Five Ways Fins Can Improve Your Swimming (Without Using Them For Drills)
Perhaps the single best tool you can buy to help you develop your freestyle swimming is a good pair of swimming fins (also commonly called flippers). Swimming with fins gives you extra propulsion and support in the water, allowing you to focus on developing a particular area of the stroke much more easily.
Elite swimmers use fins for "overspeed work", allowing them to swim faster and really work their kick hard in doing so. For that reason they often use short "zoomer" style fins:
Whilst short fins fit more easily in your swim bag, generally we don't recommend them for age-group adult swimmers as they don't provide enough propulsion for most adults and their stiffness can place unnecessarily stress on your ankles.
Instead, we recommend a longer rubber fin such as the Finis Floating Fins:
These are long enough to provide good propulsion but the rubber is highly flexible, reducing the pressure on your ankle joint. You can see them in our swim shop here: https://shop.swimsmooth.com/products/finis-floating-fins
(Note you might have a pair of long plastic diving/scuba fins in the back of the cupboard but these are best avoided as they will be very stiff and place a lot of stress on your ankles.)
Here's five benefits:
1. Practise Breathing Bilaterally
As we discussed here breathing every 3 strokes (bilateral breathing) is hugely beneficial to your stroke but many find it challenging at first. Breathing every 3 becomes considerably easier with the support of the fins whilst you adapt to it.
Use fins to practise bilateral breathing the next time you swim but don't overkick with the fins on (it's tempting) or you'll burn a lot of oxygen and place pressure back on your breathing. Focus on a nice smooth exhalation into the water and kick gently but with a nice rhythm.
2. Keep Your Head Low When You Breathe
If you are quite new to swimming and feel you are still working on the basics of freestyle, then it's likely you are lifting your head clear of the water to breathe:
Doing this causes you to press down on the water with your lead arm (losing you propulsion) and it lifts the whole front end of your body up, sinking your legs (adding lots of drag).
Instead you should keep your head low when you breathe and use the trough of the bow-wave to find air:
The support from the fins will help you develop this technique as it can feel strange and disconcerting at first. You'll be moving quicker with the fins on too which makes the bow wave bigger and easier to access.
Find out more about bow wave breathing here: www.everyoneactive.com/content-hub/swimming-swim-smooth/bow-wave-breathing/
3. Kick With A Straighter Leg
Many adult onset swimmers bend their knee excessively when they swim:
This sinks the legs low in the water and burns a lot of oxygen and energy.
Instead you should kick more from the hip with a straighter leg, keeping a slight softness at the knee to allow a small amount of bend:
The good news is that swimming full stroke freestyle with fins naturally pushes you into a straighter leg position. Swimming steady paced freestyle with your fins on for 200 to 400m allows you to get the feel of a better leg kick technique.
4. Gently Stretch Your Ankles
Not only do fins help you keep a straighter leg when you kick, they also push your feet into a straighter (plantar flexed) position:
This reduces drag and helps bring the legs higher in the water.
As discussed above, stiff plastic fins will force you into this position aggressively, so are best avoided. However a pair of soft rubber fins will apply a light stretch and gently increase your ankle mobility over time. After a few months of regular use (little and often) your ankles will be better able to achieve a good kicking position.
5. Experience "Overspeed"!
Just like elite swimmers by swimming with fins you too can experience moving through the water significantly faster than your normal pace. This helps you feel the water better, get an appreciation of streamlining your body more effectively and helps you develop a sense of "purpose" to your stroke.
Overspeed work should only be performed for short distances (perhaps 50 to 100m at a time) but if you feel a bit "one paced" in your stroke it can help you break out of that rut to faster swimming.
But What If My Pool Won't Allow Fins?
In some countries around the world (notably the UK) it is common for pools to not allows fins in public lanes. If you're in this predicament then it's well worth asking the pool staff if there is a session during the week where fins are allowed - perhaps an evening sessions with adult-only lanes. If not then ask your pool manager to create one.
For those pools that have a blanket ban in place then it's well worth travelling a little further once a week to find a pool where they do allow fins - they really are that beneficial to your development in the water!
Swim Smooth!
Elite swimmers use fins for "overspeed work", allowing them to swim faster and really work their kick hard in doing so. For that reason they often use short "zoomer" style fins:
Whilst short fins fit more easily in your swim bag, generally we don't recommend them for age-group adult swimmers as they don't provide enough propulsion for most adults and their stiffness can place unnecessarily stress on your ankles.
Instead, we recommend a longer rubber fin such as the Finis Floating Fins:
(Note you might have a pair of long plastic diving/scuba fins in the back of the cupboard but these are best avoided as they will be very stiff and place a lot of stress on your ankles.)
Using Fins To Improve Your Swimming
Fins are probably most famously used for performing Swim Smooth drills such as 6-1-6, Broken Arrow and Javelin. However, even without performing any specific drills there are some great benefits you can gain from swimming with fins during your sessions, especially for relatively new swimmers.Here's five benefits:
1. Practise Breathing Bilaterally
As we discussed here breathing every 3 strokes (bilateral breathing) is hugely beneficial to your stroke but many find it challenging at first. Breathing every 3 becomes considerably easier with the support of the fins whilst you adapt to it.
Use fins to practise bilateral breathing the next time you swim but don't overkick with the fins on (it's tempting) or you'll burn a lot of oxygen and place pressure back on your breathing. Focus on a nice smooth exhalation into the water and kick gently but with a nice rhythm.
2. Keep Your Head Low When You Breathe
If you are quite new to swimming and feel you are still working on the basics of freestyle, then it's likely you are lifting your head clear of the water to breathe:
Doing this causes you to press down on the water with your lead arm (losing you propulsion) and it lifts the whole front end of your body up, sinking your legs (adding lots of drag).
Instead you should keep your head low when you breathe and use the trough of the bow-wave to find air:
The support from the fins will help you develop this technique as it can feel strange and disconcerting at first. You'll be moving quicker with the fins on too which makes the bow wave bigger and easier to access.
Find out more about bow wave breathing here: www.everyoneactive.com/content-hub/swimming-swim-smooth/bow-wave-breathing/
3. Kick With A Straighter Leg
Many adult onset swimmers bend their knee excessively when they swim:
This sinks the legs low in the water and burns a lot of oxygen and energy.
Instead you should kick more from the hip with a straighter leg, keeping a slight softness at the knee to allow a small amount of bend:
The good news is that swimming full stroke freestyle with fins naturally pushes you into a straighter leg position. Swimming steady paced freestyle with your fins on for 200 to 400m allows you to get the feel of a better leg kick technique.
4. Gently Stretch Your Ankles
Not only do fins help you keep a straighter leg when you kick, they also push your feet into a straighter (plantar flexed) position:
This reduces drag and helps bring the legs higher in the water.
As discussed above, stiff plastic fins will force you into this position aggressively, so are best avoided. However a pair of soft rubber fins will apply a light stretch and gently increase your ankle mobility over time. After a few months of regular use (little and often) your ankles will be better able to achieve a good kicking position.
5. Experience "Overspeed"!
Just like elite swimmers by swimming with fins you too can experience moving through the water significantly faster than your normal pace. This helps you feel the water better, get an appreciation of streamlining your body more effectively and helps you develop a sense of "purpose" to your stroke.
Overspeed work should only be performed for short distances (perhaps 50 to 100m at a time) but if you feel a bit "one paced" in your stroke it can help you break out of that rut to faster swimming.
But What If My Pool Won't Allow Fins?
In some countries around the world (notably the UK) it is common for pools to not allows fins in public lanes. If you're in this predicament then it's well worth asking the pool staff if there is a session during the week where fins are allowed - perhaps an evening sessions with adult-only lanes. If not then ask your pool manager to create one.
For those pools that have a blanket ban in place then it's well worth travelling a little further once a week to find a pool where they do allow fins - they really are that beneficial to your development in the water!