A hand paddle is a device worn by

swimmers Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

during training. It consists of a plastic plate worn over the swimmer's palm and attached over the back of the swimmer's hand with elastic cords. The plate is often perforated with a pattern of holes. A handle paddle increases the resistance the hand experiences as it tries to move through the water during the effective part of the arm stroke – the part of the stroke described as the "pull". This gives the swimmer considerably more forward propulsion from the arm stroke than does a naked hand, and affords an enhanced

kinesthetic Proprioception ( ) is the sense of self-movement, force, and body position. Proprioception is mediated by proprioceptors, a type of sensory receptor, located within muscles, tendons, and joints. Most animals possess multiple subtypes of propri ...

"feel" of the pull. It also enhances the swimmer's feel of the "catch", the phase prior to the pull, where the hand turns from a streamlined position to grasp the water and begin the pull. If the hand catches or pulls at an incorrect angle, the increased resistance afforded by the hand paddle will exacerbate the resultant twisting moment, making the defect clearer to the swimmer. The considerably increased load imposed by the hand paddle on the arm and shoulder can, however, lead to pain and an increased risk of injury, so coaches advise only limited use of paddles and that use be discontinued if the swimmer feels shoulder pain. To make the most out of using paddles, it is important to ensure that they aid in establishing a good technique under the water. Use the paddles without the wrist strap or side straps, and only use the main finger holds in the middle, regardless of the brand. Paddles are often used with

pull buoy A pull buoy or leg float is a figure-eight shaped piece of closed-cell foam used in swim workouts. Swimmers place the buoy between their thighs or their ankles to provide support to the body without kicking their legs; this allows the swimmer to f ...

s to build up

arm In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between ...

strength.

History

The hand paddle was invented by

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

in the 18th century.

Types of paddles

Different types of paddles include: * Finger paddles – Designed to fit on the fingers and built for all strokes,

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...

and freestyle. * Freestyle Paddles – Designed especially for swimmers swimming freestyle. * Biomimetic Hand Paddles – Influenced by the

darkling beetle Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae, comprising over 20,000 species in a cosmopolitan distribution. Taxonomy ''Tenebrio'' is the Latin generic name that Carl Linnaeus assigned to some flour beetles ...

to reinforce kinesthetic feel for the water. * Han's Paddles – The original holed swimming paddles. * Speedo Original Hand Paddles – One of the first and made for most strokes. * Sculling and Vortex paddles – Designed to build upper body strength. * Forearm paddles - Designed to extend past the palm of the hand over the forearm to help with the initial catch * Anti-paddles - Designed with a conical shape on the bottom of the paddle to improves swimmer's reaction to water resistance

References

Swimming equipment {{swimming-stub