry does now.          



Outside of those comments, I think Peder has adressed most of my issues with 
Larry's original post.

Tom
-- 
Porpise: run, bike, swim, make cookies


"long distance runner, what you holding out for?"
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