Courtesy of FINIS, a SwimSwam partner.
No matter what level of swimmer you are, there is always room to improve your “feel” for the water. No product does this better than a Sculling, or “fingertip” paddle. The Sculling Paddle does not cover the entire hand. Instead, it begins just above the intermediate phalange (the middle knuckle) and ends in line with the fingertips. These paddles do not add strain to the shoulder joints but do give the user a pulling surface to aid in a sculling motion or the early catch of any swimming stroke.
The Sculling Paddle is small enough that a swimmer will still feel the water on the palm of the hand and can therefore practice proper stroke patterns without feeling unnatural or out of sync. They will notice, however, a small amount of pressure along the fingertips, which is the starting point of any great Early Vertical Forearm (EVF). The small amount of targeted pressure added by the Paddle will help the swimmer “feel” the correct position of the hand as they anchor their elbow to engage in the catch.
Try the following set using the Sculling Paddles.
3 ROUNDS
4 x 25 Sculling w/ Paddles + light flutter kick
4 x 50 IM switch (Fl/Bk, Bk/Br, Br/Fr, Fr/Fl), focusing on an early fingertip catch
(**3rd round without Sculling Paddles)