Five sizes of Fulcrum Hand Paddles

First a few definitions: 

entry position :    The position where the hand first contacts the water to begin the arm pull when swimming crawl stroke.

catch position:  when swimming crawl stroke, the hand enters the water at the surface and moves down to a position about 8 to 12 inches below the surface.   At this position, the hand flexes at the wrist to engage or begin pushing on the water.  This is the catch position. 

full extension of the arm:    Stand upright and reach your arm toward the ceiling, this is full extension.  When swimming crawl stroke, when the arm enters the water after being  recovered, it is often fully extended.

shoulder  instability:  If the arm is forcefully moved from some positions,  for example, when the arm is fully extended, the muscle forces can cause injury to the shoulder apparatus.   

Fulcrum paddles let you push harder, safely.  That may not sound very significant but it is.  Swimming involves repetitive movements.   If you swim regularly for years,  you will do the same movements hundreds of thousands of times.   If there is any instability in the swimming movements you use, injury is the likely result.  Once  you injure a shoulder, healing is seldom every complete.  The shoulder will never ever again be 'as good as new'.    The goal is to never injure.

What causes shoulder injury.  The most common cause is beginning to push at the beginning of the stroke (from the entry position down to the catch position).   Shoulder injury occurs very frequently due to forces generated when swimming without paddles.  When you put a paddle on your hand, the amount of force  you can exert increases.   The larger the paddle you use, the more force you can exert.   This is why paddles so frequently cause injury.

I designed the Fulcrum paddle so it can be moved very easily from the entry position down to the catch position.  Once you reach the catch position, you can push very hard, very safely.  I also made the Fulcrum paddle symmetrical.   Asymmetrical paddles cause twisting in the shoulder joint and may eventually lead to injury.  It may take years for this to show up, but with what I have learned about wear and tear on the human body, if we do an unbalanced movement for years, injury generally results.

Since the movement with the Fulcrum paddle is so safe, you will be able to successfully use a larger paddle.   The Fulcrum comes in 5 sizes from a small one on up to one that is almost as large as a piece of letter paper.   It is best to begin with a conservative size.  Swim with it for a few months and then move up to the next larger size.   Many women competitive swimmers are able to safely use the largest size so do not place arbitrary limits on yourself. 

As I mentioned above, the larger the paddle, the slower the arm pulling movement will be.  The slower the movement, the farther you will   be from the speed of the unassisted swimming movement.  If you do not swim competitively, then this is of little consequence.  If you are a competitive swimmer, then it is.  Large paddles are a lot of fun.  They will really pump you up.    Since this is on the internet and you don't have to read it, but I can write more.  When I first made some of the larger sizes, I remember doing a really aggressive pulling set.  I had to get out of workout right after this set to go to work.  I walked by the mirror in the locker room right after the set and all of this steam was rolling off my upper body and all of my muscles were popping out.  So I knew they worked well. 

If you only practice with a very large paddle, you will build strength and conditioning for a slow movement,  but it will not fully transfer to the faster, unassisted movements of competitive swimming.  To gain the most benefit, early in the season, use the largest size you use, but use an intermediate size occasionally so you can get the power developed for the slower movement to transfer to the slightly faster movement of the intermediate  paddle.  As you approach the end of the swimming season (or when you have a swim meet coming) use the big paddles less and use the intermediate size more and swim more sets without paddles to further transfer the power to faster movements.

Size:                Color                   suggested weight range for the user.

Small               Red                       120 lbs. or less

Medium        Yellow                    120-150 lbs.

Large              White                    140-180 lbs.

X-large           Black                     160+ lbs.

XX-large       Blue                             

The  weight ranges are rough guidelines.  If you are an excellent swimmer, and have healthy shoulders, you will be able to use a larger size.  If you are an average swimmer, then it is best to start with a little smaller paddle.   The  important goal is to avoid injury.  We will be happy to help you decide.  Call Zoomers: phone numbers at the bottom of the home page.