- We all know swimming can get a bit tedious
from time to time.
Trawling up and down that black line.
- Yeah, as triathletes, we are often quite guilty
of just sticking to front crawl
and not really changing it up much,
but there's still other ways in which
you can spice up your training
and using toys is one of them.
(bright music)
You're probably wondering what on earth we're talking about,
but I'm afraid we don't actually mean
jumping in the pool with a large inflatable
and messing about.
These are actually toys and tools
that can help you improve your swimming technique.
- Now there's a wide selection of different toys
that you can get,
so we've just picked a selection
that you can add into your training
to make it a bit more interesting.
(upbeat music)
So this is quite a common pull toy
and it's called a pull buoy
and basically, you put this between your legs
and it raises your hips slightly out of the water.
- Yeah, it's great if you are a swimmer
who struggles with sinking hips.
It basically does a similar action
to what a wetsuit would do in open water,
but it also helps to single out your arms,
so you're really working just on your upper body.
You can't really use your legs when you've got that.
If you're just stuck and you can't find a pull buoy
in your local pool, then a kick-board
can work as an improvisation,
it's just a little bit less comfortable.
- So you might have heard people refer
to the pull paddle combo.
And so using a pull buoy and a set of paddles,
you're basically gonna isolate the front end of your stroke.
- Yeah, if you're using large paddles like Mark and I,
then it's very much about power, working on your strength
and if you wanna feel fast,
you can just take the pull buoy out,
keep the paddles on, and use your legs
and it'll give you a great feel of the water.
But if you wanna work more on technique,
there are actually other paddles available on the market.
Slightly smaller ones that'll just really
reiterate getting that perfect stroke.
Now I know we've already mentioned the kick-board,
but as its name says, it's specifically designed for kick.
If you're got a board like this,
you can just place your fingers through the holes
and the whole idea is to be comfortable and relaxed,
resting your forearms on top
so you can concentrate purely on your kick.
- And you don't have to bury
your face into the water either.
Keep your head up so that you can breaths,
most importantly, and then it's social as well,
you can chat to the person next to ya.
But really you're doing it
so you can isolate your leg kick.
- Now another toy, slightly less usual is the snorkel
and if you look closely, you'll notice
that it's different to the snorkel you'd use on holiday.
This one goes down the centre of your face.
So you can concentrate on keeping your head
completely still when you're swimming.
Now a lot of swimmers struggle with the breathing.
It's the movement of the head that upsets the stroke.
But if you've got this, you can breathe
as much as you want and consistently
and then you're purely focusing
on what your arm and legs are doing.
- As you can see, I've got a set of fins on.
And what fins do is basically gonna propel
you out of the water slightly
and make you travel a lot quicker.
And it also improves your ankle flexibility
and I guess it's similar, it's a bit like
an outboard motor does on a boat.
And it's the closest you're gonna come
to feeling like Michael Phelps.
(upbeat music)
- Now we covered five toys in this video
and it might be a little bit daunting.
So if you wanna try before you buy,
quite a few pools will have a pull buoy
or a kick-board at least that you can borrow first.
- Yeah, so you don't have to get all those,
maybe just select a couple that are gonna help you
on some of the areas of the swim stroke
that you're focusing on.
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And to see an open water swim video, click here.
- And if you want to see a video
on essential swim workouts, then click down here.
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