Oh it's nearly Christmas and Santa's come early! Last week I ordered a couple of swimming Christmas presents for me and whilst doing so I also ordered an "early" present for me _now_! And that's the first one to arrive. It's called the PT Paddle (PT stands for "perfect technique") and it's an "anti paddle".
I started looking at these a short while ago when Glenn from www.goswim.tv posted a reply to someones question about paddles mentioning the turtle anti paddle (www.turtleswim.com/). A quick surf to their web-site told me that it's a toy I've just got to have. Unfortunately they don't ship to the UK, well they probably would but the shipping price is truly aweful (actully given the strength of the pound at the moment, shipping isn't as bad, but it's still grim). Anyhow a bit more googling and a bit more surfing and I found www.ptpaddles.com - basically a UK version of the same thing! So I ordered a pair and they've just arrived.
First impressions are they look dreadful/tackie and not cool. But impressions aren't as important as whether or not they work. So tomorrow it's on with these new anti paddles and let's see whether they work.
What is an Anti-Paddle?
Well there's a question. Basically it's a paddle that through it's design deflects the water around itself, rather than grabbing it. That means that during the catch and pull phases of your stroke it reduces your hands effectiveness at holding the water so makes you/forces your body to adjust and swim "better" by using your forearm more (a high elbow) and better body position.
Basically it sounds like the "next generation" of "fist glove". And I've been a big fan of those for a long time, the main problem being that they wear out. So a pair of paddles that do the same thing, sounds like a good idea to me.
So roll on tomorrow lunch time.
