Buy goggles that fit. Everything else can wait. FINIS Swim and similar brands make genuinely good training tools — fins, hand paddles, centre-mount snorkels, pull buoys — but every one of them makes swimming easier, and easier is not the same as better. A tool used before you have the underlying skill will hide the fault it was supposed to expose. Most adult swimmers I coach own more equipment than they can justify.
That said, used at the right moment, these things are excellent. Here is what each one does, honestly, and when it earns a place in your bag.
The Only Two Things You Need on Day One
Goggles that seal. Test them by pressing a lens to your eye socket without the strap. If it holds by suction, the shape suits your face. If it drops off, tightening the strap will only give you a headache and a leak. Brand matters far less than face shape.
A swimsuit that stays put. That is it. A cap if you have long hair.
Everything below is optional, and most of it should stay optional for your first year.
The Tools, Compared
| Tool | What it does | When it helps | What it hides |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short training fins | Adds propulsion, lifts the hips | Kick drills, body position work, learning butterfly | A weak, knee-driven kick |
| Long scuba fins | Slow, powerful propulsion for diving | Snorkelling and scuba, not lap swimming | Not a pool training tool at all |
| Hand paddles | Increases resistance on the pull | Feeling the catch; strength work for trained swimmers | Poor catch mechanics — and strains shoulders |
| Pull buoy | Floats the hips, stops the legs | Isolating the arms; pelvic pain in pregnancy | Sinking legs and poor body position |
| Centre-mount snorkel | Removes the need to turn and breathe | Head position and stroke drills | Bad breathing rhythm |
| Kickboard | Isolates the legs | Kick technique, gentle warm-ups | Nothing much — but overused shoulders complain |
| Tempo trainer | Beeps a stroke rate | Intermediate swimmers fixing pacing | Nothing — but useless without a stroke |
Fins: The Most Useful and Most Abused
Short training fins are the one item I recommend early, and only for drills. They lift your hips, which lets you feel a horizontal body position you cannot yet hold unaided. That sensation is worth a great deal, because most beginners have never experienced it.
The abuse is obvious in any lap pool: swimmers wearing fins for entire sessions, going faster, feeling excellent, and learning nothing. Fins mask a bicycling, knee-bent kick perfectly. Take them off and the fault is exactly where it was.
Use them for a portion of a session. Not the session.
Do not confuse scuba fins with swim fins. Long scuba blades are built for slow, powerful propulsion with a mask and tank, in the sea. Swimming lengths in them is bad for your ankles and pointless. Different tool, different job.
Hand Paddles: Handle With Care
Paddles increase the load on your shoulders, which is the whole point and also the problem. Swimmer’s shoulder is the most common injury in the sport, and paddles are the most common accelerant.
My rules, and I do not bend them:
- No paddles until your catch is sound. If your hand slips through the water rather than anchoring, paddles will teach you to slip harder.
- Start small. A paddle barely larger than your hand does everything you need. Enormous paddles are ego, not training.
- Short sets only. A few hundred metres inside a session, not the main set.
- Any shoulder pain — stop immediately. Not “ease off.” Stop, remove them, and if the pain persists, see a physiotherapist. Swimming through shoulder pain reliably turns a niggle into months out of the water.
- Never use paddles when tired. Technique is already degrading; you are just loading a bad pattern.
Pull Buoys and Snorkels
A pull buoy props your hips up so you can think about your arms. Useful. It also means that if your legs sink when you swim normally, you will never find out while using it. Alternate: one length with, one without, and notice the difference.
A centre-mount snorkel is the most underrated item on the list. It lets you work on head position, alignment and catch without the disruption of turning to breathe. For adults with an ingrained head-lift, it is close to transformative. It will not, however, teach you to breathe — that work happens without it. Our freestyle guide covers the breathing rhythm itself.
Common Mistakes
- Buying the kit before booking the coaching. A tool without instruction is a toy.
- Wearing fins for the whole swim because it feels good.
- Oversized paddles. Shoulders pay for these, usually months later.
- Using a pull buoy as a permanent fix for sinking legs. The legs sink because your head is high and you are holding your breath. Fix that.
- Thinking gear substitutes for volume or technique. It does neither.
- Using fins or a snorkel to extend underwater distance or breath-holding. Do not. Breath-hold and hypoxic work risks shallow-water blackout, which arrives without warning and kills strong swimmers in shallow water. If you do any of it, a dedicated buddy must watch you from arm’s length, and nothing about equipment changes that.
Safety Notes on Equipment
- Equipment is not safety equipment. A pull buoy is not a flotation device, and neither are fins.
- Children’s armbands, rings and noodles are toys. They give parents false confidence and have contributed to drownings. Direct, arm’s-reach supervision is the only thing that works.
- Check fin straps and paddle tubing for wear. Snapping a strap mid-length in deep water is startling.
- Never use training equipment in open water. It is designed for a controlled pool.
- Ankle or knee pain from fins means the fins are too stiff or too long. Change them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is FINIS Swim gear worth the money?
The brand is long-established and well regarded among coaches, particularly for its snorkels and training fins. Quality is real. But no brand solves a technique problem, and cheaper equipment used correctly beats premium equipment used badly.
What should a complete beginner buy?
Goggles, a suit, and a cap. Nothing else, for several months. Spend the money you saved on a few lessons instead — it will do considerably more for your swimming.
Can I use scuba fins for swim training?
You can, and you should not. Long blades load the ankles differently, slow your stroke rate, and teach a kick you do not want. Short training fins are the pool tool.
Do hand paddles build strength?
They add resistance, which trained swimmers use for strength endurance work. For a swimmer whose catch is unformed, they mainly add shoulder risk. Get the technique assessed first — a coach can tell in one length.
Why does my swimming feel worse when I take the fins off?
Because the fins were doing the work. That is not a reason to keep them on. It is a diagnosis: your kick and body position need attention.
Is a snorkel cheating?
No. It is a drill tool that removes one variable so you can work on another. Just do not let it become the only way you swim comfortably.
What I Would Actually Tell You
Get goggles that fit. Get your stroke looked at by someone competent. Then, once you know what you are trying to fix, buy the one tool that fixes it — probably short fins, possibly a snorkel.
If you are not sure what you are trying to fix, that is the honest answer to whether you need equipment. Book a few private lessons or a term of group classes and find out first.
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