Review on FINIS 1 05 026 Bolster Paddles by Scott Maddocks

I have agility hand paddles but need help with my wrist so I tried the Bolster Paddle. It's worth it. Helped immediately and now I use them during my workouts. They also helped me improve my early catch more than the agility hand paddles. With agility paddles, your fingers (especially your thumb) are forced to hold the paddle in a very specific way (no strap). Your hand itself is also more compressed and flat. This may not be the best form for you if you really swim. The padded paddle allows you to spread your fingers and bend your hand as if you were swimming without a paddle. This is a personal matter, but I find I get more power when the fingers are slightly apart and slightly curled. It's hard to train like that with agility paddles. I'm in pretty good shape so they don't bother my shoulder, but I can see how difficult they can be for those who don't have them. Even if your technique is really bad, this is probably not the first thing you should use. They're a bit clunky if you're a complete beginner. Start with something like an agility paddle to learn the stroke.