Finis Pull Buoy

The classic versatile swimming tool.

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About our Multi-Buy Deals

The Finis Foam Pull Buoy is a classic tool for developing your swimming. Placed between your legs as high as they will go, Pull Buoys were traditionally viewed for use as a strength development too. Since the buoyancy allows you to turn off your leg kick the upper body can be isolated.

These days we use pull buoys for slightly different reasons technique reasons. Whilst you have to be careful not to become reliant on them, they are an extremely valuable tool which every swimmer should have in their kit bag.

Swim Smooth's Opinion:

How many people do you know in your master's swim session who reach out for a pull buoy every time the going gets a little tough? I bet they're mostly the guys who do this? Have you ever asked them why? Many will tell you that they are using the pull buoy to isolate their arms to work on their swimming strength.

A Pull Buoy is held between your legs as high as it will go. This allows you to turn off your leg kick and isolate your upper body.

But swimming isn't limited by your strength, it's limited by your technique. Otherwise that 12 year old girl who flys along in the next lane must be a whole lot stronger than she looks! Swimmers who love to reach for their pull buoys are using it to mask the fact that their body position is poor or they have poor kicking technique. This is why it is normally guys with lean legs who are the first to grab their "life buoy" - it helps keep their butt and legs up and immediately remedies their body position issues.

So, with that in mind, why would we recommend you buy one?! Well there are some great reasons to use a pull buoy during your technique work:

Rotation Development. The tendency when swimming with a pull buoy is to become very flat in the water with limited body rotation. By focusing on body roll whilst using a pull buoy we encourage elements of the stroke which encourage body rotation - like an engaged core and good alignment.

Snaking Hips. The isolation of the upper body highlights any core control issues a swimmer may have. It's very common to see a swimmer snake down the lane when using a pull buoy. By encouraging the swimmer to stretch through the core we encourage body roll and remove snaking from the stroke.

Sculling and Doggy Paddle

An important focus when using a pull buoy is to think about your initial catch at the front of the stroke immediately after hand entry. To do this we ask our swimmers to perform a 50m swim with the first 15m performing our Scull #1 drill from the Swim Smooth DVD Boxset - then going straight into 35m of normal freestyle focusing on the catch. The pull buoy comes into it's own here as it isolates this aspect of the stroke. The pull buoy can also be used in exactly the same way with the doggy paddle drill.

Drills performed with a pull buoy help you improve your catch and feel for the water. As you scull or perform doggy paddle, keep your elbows higher than your wrists and your wrists higher than your fingertips, as though you are leaning over a Swiss Ball or large barrel following its contour.

All Swim Smooth products come with our 100% satisfaction guarantee.
(Details in our T+Cs)

Our Guarantee

All products that Swim Smooth supply are hand picked from quality suppliers or developed in-house. We're so confident in the great benefits each offers to swimmers we are able to give our money-back guarantee.

If you are not entirely satisfied with your Finis Pull Buoy then return it to us and we will refund you. Simple as that. (Details in our T+Cs)

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