By Stu Kahn

Looking for a product to improve freestyle technique and strength at the same time? FINIS Freestyler paddles may be just what you need. FINIS is a leader in swim innovation and we’ve found their products help athletes of all abilities master the basics as a means to excellence.

My wife, Mary, and I coach a large masters club at the University of California, Davis. We typically average 700 registered swimmers, of whom about 120 come and go each year. Because of that turnover, we’re working with about 10 new swimmers a month, most with an old fashioned knowledge of freestyle. In bringing them up to speed, we teach propulsion as a result of directing water backward with hands and forearms. We no longer advocate the ‘S’ shaped pull pattern and are in favor of a straighter hand path through the pull and push motions. To accomplish that, we’d been looking for a hand paddle that decreased resistance on entry, was stable throughout the catch-and-hold sequence and allowed a longer extension at the finish. We have found that in the Freestyler paddle and think it’s ideal for modernizing what the ‘newbies’ should be thinking and feeling.

When we first found the Freestyler paddle, it was promoted as a front-end tool to plane the hand forward, improving distance per stroke. That certainly got our attention but what we really like is what it does in the middle and end of the stroke. When used correctly, the Freestyler maintains a strong anchor in the middle of the stroke and increases propulsion during the push phase which, when timed properly, does allow for the opposite hand to extend farther in front.

Because our athlete population tends to be older, often lacking in strength and/or flexibility, the surface area of standard paddles exceeded most of their strength to skill ratios. The longer, narrow style of the Freestyler presented an intriguing option to other paddles. Taking advantage of the unique cut-out design of the Freestyler, we teach our swimmers to tip their wrists at the catch. This takes some of the stress from the shoulder joint and moves it toward the elbow and wrist joints. We do two other things to make sure the swimmers feel the paddle against the water. First, the swimmers avoid grabbing the edges with their fingers and thumb. Second, we utilize the long fin rudder on the underside by loosening the finger tubing. This magnifies the sensations if the paddle slips from side-to-side and is the paddle’s biggest selling point and creates the greatest ‘Ah-hah’ moment.

Prior to the first use of the paddle, we time our swimmers in a standard swim length and count their strokes. Adding the two together, we call this sum their ‘Swim Proficiency’ (SP) number. We then add the Freestyler and within just a few lengths typical swimmers lower their SP by as much as 30%. Removing the paddle then puts the focus directly onto their hands and forearms.

This valuable tool has made our coaching job easier. New swimmers are quickly introduced to a fixed biomechanical principle and then are appropriately challenged to take responsibility and ownership of their improved skills.