Do You Need A Pull Buoy To Improve Your Freestyle Swimming?

The pull buoy is one of the most common pieces of swim kit you’ll see at the end of any lane during a swim session. They’re just such a standard training tool that so many of us have become remarkably reliant upon, but why? What does a pull buoy do to our stroke?
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[@gtn]

Has using a pull buoy improved your swimming?

[@richardblom4358]

In my opinion you should not kick while using a pullbuoy because it then only serves as a floaty device and enhances bad technique. I use a pull bouy only for technique drills. When using the pb between your upper legs it helps with engaging your glutes and back. But i also like to put the pb between my ankles/lower legs (with a rubber band added). This helps to focus on your balance and rotation and also engages your core in a different way.

[@KeithHiew]

Yes it has. I no longer use it, though. I can now not kick at all at freestyle and just let my legs stay afloat and glide together with my upper body through the water, like as though I’m still using the pull buoy.

[@chrisdawes3944]

no, my legs sink badly when i try and use one :(

[@Flipper86]

Definitely! It let me focus on stroke and breathing which made laps easier.

[@ratilalmakanji2372]

No

[@pam00088]

Not watched the video yet but... what I really, really need is access to a swimming pool!

[@speedygonzales9993]

Yeah, tell me about it.

[@Axylrose2000]

Started using the pull buoy, doubled my speed, improved my body position in the pool, and made be more conscious of my flutter kick

[@drexeldragon1723]

Haven't swam in over a year d/t covid. But when I was doing more triathlon focused training, I loved my pull buoy. It always felt nice to give the legs a break during blocks of heavy running/cycling. Plus, my arms is where I needed to focus anyway.

[@ngdawgs1]

Just starting my Tri journey, and loving all the GTN content 🥳! Making lots of gainz quickly. Y’all are the best 💪🏽🤙🏽!

[@Cookefan59]

Until this video, I thought using the paddles and a buoy together was a sign of my weakness, and here I’m finding out that I’ve been doing something right intuitively. I really didn’t start developing my Swimmers Lats until I started doing this several months ago. I also like the way the buoy makes you feel like you have a wet suit on. Well I guess I’ll be keeping this “strength” training in my workouts because I love swimming with a buoy and paddles. In fact, last swim session I did 2,000 yards straight with this set up because we didn’t know how long the swim lanes would be available at the community pool. Boy was I glad I knew how to do this technique because I still got in a great workout just before they kicked the lap swimmers out. As far as rotation, to me it seems to make rotation easier to do! Maybe it’s because I’m going through my mental checklist the whole time I’m in the pool. Thanks GTN

[@johnpaulheisler4600]

Just had my first swim for exercise yesterday. I love biking and running and am looking forward to swimming so I can start triathlons. Thanks for the videos! You guys keep the training fun!

[@simmotri4192]

I didn't realise they were optional! 😝

[@colinweir5807]

I'm 63 years old and returning to swimming after after quite a time lapse for weight control and general fitness. It's worked for me before. I had bilateral hip replacement in 2018 so I thought I'd give the pull buoy a try. i find the pull buoy gives me extra buoyancy in my legs and use it for 70% of the laps I do. As the presenter said I do not want to be too reliant on it so do the other 30% without it.

[@mspacific25]

Great video. The presenter really understands the difficulties for beginners. My legs naturally sink so this item might help.

[@EatMyPropwash]

Just did a big “descending” workout yesterday with a pull buoy. 500swim 500pull buoy 500kick w/fins 400swim 400 pull buoy 400 kick w/fins Repeat this all the way down to 100.... Should have a total of 4500yds. If that’s way too much, start at 300 and work down. You’ll end at 1800yds total.

[@gtn]

Good work!

[@evrik78]

Love your channel... because you don't make it a TV series with commercials in it. Thanks, really!

[@ufukcentel2212]

I wasn’t feeling confident with swimming due to my lack of good technique and struggles with breathing. However, using a pull buoy helped me tremendously and made me feel much calmer while swimming. Thanks a lot for this video 😊

[@rustydagon598]

I’ve never been particularly good at pull, but I’m a really lanky person and it helps me stabilize my legs and focus on my core and shoulder rotation

[@XLIIVideos]

Back in the day when I/we (competitive swimming) used the Pull buoy in tandem with armpaddles to increase upper body strenght and technique (coach screaming at the pool edge :D ). I use it now during open water training, just letting the legs rest while building upper strenght/endurance... relaxing :)

[@stuartmisfeldt3068]

When I was younger and less buoyant, I used the pull buoy for many of my longer training sets. After a while I found that I was :30 sec faster over 500 m. When swimming in salt water it didn’t make a difference, but fresh water OW swims were significantly slower. Thank goodness wetsuits became standard equipment in the late 90’s. I confess it became a crutch, however it did allow me to work on my shoulders, rotation and glide. In my 40’s and 50’s I learned to level my body and use a 4 beat crossover and 2 beat kick for my OW swims. It was a great tool for strengthening my shoulders refining my stroke and allowing more distance work in the pool. Just remember to never let it become a crutch!

[@ianw8674]

Having learnt FC breathing to one side it’s been great for core strength/balance improvement when used breathing to the weaker side, which then helps with bi-lat without the buoy

[@KingMorzan1]

Thanks!

[@santysmith]

More great info from GTN👍

[@gtn]

Glad you think so!

[@tazador793]

I use the pull bouy with paddles, before the main set & as cool down. However, I see that it would be very good to use it without paddles. Very very good video

[@markreardon6663]

When l was doing Ultramarathons l used a pull bouy a lot. Mainly to compensate for 'shattered' legs. Now l use it as part of the warm up or drills.

[@Flipper86]

Had trouble with my knees in college so swam a bunch with the pull buoy. Cleaned up my stroke and bilateral breathing so swimming was easier.

[@dnnich]

When I first tried the pull buoy I didn’t like it same with fins. A life guard was telling me to use them. She said later that most people give up swimming if it’s too hard. The reason I didn’t like them was that I couldn’t swim like that. I found that as in the video it was good to feel how I should be swimming. I just became a grinder using them occasionally and watching GTN videos for tips until I could get my hips and legs up. I am still a little faster with the pull buoy and use it to fully focus on my arms.

[@MsAmira1988]

I have never used a pullboy, will be getting one! :D

[@mrziplineds5257]

Most amateur triathletes and a ton of pro triathletes have a terrible kick in the water... The buoy is allowing you to compensate and keep your body on top of the water. Having a good kick will keep you on top of the water, improve your speed overall, and potentially force other racers to swim in your wake instead of your draft. Kick drills are boring, but most people need them!

[@JacksTestimony]

Yes

[@hh65flyer]

Maybe an explanation of the different positions and use of the 'big' end vs the 'small' end?

[@thadestroyer1988]

I really like to use a pull buoy.. but thinking about it.. I'm afraid that's because I'm a lazy swimmer 😅👌

[@bobferguson1696]

Got a pull buoy to help with my arms & shoulder movements, [taking out the thinking about legs.] in March last year. Still haven't touched water.....

[@mikejenkins2166]

I’m a terrible swimmer, sink like a rock. I swim with hand paddles and pull buoy just for the shoulder work and cross training.

[@levbobrov1398]

What is the proper position for the buoy? I tend to put it closer to the knees, which is much lower than what you show in the video. Am I doing it wrong?

[@kimweidner7351]

I like your shirt. 💞

[@richardswaby6339]

I didn't realise that hand paddles make it harder and thus give a workout to lats and other muscles. I have used webbed gloves in the past which made swimming easier. I will buy some big paddles and try them out.

[@jaspermf]

The pull buoy makes me float too high in the water my feet start to stick out of the water. It looks and feels strange. Where did I go wrong?

[@SteveDahlskog]

For conditioning or strength training, perhaps about 500 meters in a 3000 meters workout.

[@StephenBiggers]

Pool buoy seems to have helped my form a lot. I have had no real training but began swimming due to covid. Great exercise, I lost 30 pounds and I'm hooked on swimming. One thing I don't understand is I seem to be much faster using the pool buoy than with kick.....

[@brianlong2334]

That will generally mean your a distance swimmer/ or should be.

[@goonershezz9714]

So I think even though we to propel faster with kicking but this is only if we have proper technique, using the PB helps with 1. Upper body technique as your isolating your upper body you can concentrate more on form which helps with speed 2. When we kick our legs tend to get tired and drop this in effect becomes like an anchor in the water and slows you down 3. Kicking is only around 10% of the freestyle stroke Seems like you’ve improved your technique and your legs are not dropping and this is why you’re probably faster in the water

[@jeenjeanjeen]

I used a pull buoy to learn bilateral breathing. Not using the legs allowed me to breathe every 3 strokes and now my weak side is my strong side.

[@nsnt09]

I can't keep my balance when using the pull buoy. After a few strokes I often can't keep going. Is it because my hips did not rotate enough or my core is weak?

[@horsiesarepretty]

I absolutely love the pull buoy but I use it sparingly to avoid becoming reliant on it. I am not 100% sure why but I struggle a lot with the kick. I have had my stroke and kick analyzed multiple times and am working on improving my kick, but it is a challenge to say the least.

[@anthonys8947]

What problem are you having with your kick?

[@horsiesarepretty]

​@@anthonys8947 Basically I kick too wide and it creates a lot of extra drag.

[@georgepompydu4673]

I've never tryed buoy, but I should . Thank you.

[@gtn]

Let us know how it goes! 🙂

[@silentlyapparent9288]

Love your name

[@Warmeater]

its perfect tool for recovery swims while your legs are dead after running/bike

[@JeffRElliott]

Things I didn't know until today - it isn't called a pool buoy.

[@Flipper86]

Or a Pool Boy. . .

[@silentlyapparent9288]

@@Flipper86 that was mine!

[@GingerMathematician]

If only we could get back in a swimming pool...

[@gtn]

Hopefully not long for some of us 🤞

[@paulizzs4720]

I wish that I have open swimpool

[@tengamangapiu]

It makes it harder for me since my kick is strongee than my pull. And I don't kick when using a pull buoy. I'm starting to get a better feel for swimming higher up in the water tho (whether while using a pull buoy or not). But I need to do more than 2 strokes to feel a difference. So 4 or 6 strokes are what I feel the most optimal. I'm a happy 1:35/100yd swimmer at moderate pace.

[@jujuryan9632]

Too late, GTN. I already said that I want a pull buoy and hand paddles for my birthday.

[@Flipper86]

Make sure to clean up your stroke before adding paddles. Paddles with exaggerate any errors and can result in shoulder problems.

[@jujuryan9632]

@@Flipper86 Thanks for the advice, I will be careful.

[@kenvme]

It's really uncomfortable using it at first. My balance is all over the place. Might give it another shot.

[@gtn]

Definitely worth it!

[@powthekicker8765]

Finally! I don’t feel so alone. Newbie to the pull buoy here. I will try sculling first. It’s so odd when I swim FS with it.

[@MrPenake]

pull buoy addict

[@unknow7980]

I have fish 🐟

[@kingakopanska4585]

Im a bit lazy 🤣🤣

[@maxroberts7393]

How about 'pool buoy'--hmmm?!