There are many different styles of swim fins to choose from and we have some suggestions for you today.  One questions I get all of the time is why do you need swim fins for swimming practice or training. Well swim fins are great for a couple of reasons. First of all they help teach proper kick technique and help build your leg muscles. They are also a very important tool to use during swim practice to help reduce fatigue and to keep your stroke from breaking down. Using swim fins will allow you to have more energy to focus on the rest of your stroke and help build a better stroke technique. Most coaches require swim fins for their swimmers and it is an especially critical tool for beginning swimmers.

Which swim fins are best for me? You have most likely seen long blade rubber swim fins and you might of also of seen the guy in the gym pool with the really short swim fins. Long swim fins are more for beginning swimmers who need more propulsion and they are also a little easier to use. The short blade fins are designed to give you a more natural feel of the water so that when you take off the fins there is less of difference in your kick without the swim fins.

Should I buy Zoomers or another short fin? Everyone seems to think that Zoomers are the best short fin, however the new short fins that are on the market now have an additional 20+ years of technology behind them. Do you want to buy a computer from 1985 or a computer from 2010? Same thing applies to the Zoomers vs the new short fins like the Speedo Optimus swim fins. The Speedo Optimus is a short blade fin with a slightly longer blade plus a cut out notch in the blade. The notch allow you to have a more natural feel of the water on both the down and up kick. See the technology thing kicking in! You will get a better workout with the Speedo Optimus swim fins and also your swimming technique will also improve. So don’t worry about that old guy in the lane next to you that is wearing the Zoomers, just smile because he is most likely also still using a computer from 1985. Happy Swimming!