The Hidden Benefits of Swimming With Swim Fins

Gear Advice, Swim Fins | February 3, 2015

Gear. The essential additive to all things sport, swimming included of course!

Fins come in all shapes and sizes. There are sport-specific as well as leisure time fins. So, if you are doing laps in a pool the first thing you need to do is avoid scuba fins… that is unless you are training for your scuba certification.

For swim training, you will find short fins, long fins, and monofins useful. Each has a different benefit to their use, but all are excellent training aids to add variety. If you need help finding the right fin, please click on over to my guide here.

What Are Swim Fins?

Swim fins are the equivalent of strapping jetpacks to your feet. Also called flippers, these are swim accessories you wear on your feet to improve your technique and performance. Kids often use fins to zoom through the water, adding jet propulsion to their day of swimming pool fun. When incorporated into your training, fins can be used to develop flexibility, correct body position, and improve your overall technique.

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The Benefits of Swimming With Fins

There are several benefits of swimming with fins:

Improve Your Kick Technique

When swimming, a proper kick technique is both narrow and compact rather than big and powerful. Using flippers to swim laps helps improve the up-kick by adding resistance to this motion. By working out your hamstrings, glutes, and lower back muscles, swim fins provide positive muscle reinforcement, improving your kick technique and making you faster and more efficient.

Learn Proper Body Position

Proper body position looks a little like a speedboat skimming across the surface of the water. Your body should ride higher, but most swimmers find this body line difficult to hold. Swimming with fins adds speed to each stroke and teaches your body how to swim on top of the water.

Improve Ankle Flexibility

A compact yet efficient kick requires great ankle flexibility. Some swimmers are naturally flexible. Others need to work on this skill. Swim fins reinforce proper kick mechanics, allowing you to develop ankle flexibility faster than training without fins.

Increase Strength and Endurance

As you zip through the water, you may not notice the passage of time. Swim fins allow you to swim for longer periods of time, increasing your muscle strength and endurance in the process.

Improve Stroke Technique

By adding stability and propulsion to your swim training sessions, swim fins allow you to focus on specific elements of whichever stroke you may be working on. The added speed also helps you practice more advanced drills, such as backstroke or one arm freestyle.

Reduce Shoulder Stress

While swimming is a relatively low-impact workout, after a while, your shoulders endure quite a bit of stress. The repetitive movements of each stroke can lead to shoulder damage if proper care is not given. Swim fins lessen the impact of your workout on your shoulders.

Types of Swimming Fins

The length and shape of the swim fin's blade has a big impact on how it will affect your workout and training. Each type of swimming fin serves a slightly different purpose. It's important to understand the three most common designs before deciding which one is right for your individual swim needs.

Standard Long Fins

Primary benefits to using the standard long fins are:

- Increased speed to simulate race pace scenarios
- Increased work load on your legs
- Build endurance and strength
- Added bonus of trying to control your turns, streamlines, and stroke under higher speeds

Short Fins

Short fins (Power Swim Fins) are beneficial for a couple of reasons:

- Flutter kick training
- Their shorter stature forces swimmers to use small and quick kicks maximizing all-around efficiency

Monofins

Monofins are used exclusively for dolphin kick training and offer some distinct benefits:

- Foil movement underwater is optimized greatly by the aid of a monofin
- Working with a single fin in this manner increases core strength in addition to leg strength

Finding Your Ideal Swim Fin

Whether you're shopping for your swim team or looking for the best swim fins for your individual training sessions, Kiefer Aquatics is here to help. Our customer service team would be happy to help you find the best swimming fins for your needs.