Power Bags for Upper Body Breaststroke Resistance

Glide Paddle: Great Power Paddle for Muscle Development

• Fins trap water to make a strong power paddle
• Makes an excellent power development paddle for hard sets
• The fins provide instant feedback to help ensure a quality power stroke, even when tired

Touch Paddle: Improve Workout Diversity

• Change Touch paddle sizes (reg, large, X-large) as your progress through you pull and swim sets
• Combine Touch paddles and Ankle Straps, Ankle buoys, and parachutes in pull sets

Precision Paddle: Improves Power to the Forearm (as displacement paddle)

• The Precision paddle develops forearm power and high elbow catch like swimming with balls or fists
• Unlikely fists or balls, the Precision Paddle will also prevent dropped elbow on catch and outsweep
• Since it is rounded on the front the Precision also is ‘unstable’ which develops better balance and core

Feedback (Swimmers FEEL / Coaches SEE / Video for Self-Analysis):

• As you get tired, you stop FEELING. The Precision paddle will help you work harder and keep quality strokes
• Watch for overcompensation by grabbing paddle with thumb/forefinger (or wrapping fingers over the front)

Improve the engagement the Latissimi Dorsi and the Tres Minors

• It is critical that you fold your thumb/pointer/middle fingers or else you will engage the wrong muscle groups
• The reason we don’t typically engage the Lat muscle group is that our thumb and pointer finger override other muscles

Feedback (Swimmers FEEL / Coaches SEE / Video for Self-Analysis):

• The Lat paddles require a reasonably straight stroke under the shoulder (don’t S stroke)
• Initial engage the catch with the fingertips (ring/pinky fingers only) to press down
• To keep the paddles from coming off on the outsweep, you need bend your wrist back to ‘push’ and hold the water

Power Bags: On Feet
   

• Kick at the surface with power
• Reduce knee flexing
• Power your kick from your hips
• Add drag for pull sets
• Trains to hide kick on pull sets
• Great on timed sets
• Close the bottom strap for harder workout

Power Bags: As Skirt

• Use strap belt through both bags for a ‘full skirt’
• Leave bags ‘open’ for light resistance
• Close both ends of bags for medium resistance
• Add paddles and other non-floating gear inside bags for high resistance
• Use only 1 bag to target hips on only 1 side of body
• Encourage ‘high hips’ by placing 1 bag on rump for free/fly/breast
• Encourage ‘high hips by placing 1 bag on front for backstroke
• Add a lightweight dumbbell or small weight ball to a single bag as a skirt for added drag that is almost unnoticed by the swimmer

Power Bags: As Parachute

Vary size and # of sponges

More ideal as a parachute as funnels and sponges because it offers endless resistance levels compared to 3 average parachute sizes

• Use 1 belt around waist as tug rope and the other strap as a tether
• Or attach bag to an ankle strap
• Funnels are ideal as they will pull you back during weak phases of your stroke where regular parachutes and sponges do not
• Can match the resistance of most parachutes
• Combine half skirt and 1 parachute bag for high hips and high resistance

For Pull Sets

• Ways to use Power Bags for resistance on pull sets:
  • Leave on feet for quick pull resistance
  • As full/half skirt (and added weight inside)
  • Use ankle strap to attach Power Bag as parachute
  • Attach red Power Bag strap around both ankles
  • Place 2 feet in the same bag (acts as ankle strap and drag resistance for pull sets)

  Equalizer

  • Customize drag resistance for your stronger swimmers
  • Blend a wide range of swimmers to swim at similar paces
  • Use half skirts (3 size bags) and add 1-3 pounds of weights into skirts
  • 6 different degrees of resistance in your feet (3 sizes x open or closed)

  1FlexBand: Use the 1FlexBand as an Ankle Strap (both ankles in center cuff)

  • The 1FlexBand easily holds by Ankles together by putting both ankles inside the middle cuff
  • Use for pull sets to train the core to press the chest and raise the legs
  • Makes pull sets much harder due to the added drag of the legs lower in the water
  • Add a pull buoy between the ankles to create more imbalance to the front of body

  Feedback (Swimmers FEEL / Coaches SEE / Video for Self-Analysis):

  • As your feet sink, press down on your chest to help drive up your legs
  • Alternate between adding a pull buoy between the ankles in different sets
  • Feel any ‘fishtail’ of your legs and use your core to stabilize your side-to-side balance