Fist Gloves

Today I swam for an hour at the club. What an experience!

One goal was to briefly review the different stroke components and then swim my "new" stroke, which I did. It was taking about 20-21 strokes-per-length, about 2 higher than usual, but I felt good.

The next goal was to try out my new fistgloves. These are basically rubber mittens that you put on and swim with for about a half hour. It takes away the water feel from your hands and you learn to use your arms and body rotation to swim - which I did. The really interesting part is swimming once you take them off: your hands feel *everything* in the water - you feel so much more powerful and "right" it's a bit of a rush, actually.

From the TI site:

After wearing the gloves for 15 to 30 minutes, swim with open hands. You'll immediately experience what we call the fistglove® effect – a rush of information from your previously "ordinary," but now highly sensitive, hands to your brain that immediately helps you become more discriminating in how you apply hands to the water, instinctively choosing angles that give maximum purchase on a highly elusive medium. You'll also become ultra-sensitive to the importance of "gripping" the water instead of "slipping" through it.

The third goal was to learn flip-turns. Mission accomplished! I ended-up swimming 50's and 100's instead of 25's which I can already tell will help my endurance immensely. I think not teaching flip-turns right off the bat does people a disservice as you get used to swimming 25's only, and when you're out in the open water you must go much farther than that. Learning 50's and 100's, and even 200's, gives you a much more realistic feel for your stamina.