Stop Wasting Money on Swim Gear (What Actually Works)

Most of this stuff, honestly, I don't even use. But today, we're gonna look at the swim gear I actually rely on every day as a swimming coach. The stuff that really makes a difference. Hi, I'm Eetu Karvonen, and I coach swimmers from complete beginners all the way to Olympic medalists. Kids, adults, you name it. And here's the truth. Most swim gear is just marketing hype. You don't need a mesh bag full of equipment, but the right tools can speed up your learning if you are a beginner and make the development of your skills and fitness a bit more effective if you are more advanced. Now, do you need any equipment to train effectively? Not really, but the right tools can definitely help. And today, I will show you what I actually use in my day-to-day coaching and full disclosure to start off. I am not sponsored by any of these companies, although I have tried to get free stuff for years, I haven't had any luck yet. So what I'm showing you today is 100% by honest, unbiased take, and not shaped by any kind of market forces. So these are the tools I've found that actually work. So you can test what helps you, skip what doesn't, and avoid wasting money on shiny gadgets that add zero benefits. And if you want to learn how to train more efficiently, whether with training gear or without it, check out my free ebook, Training Principles for Master Swimmers, breaks down how to design effective swimming training, and you can grab it from the link below. It's completely free, and it's my way of helping you to train smarter. So let's start with the basics, the stuff that has been around for decades, even a century. And first up is the good old pull buoy. It's super simple, but probably the most versatile tool in the bag. And here's the rule of thumb, the smaller, the better. The buoy is too big or too floaty, it lifts your legs way too high, and suddenly your body position is nothing like real swimming. That means you're training the wrong thing. A smaller buoy still gives you that support for your pulling sets, but it keeps your position realistic. You can also use it for some balance drills, and it works actually better for kicking than most kickboards. And the brand doesn't matter at all. So this one, I have no idea where I got this, but it was free and it works perfectly, so it was a good deal. And naturally, next up is the kickboard. And here as well, I would avoid big, extremely floaty boards, which do have use case for some balancing work and resisted kicking, but for general use, the smaller ones are simply better. It keeps your body position more natural, and by pressing into it, you can slightly change your body angles while you're kicking. Also, you should look for one with some flex or give, because a board that actually bends a little helps to reinforce good dolphin kick mechanics as you can create the start of the undulation from the fingers down. And as for all the different designs on the market, like this kind of alignment board here, I don't think they offer any benefits. Maybe you can kick slightly faster with it, but it doesn't mean that your kick will develop any more or that the kicking improvements would translate into faster swimming any better than from a regular design. And I got this for free again, so no idea what the brand is, but again, swimmers like it and I like it. So neither the kickboard or the pull buoy are essential for your training. And if we take a broad horizon view, I don't think there would be much of a difference in terms of actual development, whether you use them or not. But if we talk about fins, I think they are hugely beneficial, especially for beginners, as they make it easier to move through the water and focus fully on your upper body mechanics and rhythm. And for more advanced swimmers, having an easy to set up tool to swim faster is a good thing. And yes, the mechanics might shift a little bit when you're using fins, but as long as you are doing a sufficient amount of fast swimming unequipped, I think experiencing those higher velocities is uniquely beneficial. And here, my top pick is really the DMC fin design. And I think the Arena and Speedo ones are very close to the original. Maybe they're somehow licensed off from the same design, but they're all great. And other short blade fins are okay too, as they keep your kick closer to real kicking while adding that bit of extra resistance, the resistance that allows you to swim faster. But in most cases, I would just avoid those long scuba diving style fins, because they distort the mechanics of the kick too much. And I don't think there is any transfer to actual swimming from them. Now, another piece of gear that I value, especially for beginners, is the snorkel. And in fact, I would almost say that it should be mandatory for your very first session in the pool, because it removes the hardest part of swimming, which is breathing. So with a snorkel on, you can just suddenly focus fully on your balance, your body line at the surface, and finding effective rhythm for your movements. And for more advanced swimmers, the snorkel has plenty of uses as well, in drills, in kicking, and somewhat paradoxically, even in learning how to breathe. Because by paying attention to the smooth rhythm you can have in your non-breathing lengths when you're using the snorkel, you can kind of pick up those kinesthetic cues and then aim to reproduce the same sensations once you add the breathing back in. So it's a really valuable tool. Now, while a kind of a regular diving snorkel on the side might be fine for beginners, I recommend everyone gets front-mounted swimmer snorkels. And here again, the brand doesn't matter much. Just make sure the pipe is long enough so you can keep your head in a proper swimming position. So of course, the Finnish version is the classic one, but most of them do the job just as well. And finally, the last piece of the basics, paddles. And here you really can't go wrong with the classic stroke makers. So they've been around forever and there's a good reason for it. And I'm sure all of these modern designs, they might offer some benefits for some swimmers, but I think it's more of a case of individual preference. And I've yet to meet a swimmer who wasn't happy with the classic stroke makers. And the fact that the paddle is symmetrical in shape means you can use them in creative ways. You can hold them upside down, you can do strapless swimming with a pinch grip and all those ways at least introduce a novel way to connect with the water. And that might teach you something about your pulling mechanics. And the size you pick is really up to you. But the medium size, which would be green in stroke makers, is kind of the most versatile one. But if you can, I would actually have two pairs, one kind of a smaller pair for skills and aerobic work, and then a larger pair for power development. All right, let's step it up. So once you've got the basics covered, the next category is resistance gear. And the simplest tools here are parachutes and a stretch cord. So parachutes of different sizes are awesome for group training. So you just clip one on, you jump in and instantly you've got resistance that's consistent across every stroke. So it's super easy and you can run a whole lane of swimmers with them. And this is just generic Decathlon brand chutes. And I got this under 10 euros piece and they have three different sizes of parachutes you can clip on and a little buoy that helps to keep the rope attached to the swimmer at the surface. And I think they work just fine. And the stretch cords are actually a little bit more versatile. You can use them for the resistance swimming, but also for over speed work, where the cord actually pulls you faster than you can swim on your own, forcing your stroke to adapt to faster velocities. And that's what swimming is about. But there is a big difference between parachutes and the stretch cord. The parachute gives you even resistance the whole way, while the cord obviously resists more the farther you go. And sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes not. And it just really depends on the swimmer and the goal of the training set. Now, if I had unlimited budget and storage space, I would buy more of these bad boys because I think the PowerRack is the best resistance device for swimming. It gives you even resistance on every stroke and you can adjust the weight with precision. And this Destro Tower of Power even has a built-in electronic timer. So session after session, you can actually track whether you are improving. So instead of just suggesting the swimmers to swim fast, they actually get instant feedback on their five, 10, 15, and 20 meter times. So I can just say, here's your 10 meter sprint time from last session. Now figure out how to get faster. And they love it. It turns training into a competition with themselves and that's powerful motivation. And this Destro model is also really compact and easy to set up. And I think it might be the only one on the market that doesn't require huge storage space. And then in the same category, the GMX 7 resistance device. And this one is a bit polarizing. So some swimmers really love it and some absolutely hate because it does create this slightly off-center pull on the swimmer. And with breaststroke, you might actually end up kicking the rope attached to your hip. But personally, I like it, but not as a real power development tool. For me, the magic of this is in technique refinement because the GMX 7, it gives you this light consistent resistance that you can actually change from here, but for the entire length of the pool and in both directions. And that constant load helps you to recognize any dead spots in your stroke and then eliminate those velocity fluctuations within your stroke cycle. Now, the downside is that you're locked into one side of the lane, only one swimmer at a time. So unless you've got your own pool, it's not really convenient for public pools or group practices, but neither is anything else than the parachute. Another super simple tool, especially for dolphin kick development, are the drag socks. And the added drag and the removal of the feel for the water forces the swimmer to find a way to become more efficient without relying too much on their feet. And similarly, swimmers just feel better after they use these on their hands. Something that might be of value in itself. Now, you can, of course, buy the branded versions, which probably offer some benefits, or you can do it my way by just grabbing about $2 laundry mesh bag, tying a string or rubber band around it, and boom, you got instant do-it-yourself drag socks. And they work just as well. And if one tears, it's not really a big deal. You can just skip one coffee per day and invest your money in a new pair. And now let's talk about technology. And I think in the very near future, there might be some awesome developments, but right now there's really only one piece I recommend, the form goggles. And in case you forgot, I am not sponsored by them. Although what they bring to the table for self-coached swimmers just absolutely perfectly aligns with my coaching philosophy, because they give you live feedback on your splits, your stroke rates, your stroke lengths, your heart rates and counts, rest intervals, and now even the heart rate right here in your goggles. And for self-coached swimmers, and I hate to use this word, but these are actual game changers, because you can track your progress session to session to see if your training is actually working and adjust right away based on the data. And the heart rate sensor in this is best in the business. Immediate, accurate, and visible as you go. So if you train alone, I'd say this is the one piece of gear worth the investments because it takes the guesswork out of training and replaces it with data you can actually use to improve. So here's the deal. No piece of gear is going to make you faster on its own. Smart training does that. The right tools just make that process maybe a little easier, a little more effective, and sometimes a little more fun. So stick to the basics, invest where it actually counts, and skip the hype. And if you want more gear breakdowns and elite-level information on technique and training, hit subscribe. And if you're serious about your swimming goals, consider one-on-one coaching with me. We start with a free 30-minute call. Link is in the description, and I'll see you in the next video.