To reduce knee pain, choose fins that strap on your legs, not on your feet. They encourage you to kick with straighter knees. So these comfortable fins don’t hurt your knees like foot fins. They also tend not to aggravate an existing knee problem, if you use them sensibly. In fact, many people find them very useful for knee rehabilitation after knee injuries and knee operations. Check with your doctor and/or physiotherapist first of course, and read these tips.
Regular foot fins can cause knee pain that gets worse the more you use them. This is because foot fins cause you to bend your knees too much when you kick. Also, the leg forces needed to hold the foot fins at their required angle in the water, twists your knees, strains your ankles and hurts your feet. After a while the knee pain builds up. Your knees can even stay sore long after you leave the water.
You can test this for yourself by swimming without foot fins. You will probably find that it doesn’t hurt your knees so much. Most likely, this is because you are kicking with straighter knees and with less twisting of your knee joints.
Here are three key reasons why choosing fins that fit on your legs reduces knee pain, strain and injury.
Firstly, fins on your legs avoid knee pain because they encourage you to kick from your hips with less knee-bend. Kicking with straighter knees reduces knee pain and strain in your knee joints and surrounding ligaments. It also reduces lower back pain. This is actually how good swimmers kick, with a smooth, streamlined kick.
Secondly, these fins can be adjusted around your leg to be perpendicular to your kick direction. You simply line up the fin centreline with the toe that matches your kick direction. This minimises knee twisting pain. It also reduces calf muscle strain and cramps and Achilles tendon pain.
Thirdly, you don’t even have to kick these fins much to get the benefits from them. Even if you swim mainly with arm power and only kick a little (or even trail your legs), the fins still help to straighten your knees and lift your body horizontal and streamlined. You can then add as much kick power as your knees feel comfortable with.
Your knees will feel much more comfortable with fins on your legs.
Fins that care for your knees
Your knees are highly complex and crucial parts of your body. You can take care of them by reducing knee pain, strain and other knee damage. Instead of using foot fins, you can now exercise and strengthen your knees by swimming with fins on your legs.
Fins that do much more than reduce knee pain
Related FAQ explain why fins on your legs are also kinder to your lower back and why they streamline your swimming. Please also see the overall fin comfort FAQ, the main article for fin comfort and the fin comfort reviews.
These groups of reviews demonstrate less knee pain and smooth swimming. These specific reviews illustrate less knee pain for freestyle retraining and deep water running exercise.