I like the design of these paddles ... no elastic required. It's just that the sizing guidance is misleading. Since these paddles are a tray not a glove, sizing by circumference generated the wrong answer in my case. My palm measures 3.5" across. The circumference method led me to get a large paddle. Although it worked as designed, the large felt sloppy on my hand with the majority of extra surface to the left of my palm because of the thumb hole. But I really didn't want something that appreciably larger than my hand. The medium felt better.
The attached pictures show my hand measured and how it looks in each of the paddles. The paddle "trays" are wider at the top than the bottom, i.e. they taper. So unless you want something bigger, I think a person with a 4" palm can use the medium paddles without their hand feeling squeezed. The large should easily accommodate someone with a 5" palm.
I LOVE these paddles. I am a USMS swimmer training anywhere between 10K and 40K meters per week (depending on my race schedule) and these are hands down my favorite paddles. I've used strokemaster paddles for years, but during recent high mileage weeks found that they were starting to put a lot of stress on my shoulders if I used them for drill and pull sets.
These Finis paddles are much closer to the size of my hand and provide just enough additional resistance that I can feel the difference in a pull set, but don't add too much resistance. Compared to my yellow-size strokemaster paddles, the small size in the Finis Agility paddle is only about 1/3 to 1/2 of the resistance. I also like that these are only held on at the thumb. I find them much more comfortable for my hand position over the rubber tubing loop style paddles.
I have found one of the main selling points, that the thumb-only attachment requires you to put continuous positive pressure on the paddle throughout your stroke to prevent it from falling off (thereby encouraging proper stroke technique), to be a bit oversold. Most swimmers who are competent enough to incorporate paddles into their workout already have a pretty good continuous pull. Even if you still have a bit of planar break/S style pull through, I don't think you're going to get any special feedback from this paddle. You'd have to have a pretty wobbly pull to actually lose this paddle mid-stroke.
Keep your strokemaster paddles for drill sets and use this paddle for lower resistance, improved catch feedback pull sets, especially if you're in an upswing in your training regime....just don't expect it to give you any magical technique feedback if you've already got a reasonably good stroke.
I've used the same pair of rectangular, rubber-tubed hand paddles for the past 13 years and chose these as my upgrade due to poor reviews about rubber tubing currently being used in other paddles. They're... good.
Pros:
- nice contour, comfortable thumb opening
- demands good stroke technique
- can be used for all four strokes
- easy to take on/off during interval workouts
Cons:
- grip encourages odd thumb placement, contributes to cramps (this might get better as I get more used to them - only used three times so far)
- they sink, so if you lose them you'll be diving to the bottom of the pool
- they don't stack, so they take up quite a bit of room in your bag and can be awkward to carry (this seems like a small thing, but when I'm gathering cap, goggles, board, paddles, and fins, I'd prefer something that was a little more easy to manage)
Far better than I hoped! Certainly much improved from my long ago swim team days. I got the medium (2 dot) and large (3 dot). I got the smaller ones for my 20 year old daughter but I use the medium's more often than the larges. The mediums are just a touch bigger than my hands and my arm cycle rate better matches when I use the fins. The large paddles are LARGE and move a lot of water! I use them when I really want to stress my arm muscles and be sore the next day.
Do not be put off by the thumb hole and nothing else to hold them on. I hold my thumb into my hand and the paddle stays right where it is supposed to be. On the rare occasion I catch unintended water they pop right back into place easily and without stopping. I have not ever dropped or lost one during a set.
These paddles are great. I love that they are actually agile and simply slide off of my palms and hang off of my hand by the thumbs while I can adjust my goggles. As a swim instructor I am pleased with my students’ reaction to the versatility of this product. Would recommend.
Advantages:
They sink when dropped (zero flotation)
Clean easily
Allows the swimmer to pause a moment to use fingers (for cap or goggle adjusting) and slip right back into place in an instant
No straps means no replacing of the straps
Fun and interesting design
Disadvantages:
Scratch easily (didn’t come with storage bag)
Some discomfort during butterfly strokes
Feature Product
- Strapless design fits the natural contour of the hand and teaches you to apply positive pressure throughout your stroke.
- If you do not maintain a proper stroke, the paddle will let you know by shifting or falling off.
- USA Patented. Guaranteed to bringing awareness to stroke imperfections after just 1 lap.
- Versatile tool for all four swim strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.
- Low-impact, will allow you to build muscle safely.
Description
The Agility Paddles are designed to provide swimmers with instant stroke feedback – even after just 1 lap! The strapless design fits the natural contour of the hand and teaches you to apply positive pressure throughout your stroke. If you do not maintain a proper stroke, the paddle will let you know by shifting or falling off. This simple paddle will keep you conscious of your technique, build strength and heighten your feel for the water.
I have used 4 different hand webbing (provided by the pools I have used) before I settled onto this product. This was at an Equinox pool in the small, medium, and large size, and I settled on the medium size and I have average to large hands. The design of the hand paddles allow them to stay on while I'm swimming (freestyle or crawl) without having to use any harnessing. This lack of harnessing allows me to manipulate the waterproof iPod Shuffle or my Galaxy Fit2 Pro or the Finis center snorkel or nose plug without having to unstrap anything. I don't flip turn either, so I let it slide around my right hand thumb, so that I can use my fingers to push off of the wall, as I turn.
These paddles are great for working on stroke technique. I've tried several other types of paddles over the years and the Finis are by far my favorites. Because they don't have straps, they're much quicker and easier to get on and off, making it simple to alternate repeats of swimming with them and swimming without them. This is a very effective way to help gain that "feel for the water". Also, the fact that they don't have straps means you have to pull correctly so they stay on your hands. With other paddles you can "cheat" a little and the straps keep the paddles on your hands.
My advice is to make sure you don't get them too large. I first tried the mediums and they were too big for my hands and were difficult to use effectively. I am a female with small / medium hands and the small paddles fit perfectly.
I didn't even know about hand paddles until I went swimming with my sister in Boulder. She uses them. She let me use hers and I couldn't wait to use them. The problem then becomes: which do you choose? There are so many on the market. I had used my sister's extensively so I was used to hers.
This one appealed to me because of the look of the design and the slot where you insert your thumb (hers were set up in a different way). These are GREAT. When I go to the health club I usually bring my snorkle, mask and flippers when I swim in the pool. I now leave the flippers behind to put more effort into swimming with the hand paddles. I was a bit wary on the size but the size I ordered was just right. VERY highly recommended.
Nice gadget. They bring your (swim) workout a couple of notches up. Swimming with these paddles, is like you work out in the pool and in the weight room at the same time! Trust me on this, you are going to feel the effects the day after, even with not a rigorous work-out the first times you use them. I really feel the burn on my shoulders and elbows. So take it easy and build your work-out both in duration and intensity gradually, is a good advice I can offer you for these paddles. They worth the investment.
These paddles have improved my stoke. They reinforces good hand placement in the water and I can actually feel the catch/pull to help develop a catch/pull on my weaker side. I've swam for years but my technique has never been very good I should have bought these years ago. I've never swam on swim team or had any lessons beyond the basics and I believe these paddles are helping me become a better swimmer.
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