Walk onto any pool deck at a squad session and you'll see swimmers surrounded by a collection of foam, rubber and plastic that can look bewildering if you haven't used it before. Pull buoys, kickboards, hand paddles, fins, snorkels. Each one has a specific purpose, and when used correctly, each one can meaningfully accelerate your progress in the water.
Training aids work by isolating parts of your stroke, building strength in specific muscle groups, or creating conditions that force your body to move more efficiently. They're not shortcuts. Used without understanding, some of them can actually reinforce bad habits. But with a clear sense of what each tool does and when to use it, they become some of the most effective resources available to any swimmer.
This guide covers the main training aids, what they're designed to do, and how to get the most out of them.
Pull Buoy
The pull buoy is one of the most widely used training aids in swimming, and for good reason. It's a figure-eight shaped float that you hold between your upper thighs to keep your lower body buoyant, allowing you to focus entirely on your arm stroke without kicking.
What it does: Removing the kick from your stroke isolates your upper body and forces your arms, shoulders and core to do all the work. This builds upper body strength, improves stroke efficiency, and gives you an opportunity to focus on technique elements like catch position, pull path and hand entry without the distraction of coordinating your legs at the same time.
How to use it: Place the pull buoy between your upper thighs, just below your hips. Your hips should sit high in the water. Swim freestyle or backstroke focusing on long, powerful strokes with a high elbow catch.
Common mistake: Squeezing the pull buoy too tightly causes your hips to rotate excessively and your stroke to break down. Hold it firmly enough to keep it in place, but let your body position do the rest.
When to use it: Pull drills work well in the middle of a session when your legs are already fatigued from kick drills, or as a dedicated upper body strength workout. Many swimmers also use a pull buoy when they want to increase the distance of a session without the added leg fatigue of continuous kicking.
Kickboard
The kickboard does the opposite of the pull buoy. It supports your upper body, freeing your arms from the stroke so you can concentrate entirely on your kick.
What it does: Kick drills build leg strength, improve kick technique, and help develop ankle flexibility. They're also useful for identifying imbalances. If you consistently drift to one side during kick drills, your kick is stronger on one side than the other.
How to use it: Hold the kickboard with both hands at the top, arms extended. Your head can be in the water or above, depending on what you're working on. Keep your kick tight, compact and consistent. The movement should come from the hip rather than bending sharply at the knee. Your feet should be just below the surface, not splashing above it.
Common mistake: Bending too much at the knee produces a cycling motion rather than an efficient flutter kick. Think about driving the movement from your hip and keeping your legs relatively straight with a relaxed ankle.
When to use it: Use kickboards during warm-up sets to activate the legs, or in dedicated kick drills to build strength and address technique issues. Short, fast kick intervals are effective for building power. Longer, slower kick drills improve endurance and ankle flexibility.
Hand Paddles
Hand paddles are flat plastic or rubber surfaces that strap onto your hands, increasing the surface area of each stroke. They make your pull through the water significantly more demanding.
What it does: Paddles amplify both good technique and bad technique. When your stroke is efficient, paddles allow you to feel the water pressure against your hand and forearm clearly, reinforcing the sensation of a strong catch and pull. They also build upper body and shoulder strength by increasing resistance with every stroke.
How to use it: Paddles work best when paired with a pull buoy, so your legs aren't fatiguing at the same time. Focus on a high elbow catch, entering your hand cleanly at the front of the stroke, and pushing all the way through to your hip. The paddle should feel like it's pulling water evenly across its surface throughout the stroke.
Important note on sizing: Paddles should be approximately the same size as your hand or slightly larger. Oversized paddles increase shoulder strain significantly and can cause injury, particularly for swimmers who aren't yet strong enough to handle the resistance. Start with a smaller paddle and build up gradually.
Common mistake: Using paddles to mask poor technique. If your catch is weak, paddles will make it feel worse, and swimming through the discomfort will reinforce the problem rather than fix it. If paddles feel consistently awkward or strained, work on catch technique without them first.
When to use it: Paddle drills are best suited to the main set of a session when you're warmed up but not yet fatigued. Avoid using them at the end of a hard session when your technique is breaking down, as this is when injury risk increases.
Fins
Fins attach to your feet and increase propulsion with each kick. They come in two main styles, short blade and long blade, which serve different purposes.
Short blade fins: Short blade fins are the standard choice for most training sets. They are compact, allow for a natural kick tempo, and mirror the kick mechanics used in racing. They are particularly effective for speed work and race-tempo intervals, helping you build leg strength and kick technique that transfers directly to unfinned swimming. For drills where body position needs to be maintained through the water, long fins are often the better choice — short fins require a stronger kick to generate the same propulsion.
Long blade fins: Long blade fins provide significantly more propulsion but slow your kick tempo. They are well suited to drill work and technique-focused sets, where the extra propulsion helps you maintain body position while concentrating on stroke elements. They also help develop ankle flexibility over time. Because of the slower kick tempo they produce, they are less suitable for race-tempo training and should be used for specific purposes rather than as a general training fin.
What fins do: Fins increase swimming speed, which keeps your body in a higher, more hydrodynamic position in the water. This gives you the opportunity to feel what efficient body position actually feels like and to practise stroke elements in conditions closer to race pace.
Common mistake: Relying on fins for every training session. Fins make swimming easier, which means they can mask weaknesses in your kick if used too frequently. Balance fin drills with kick drills using a kickboard to ensure you're developing genuine leg strength.
When to use them: Fins are useful across all phases of a session. In warm-up, they help you activate the legs efficiently. During drills, they maintain speed while you focus on technique. In main sets, short fins can be used for fast intervals to build pace awareness.
Training Snorkel
A centre-mounted training snorkel sits in the middle of your forehead and allows you to breathe continuously without turning your head. It's a more specialised tool than the others in this list, but highly effective for the right purpose.
What it does: Breathing to the side is one of the most disruptive movements in freestyle swimming. Even a well-timed breath causes the head to rotate, the hips to drop slightly and the stroke to lose its symmetry. A training snorkel removes the need to breathe during stroke work, allowing you to focus entirely on catch, pull, body rotation and kick without interruption.
How to use it: Attach the snorkel so the tube sits directly in the centre of your forehead. Swim at a controlled pace focusing on the specific technique element you're working on. The snorkel is most useful during drills and technique-focused sets rather than hard aerobic efforts.
Common mistake: Treating the snorkel as a way to avoid working on your breathing technique. Bilateral breathing and efficient breath timing are important skills in their own right. Use the snorkel for technique isolation, not as a permanent alternative to breathing.
When to use it: The snorkel is particularly valuable for swimmers working on stroke symmetry, head position or body rotation. It's also useful for testing whether your technique changes significantly when you add breathing back in. If it does, your breath timing needs work.
Resistance Belt
A swim resistance belt is a stationary swimming training device. The belt attaches around your waist and connects via a fabric-covered elastic cord to a fixed anchor point at the poolside, such as a starting block or pool ladder. This allows you to swim in place against the resistance of the cord rather than moving down the lane.
What it does: Stationary swimming creates constant resistance against your stroke and kick, building strength and endurance simultaneously. Because you're not moving through the water, the belt also provides an opportunity to focus on technique in a controlled environment. It works across all strokes, including freestyle, backstroke and butterfly, as well as kick-only drills.
How to use it: Attach the belt securely around your waist and loop the elastic cord around a stable poolside anchor point. The cord stretches as you swim, creating resistance proportional to your effort. Swim at a controlled pace, maintaining your technique throughout. The belt is also a practical solution for swimmers who want to train in smaller pools or when lane space is limited.
Common mistake: Letting the resistance pull your body position out of alignment. As the cord pulls back against your hips, there's a tendency to drop the hips or over-kick to compensate. Focus on keeping your body flat and your stroke long throughout.
When to use it: The resistance belt works well as a strength-building tool in the main set of a session, or for dedicated technique work where you want to slow things down and focus on specific elements without the constraint of a short lane. It's also useful for travel, fitting easily into a swim bag for use in hotel or backyard pools.
Putting It Together: Using Training Aids in a Session
Training aids are most effective when they're used with a purpose rather than rotated through out of habit. Before reaching for a piece of equipment, ask what you're trying to achieve in that set: strength, technique isolation, pace work or endurance. Then choose the tool that best supports that goal.
A well-structured training session might look something like this:
Warm-up: Easy swimming with short fins to activate the legs and build speed through the water.
Kick drills: Kickboard to isolate the legs and address any kick imbalances.
Technique drills: Snorkel and long fins to focus on catch position and body rotation, with enough propulsion to hold proper body position while working on technique.
Main set: Pull buoy and paddles for an upper body strength-focused interval set. Short fins can be added for fast intervals to build pace awareness.
Warm-down: Easy swimming without aids to let your body consolidate the work from the session.
Not every session needs every tool. Two or three well-chosen aids used with intention will do more for your swimming than a full collection used without a plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best training aid for beginner swimmers?
A pull buoy and kickboard are the most accessible starting points for beginner swimmers. The kickboard provides support while you focus on developing your kick, and the pull buoy allows you to work on your arm stroke without coordinating your legs at the same time. Both are straightforward to use and provide immediate feedback on your technique.
Do swimming training aids actually improve your technique?
Yes, when used correctly. Training aids work by isolating parts of your stroke or creating resistance that builds strength. However they are most effective when you understand what each tool is designed to do and use it with a specific goal in mind. Used without purpose or to compensate for weakness rather than address it, some aids can reinforce poor habits.
Can I use hand paddles as a beginner?
Hand paddles are better suited to swimmers who already have a reasonably efficient stroke. They amplify both good and bad technique, and for beginners with an underdeveloped catch or pull, they can increase the risk of shoulder strain. Developing a consistent stroke first, then adding paddles to build strength and reinforce good mechanics, is the recommended approach.
What is the difference between short blade and long blade fins?
Short blade fins are compact and allow for a natural kick tempo that mirrors race mechanics, making them the standard choice for speed work, race-tempo training, and building kick strength. Long blade fins provide more propulsion but slow your kick rate, making them well suited to drill sets and technique-focused work where the extra propulsion helps you maintain good body position. They are also effective for developing ankle flexibility. Most swimmers use short blade fins for general training and long blade fins for specific drill or technique work.
Should I use a pull buoy and hand paddles together?
Yes. Combining a pull buoy with hand paddles is one of the most effective upper body strength drills in swimming. The pull buoy removes your kick so your legs don't fatigue, allowing you to focus entirely on the power and technique of your arm stroke while the paddles increase resistance. Start with a shorter set and build up as your shoulder strength develops.
How do I know which training aids I actually need?
Start with the fundamentals: a pull buoy, kickboard and a pair of short fins will cover the majority of training needs for most swimmers. Add hand paddles once your stroke technique is reasonably established. A snorkel is a worthwhile addition for swimmers who want to focus on technique work in depth. A resistance belt is a useful specialist tool for strength training and stationary swimming, and is particularly practical for swimmers who train in smaller pools or travel frequently.
Browse our full range of swimming training aids at Swim Safe, or explore our swimming goggles and swim bags for your swim training essentials.