Tom really likes using his shinfinTM fins as a tool for swim fitness training of his hips and legs for football. Plus he enjoys swimming with them more because he goes faster and they help him learn to swim better. Furthermore, his improved swimming stroke stays with him even after he takes the fins off, including when he is open water swimming without fins. This is all because shinfinTM fins teach Tom to kick from his hips with power from the large muscles in his thighs, buttocks and torso. What’s more, the fins enable Tom to imprint this more powerful kick on his muscle memory, so that it continues even when he swims barefoot.
Tom’s review from Swansea, UK
“I am trying to get a really high level of fitness for playing football. I really like them. Swimming in them about twice a week. About 30 mins with the fins and then 10 mins without them, in each session. I feel my kicking has improved a lot due to now having much more level hips. They are making my pool workouts more fun and more rewarding, as I am progressing better than before. I feel my quads are getting a good workout. I did a 1.5km open water swim yesterday, which is the most I’ve done! Although it wasn’t with the fins.”
“I do really like the fins and nearly always use them when I swim. They help me to stop my legs crossing over each other. And when I take them off, I can maintain the improved form. I also enjoy swimming in them a lot more than regular swimming, as I can move faster through the water.”
Tom’s review: legs & hips fitness swimming for football
“I found them really quickly when I did a Google search about fins for swimming. I am trying to get a really high level of fitness for playing football. Using swimming as a tool due to its low impact on the body. And I want to get my legs and hips more involved. Also, I’d just like to learn to swim better. The info on your website is great. What you say makes perfect sense.”
Reply
I think you will really enjoy them and benefit from them helping you get the high level of fitness for football that you are after. Yes, they will encourage you to kick from your hips using the stronger muscles in your torso, buttocks and thighs. Please let me know how you go swimming with them for your leg and hip football fitness. I’d love to hear your feedback.
Tom
“I really like them. I am swimming in them about twice a week. About 30 mins with the fins and then 10 mins without them, in each session.”
“Before I had them, I was taking about 18-21 strokes for a 25m length. Now after using them for a while I am trying to take 15 strokes per length. Of course, I find this easier with the fins than without them, but I’m trying to do both. I am struggling to do many lengths in a row like this, as I run out of breath. But I’m sure that soon I’ll have the same endurance I had before, but with less strokes per length.”
“I feel my kicking has improved a lot due to now having much more level hips. But I do still feel I have some way to go. I have not played around much with the position and angle of the fins on my legs yet. Maybe this will help.”
“If you have any thoughts or recommendations based on what I’ve said, please let me know!”
Reply
I’m glad you really like them. It sounds like you are progressing really well with them. Do you feel them helping you on your way to the very high level of leg and hip fitness for football which you are aiming for?
Feeling your kick improvements and your hips being much more level, means the fins are encouraging you to kick from your hips. This means your kick power is coming from your torso, buttocks and thighs, as it should do for a good streamlined swimming kick. Are you feeling the workout in these muscles and your endurance increasing?
To strengthen these muscles further you could try gliding your arms for longer by doing more kicks for each arm pull and pulling less with your arms. Please let me know how you progress with them over the coming weeks. I’d love to hear.
Can I ask a favour please? Would you mind if I put some extracts from your emails on the website? I like the way you have written and I think it would be useful for other people to read what you have said.
Tom
“Yes, I believe they are helping me a lot with my goal. They are making my pool workouts more fun and more rewarding, as I am progressing better than before.”
“I feel my quads are getting a good workout, although I don’t feel much in my hip muscles. So this may mean I still need to work on my kicking technique.”
“And thanks for the tip. I was playing around with 9 and 12 strokes per 15m length. But not being able to do more than 1 or 2 lengths without getting completely out of breath put me off doing this. However, based on what you’ve said, doing this as a drill will be helpful.”
“I did a 1.5km open water swim yesterday, which is the most I’ve done! Although it wasn’t with the fins.”
“Feel free to use any of our correspondence on your website.”
Reply
Thank you for your kind reply and permission. Personal recommendation is very important to help a new product like this along, so I really appreciate it.
Your buttock muscles will be strengthened from increasing your upkick with your fins. Your core muscles in your torso will be strengthened increasingly as you swim with your fins.
Congratulations on your longest open water swim, and without fins. Yes, the fins do improve your swimming without fins too. This is because the fins are designed to work best with, and gently guide you into, a good streamlined kick like swimmers use for freestyle, backstroke or fly (not breaststroke). We get a lot of great feedback from swimmers saying that swimming with shinfin™ fins (especially full stroke swimming) improves their horizontal body position, breathing, speed and overall swimming technique (arms too). The shinfin™ kick does more than just add leg power. It balances your arm pull and supports good breathing technique. For example, in freestyle, there is often a larger kick down with the left leg when the right arm pulls (and with the right leg when the left arm pulls). Your kicks give a diagonal force balance across your body to support your arm pulls.
Most importantly, the benefits of swimming with shinfin™ fins transfer across to your “no-fins” swimming too, especially if you swim a bit more just after you take off your shinfin™ fins. This is because the shinfin™ kick is very similar to a proper streamlined “no-fins” kick. You feel the shinfin™ power in your thighs, buttocks, stomach and torso. These are the same muscles as used for good “no-fins” swimming. (A foot flipper kick is very different, with more knee-bend and power in your calf muscles and ankles. So foot flippers can’t provide the same benefits. Their biomechanics are all wrong for a proper streamlined “no-fins” kick.)
I hope this helps you Tom. Please let me know how you progress over the next few weeks. Your feedback is very helpful.
Tom
“Thanks for the info Marc! Yes, now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense that the glutes will be most active in the upkick. So I’ll try to give it more attention. I’ll update you further with my progress in a little while.”
Reply
Yes, your glutes are more active in the upkick. Your upkick also activates the core muscles in your torso, as this provides the necessary stable support for your glute actions to function.
I look forward to hearing how you progress with the steady improvements in your workouts using your fins.
Tom (after 5 months, buying another two pairs)
“All going well with them thank you. I left mine in the changing room accidentally and when I went back to get them the next day they were gone. So I had to get another pair. The second pair are for my brother. Keep up the good work.”
Reply
I’m sorry your first pair was gone when you went back to the changing rooms. Will your brother be using his pair for pool fitness swimming too?
I’d be very interested to hear how you have been progressing with your fins over the last three months or so since you last emailed. Have your swim technique, endurance and muscle strength (including your core muscles) continued to improve? Is all this transferring across to your swimming without fins too?
Also, your new fins have new straps made from silicone rubber. Have you noticed any difference in the fitting, the strap grip on your leg and/or the performance of your kick?
Tom
“Yes he’ll be using them for swimming. I have not actually been swimming much over the last few months, so I don’t have much new to say. I do really like the fins and nearly always use them when I swim. They help me to stop my legs crossing over each other. And when I take them off, I can maintain the improved form.
“I also enjoy swimming in them a lot more than regular swimming, as I can move faster through the water. I may have only been out in the new fins only 1 or 2 times, but I didn’t actually notice that the straps had been changed. They work great though!”
Reply
I’m pleased that you are enjoying your fins so much, moving faster through the water. Yes, it is very interesting and beneficial how your improved swimming form with the fins translates across to your swimming without fins too. This is because the fins train your muscle memory for a good, powerful, streamlined kick. I’m sure your brother will enjoy his pair too.
Yes, the new silicone rubber straps should feel very similar but they should also last even longer against chlorine and UV.
Tom
“Thanks Marc, keep up the good work!”
Conclusion
You will really like using shinfinTM fins as a tool for swim fitness training of your hips and legs for other sports, such as football. In fact, they have so many uses. Because they help you go faster and learn to swim better, you will enjoy swimming with them more. Moreover, your improved swimming stroke continues after you take the fins off, for normal pool and open water swimming without fins. The reason for this, is that shinfinTM fins teach you to get power from the large muscles in your thighs, buttocks and torso by kicking from your hips. Because shinfinTM fins help you imprint this more powerful kick on your muscle memory, it continues even when you swim barefoot.
In further reviews, these customers discuss their comfort for swim training, freestyle and backstroke fitness swimming and swimming with them with a foot amputation and bilateral below knee amputations too.