On the outside, swimming may appear to be a simple sport. Most people think of it as a simple and easy sport which requires a swimsuit and a pair of goggles. But, contrary to the popular belief there are various training accessories available in the market, which may assist you in your swimming sessions.
Training accessories such as hand paddles, fins, snorkels can help an individual develop and enhance strength and endurance. Also, using training accessories isn’t confined to professional swimmers. Whether you are training for a swimming competition, or just doing a normal aquatic workout, training accessories are of great help.
Following are some of the essential swimming accessories which you must have at the time of pool workout.
- Snorkel
- Hand Paddles
- Band
- Anti-fog spray
- Kickboard
- Nose clips
Snorkel:
Gone are the days when the usage of snorkels was limited to fish spotting. Snorkel can play a promising role in improving your swimming skills. With the help of this tool, one can enhance and develop a more balanced stroke, gain a better rhythm and improve arm movements. It also improves your head position. Also, these snorkels let you get a hold of your breathing and you don’t have to worry about turning your head now and then to breathe. Also, they are readily available in the market at reasonable prices.
Hand paddles:
Hand paddle is probably one of the few swimming accessories which create a lasting impact on your technique, especially when it comes to your upper body workout. Not only do the hand paddles provide you an improved feeling of water, but they also provide you with a better awareness of your arm’s pull.
It offers resistance to your strokes, which eventually forces you to slow down and lets you deeply focus on your technique. What adds to its utility is the fact that if you apply a stroke with technical tweaking, the paddles will eventually make each arm pull more difficult. This way, it will allow you to slow down your pace and concentrate on the different areas of your body.
It is to keep in mind that one should never use hand paddles that are 10% larger than your hands. Also, make sure that you don’t end up using them for more than a quarter of your total workout time. It is because if you use hand paddles larger than your hands for a longer period of time, you might end up getting strain on your arms and shoulders.
Band:
Wearing an ankle band can turn out to be another way of strengthening your upper body. It helps you keep your feet together and helps you prevent kicking during pull sets. Pull buoy alone is insufficient in such cases as they don’t control your feet, but when coupled with an ankle band, it helps you keep the body in alignment.
It is to keep in mind that an ankle band can also work without a pull buoy and can easily help you target abdominal muscles by forcing you to prevent your legs from sinking
Anti Fog spray:
To be fair, it is not a mandatory swimming training accessory that a swimmer needs to carry with himself. But, having said that, anti-fog spray can be of great help for any swimmer. There is a high chance that you might end up fogging your goggles when you are in the pool float, which will eventually hinder your visibility.
It doesn’t matter whether you are swimming long-distance racing, or going for a regular swim, fogged-up goggles can turn out to be your worst nightmare. Goggle manufacturers usually label their products as anti-fog. This might not be entirely false, but the anti-fog coating usually wears off over time, especially when swimmers wipe it continuously. Having an anti-fog spray is always a plus since not having it means having to fully stop, wipe the fog away from your goggles only to repeat the process after some time.
This is why having an anti-fog spray is beneficial, because once you get rid of foggy goggles, you may be able to focus on your swimming.
Nose Clips:
There are multiple reasons which make nose clips a great accessory for a swimming training exercise. Not only do they help the swimmer prevent water from going up against their nose which eventually helps them avert the burning sensation, but also help the swimmer shift its focus from its nose and lets him focus on proper mouth breathing.
Nose clips are purposefully designed to hold the nostrils closed to prevent water from entering or air from escaping. It can be of great help for people who are new to swimming, given that it helps you in breath control. This is something a lot of new swimmers struggle with, and nose clips help them workout breathing patterns without letting water get up their noses.
Kickboard:
Kickboard is another important swimming training accessory that may help you a great deal in your routine swimming drills. It is also an effective way to make both your arm and leg do the work. Kickboards help you have a functional kick, which comes in handy in critical moments towards the end of the race. Kickboards focus on your legs.
Legs, being the largest muscle of your body, consume a lot of oxygen. Due to this, enhancing their strength is of great importance. Also, having sufficient leg fitness level will simultaneously improve finishing ability and will eventually help swimmers execute a stronger pulling motion. Also, it keeps your upper body still and above the water and helps you concentrate on your leg muscles.
Also, if you hold kickboard vertically, it will provide resistance when pushing through the water.
Conclusion:
The aforementioned swimming training accessories are best for aquatic workouts. Not that they are mandatory for an aquatic workout, but having them in your possession will help you in many ways during your swimming sessions