Validating The Pull Buoy Debate

[Keith Watson]

Sometimes I warm up with it. Sometimes I cool down with it. But I always Main Set with it. And when I race I am consistently smashing it.

Usually when people let go of things its the belief that they will improve. In this case I did not start improving until I let go of old beliefs and held onto that PB more and more for longer and longer.

Your pool times are not always indicative of your race times. As soon as my yardage with the pool buoy went up, my open water swim times came down and that is the only time I care about. So let go of your fancy drills and hold onto that buoy and watch those times come down.

[doc]

halalua
we have a convert , pull bouys work   just as a wet suit makes you faster  so do pull bouys

[bob]

My pool times without pull buoy improved as well. But only after I glued two pull buoys together.    No small pull buoys for me anymore!

I do all the warm up and cool down with pull buoys too. Only first lap without after the dive. I still have to learn to dive with the buoy already between the thighs.

The pull buoy and paddle advice was the best swim advice I ever got. Two years after I converted to this method I have more then 10% time improvement over long distances.  And the best thing is, I am still improving every month. 

One question Doc,
Do you like the shape of the red pull buoy in the picture best? I have 1.5 normal foam pull buoys glued together but the red one on the picture looks like it elevates the hips a bit more because of more buoyancy under the pelvis. Or am I thinking too much now?

[Keith Watson]

I've experimented with many different models.  I ended up super gluing a large and small buoy together. Puts me in the perfect wetsuit position.

[dexter_ding]

how about posting our pullbouy pics instead. let me do mine tom. heheheh Let's let the doc choose the grooviest!:D hehehe

[Keith Watson]

Hey Dex, I'll play. Here's the gear I keep in my swim bag at all times.

[doc]

bob i love the big foammies
if they on the red were both big i love it even more .

[QR]

Doc, should we use a smaller pull buoy if most of our races are done without wetsuit?

[blew]

I have joined the club.  Love the new buoy.

[StephenBayliss]

Use the big pull bouy for training, even if you race non wetsuit,  it is still the best training aid. 

That picture of that pull bouy looks just about right,  good work!

[mytrilife]

I was joking with my wife that I was just going to cut a foam roller (for massage therapy) in half and strings the halfs together. It would be HUGE.... looks like it wouldn't be far off the mark though. 

[jefft01]

Yeah, I'm a believer in using the pull buoy.  Been using the larger bouy now for 4 weeks. This morning I swam 35x100 using extra small paddles and two pull bouys taped together and left on 1:35 for each 100.  I've been using a straight arm stroke and breathing on my dominate side and I am starting to see some speed finally in the pool.  I kept coming in at 1:25 so I was getting around 10 seconds of rest.  This was  my best session to date and hopefully this will help me break the hour mark in my ironman swim.  Thanks to the doc and everyone on Team TBB for this advice. 

[Binnsy]

I've been a believer in pull buoy and paddles for the last 7 years. In the time I have followed a steady build pattern in my training sets to ensure I stay injury free. I have 3 sets of paddles of different sizes that I use in a variety of workouts. I noticed the biggest improvements came when I introduced a weekly open water swim of 1 hour up to 90 mins. I recommend pull buoys and paddles to anyone who is interested in developing their swimming.

[jules]

Can I just go back to basics here and someone explain to me why a pb "just works". I can see why paddles work, but what is it about training with a pb that in particular makes non-wetsuit race swims faster? 

[Matthieu O’Halloran - "M@"]

Hey jules - a pull/buoy is great tool for triathletes as we often train on smashed legs.
Or would rather train hard at a lower HR to manage our energy for a future workout.

It allow's you to train with better body position to create 'muscles memory'.
And if your ambitious enuff train with a band around your ankles.
You will have the support needed for a better quality strength workout.

Most non-wet-suit swims are in salt water where you get that extra 'lift' as well!
So might as well train for it!