9 Best Swim Paddles for Technique and Power- Expert Review

As I take my last stroke into the wall, I gasp for a breath while my heart pounds uncontrollably– I can already hear my coach shouting for us to get our swimming paddles ready.

I hope you’re ready to improve your pulling power, technique, and efficiency because today is pulling. Lots of it– and that means swim paddles.

But with so many options available, how do you know which swimming paddles are best for you?

In this article, I review the best swim paddles and walk you step-by-step through choosing the best pair for you. 

So whether you’re a competitive-, recreational, or masters swimmer or triathlete, our expert guide will ensure that you find the best paddles and enjoy the numerous benefits they offer. 

9 Best Hand Paddles for Swimming

1. Speedo Nemesis Contour Swim Paddle

Perhaps some of the most popular swimming paddles to ever be released– the Speedo Nemesis Paddles are ideal for swimmers of all levels– from beginner to advanced. These paddles are excellent for developing both technique and power in the water.

The first thing that sets the Nemesis paddles apart from most other swim paddles is their contoured design. (This is similar to the design of the FINIS Agility Paddles, which I cover in position 3). 

The contoured shape increases your feel for the water, helping you to adjust your hand position for the correct entry and pulling motion. 

Ensuring you have correct hand entry and technique improves your swimming efficiency and reduces your chances of shoulder pain. 

The Nemesis paddles feature scalloped edges. The purpose is twofold– firstly, the added surface area increases water resistance to develop power and strength. Secondly, it allows for smooth and natural pulling mechanics, ensuring you have correct technique in the water.  

The paddles also come with all the other standard features, namely adjustable straps and holes for water flow. 

They are available in 3 sizes. That said, I would’ve preferred if they had more sizing options. 

We’ll cover size more in-depth later in the article when I walk you through how to choose the best swimming hand paddles for you. That said, a general rule of thumb is to purchase a paddle slightly bigger than your hand size. 

Swimming Paddle Specifications-

• Shape: Elliptical, contoured
• Use: Balanced between power and technique
• Straps: Yes, adjustable
• Strokes: All strokes
• Size Options: 3 Options

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2. Speedo Power Paddle Plus

When it comes to developing a powerful pull using swimming paddles, the Speedo Power Paddle Plus is my top pick.

Although not the best for purely technique work, these all-purpose training paddles are excellent for developing a powerful pull in all four strokes. 

If you are looking for a paddle that’s more suited to swimming technique and not power, then I recommend the FINIS Agility paddle, which we’ll be covering next. 

Or, for a balance between the two, go with the Speedo Nemesis Paddle.

The Speedo Power Paddle Plus has a completely flat design. This design makes it easy to control the paddle and enter the water. 

Furthermore, like the Nemesis Paddles, these feature scalloped edges for increased surface area and a smooth pulling motion through the water.

These two factors make the paddles ideal for developing a strong pull (since you’ll be pushing more water due to the larger surface area) while maintaining good stroke technique. 

Various holes in the paddle allow water to pass through as you swim, further ensuring proper stroke mechanics by not overloading you with water resistance. 

The holes are dual-purpose since they also allow you to reconfigure the strapping so that the paddles fit securely and comfortably on your hands.   

Furthermore, the four paddle sizes ensure that you’ll find an ideal fit, regardless of your goals and ability in the pool– whether it may be power, drill work, or focusing on a specific stroke. 

Swimming Paddle Specifications-

• Shape: Elliptical, flat, scalloped edges
• Use: Power, technique
• Straps: Yes, adjustable
• Strokes: All strokes
• Size Options: 4 Options

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3. FINIS Agility Swim Paddle

Featuring a strapless design, the FINIS Agility paddles are a more technical paddle compared to the Speedo Power Paddle Plus. 

The strapless design makes them ideal for learning the correct hand position, entry, and pressure application in the water. 

But how so?

If you place or move your hand incorrectly, the paddle will pop off, forcing you to stop and reassess your stroke. 

Apart from the strapless design, the Convex shape of the Agility paddles helps to further improve your technique by causing you to feel every little movement of your hand in the water. This increases your stroke awareness, allowing you to make adjustments on the fly to optimize your stroke.

The paddles also feature a streamlined thumbhole for a hydrodynamic and comfortable fit.

Once again, the Agility paddles are ideal for all swimming strokes.

I recommend the FINIS Agility paddle for any swimmer serious about improving their technique– and if you want to swim faster, you should be! It’s also a great paddle for beginners still learning the correct hand placements in the water.

Just because these paddles focus heavily on technique doesn’t mean they don’t train strength and power. The added surface area still trains this, although less than a paddle like the Speedo Power Paddle Plus.

As a bonus, these paddles float in the water, making them ideal for open-water usage. 

Are you looking to improve your arm technique further? Consider a pair of FINIS Forearm Fulcrum paddles to help you further train the correct wrist, elbow, and shoulder position in the water. You can learn more about these paddles in position number 9. 

Swimming Paddle Specifications-

• Shape: Elliptical, convex
• Use: Technique, power
• Straps: Strapless
• Strokes: All strokes
• Size Options: 4 Options

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4. Sporti Power Swim Paddles

The Sporti Power Swim Paddles are similar to the Speedo Power Plus Paddles but are a more affordable budget option clocking in at less than half the price.

The Sporti Power Swim Paddles differ from the Speedo Power Plus Paddles in 3 main ways. Namely:

• A raised palm area for a more secure fit
• Fewer holes
• No scalloped edges

While these paddles don’t have scalloped edges, they are quite large, allowing for plenty of surface area to help you build a powerful pull and upper body strength.

Their hydrodynamic shape further ensures proper swimming technique by maintaining your hand’s natural feel in the water. 

They also have a flat design for easy entry and control in the water.

Integrated into the lightweight plastic design is polypropylene– a synthetic resin that ensures the durability and flexibility of the paddles. 

Once again, the holes allow you to customize the straps for a custom fit while reducing water resistance.

What I like about these paddles is that Sporti supplies replacement straps for them. This means if your straps ever get worn out, you’ll be able to easily replace them without having to replace the entire paddle. 

Swimming Paddle Specifications-

• Shape: Elliptical, flat
• Use: Power, technique 
• Straps: Yes, adjustable
• Strokes: All strokes
• Size Options: 3 Options

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5. Arena Elite Finger Paddles

As the name suggests, the Arena finger paddles present a smaller design that fits primarily over your fingertips. 

While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend substituting traditional swimming paddles for this design, the finger paddles offer some benefits of their own. They are a good tool to use with a pair of conventional training paddles. 

In terms of design, the Arena Elite Finger paddles present a flat construction with smooth edges and adjustable straps. Constructed from polypropylene and rubber, the paddle is also lightweight and durable. 

Here are some of the benefits you can expect to gain from incorporating the finger paddles into your training:

• Improved finger strength.
• Increases your pull power and propulsion by covering your fingers but leaves your palms open, helping you to maintain your feel for the water.
• Easy to control and allows you to swim freely.
• Trains the catch phase of your stroke and teaches the correct finger placement so that you can learn to drive your stroke from the tips of your fingers for maximum propulsion in the water.

These paddles are ideal for all four swimming strokes. 

One of the things that I like the most about the finger paddles is that it places less stress on your shoulders due to the smaller surface area.

Shoulder injuries are one of the most common injuries in swimming, with one study by the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine reporting that 47% of college- and 48% of masters swimmers have experienced shoulder pain that lasted a minimum of 3 weeks.

I wouldn’t, however, shy away from using paddles out of fear of injury. As I briefly mentioned earlier, paddles can also help reduce your risk of shoulder injuries by encouraging correct swimming technique and strengthening the shoulder muscles. 

There are also many other things you can do to lessen your likelihood of a shoulder injury, like strengthening exercises outside of the water and mobility work. 

With all that said, the smaller finger paddles certainly reduce your immediate risk of shoulder injury from paddles due to a smaller surface area and are an ideal option for swimmers with existing or previous shoulder injuries or problems. 

Swimming Paddle Specifications-

• Shape: Elliptical, flat
• Use: Technique, finger strength 
• Straps: Yes, adjustable
• Strokes: All strokes
• Size Options: 1 Option

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6. TYR Catalyst Hand Paddles

Featuring an ergonomic and hydrodynamic design and a wide range of size options, the TYR Catalyst paddles are ideal for swimmers of every level. These paddles provide a balance between developing strength and technique in the water. 

The Catalyst paddles feature a flat, lightweight, and durable construction, ensuring a comfortable, secure fit and control in the water. The straps are also adjustable to your needs. 

The paddle shape mimics the form of your palms to allow for natural pulling mechanics and optimal technique.

Additionally, holes let water pass through as you swim to further promote correct pulling with the benefit of added water resistance for strength and endurance. 

Some of the things that I like about the TYR Catalyst paddles is that they are available in a wide range of sizes allowing you to pick a paddle with both a comfortable fit and that’s optimal for your training goals. This also makes them good swim paddles for kids since they’ll easily be able to find a size that suits them.

Additionally, the see-through design is nice as it allows you to assess your hand position on the paddle and looks cool. 

These paddles also have replacement straps available, which is a pleasant bonus.

Swimming Paddle Specifications-

• Shape: Elliptical, flat
• Use: Power, technique
• Straps: Yes, adjustable
• Strokes: All strokes
• Size Options: 7 Options

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7. Arena Elite Hand Paddle 2

The Arena Elite Hand Paddle is another top-notch swimming paddle. These paddles have a unique design, come in 4 sizes, and are an excellent tool for developing all aspects of your stroke– from technique to power. 

The Arena Elite Hand Paddle 2 is shaped slightly differently from other paddles featuring a large elliptical design with smooth edges. 

The large surface area of the paddle makes it ideal for developing strength and endurance by providing extra resistance against the water. At the same time, the flat design ensures easy entry and control in the water.

One unique aspect that sets the Elite Hand Paddle 2 apart is the large and strategic center-mounted hole. This hole allows more water to pass through the paddle directly onto your palm, ensuring a maximized feel for the water so that you can adjust your stroke for optimal technique. 

To further enhance the technical capabilities of these paddles, I recommend removing the palm strap. That way, if you maneuver your hand incorrectly, the paddles are likely to fall off, similar to the strapless FINIS Agility paddle.

The straps can be adjusted further to create a personalized fit. 

Swimming Paddle Specifications-

• Shape: Elliptical, flat
• Use: Power, technique
• Straps: Yes, adjustable
• Strokes: All strokes
• Size Options: 4 Options

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8. FINIS Freestyler Hand Paddles

Is freestyle your main stroke? Well, you’re in luck because FINIS has designed a paddle specifically tailored for freestyle swimmers. 

The FINIS Freestyler Hand Paddles have a unique triangular shape with cut-out wrist areas, reducing stress on your shoulders and lowering the risk of injury.

The hand paddle has various features to ensure proper freestyle swimming technique. This includes-

• A triangle shape streamlines hand entry, forcing you to use long strokes
• The design encourages correct hand entry
• The design encourages stroke rotation

Additionally, the paddles feature a single adjustable finger strap. This secures the paddle for a comfortable fit but will cause them to fall off if you use incorrect technique. 

While these paddles have a lot of features promoting proper freestyle technique, they also add resistance in the water, allowing you to improve your pulling strength and power.

Swimming Paddle Specifications-

• Shape: Triangular, flat
• Use: Freestyle swimming, technique, and power
• Straps: Yes, adjustable
• Strokes: Freestyle
• Size Options: Two sizes: junior and senior

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9. FINIS Forearm Fulcrum Paddle

The FINIS Forearm Fulcrum Paddles are designed purely for one purpose– aggressively improving your stroke technique. 

These paddles are more useful for swimmers with severe deficiencies in their technique. That said, anyone can benefit from using them. 

Since these paddles are primarily for technique, I recommend using them in combination with a standard training paddle to ensure you still develop adequate strength and power in your stroke. 

The FINIS Forearm Fulcrum Paddle features a figure eight design and is constructed from durable plastic with soft rubber padding for added comfort. 

The open design provides minimal water resistance to reduce shoulder stress and allows for a complete feel of the water while you swim. 

Placing your hand through the two sections of the paddle encourages optimal technique by aligning your wrist, elbow, and shoulder from the very beginning of your stroke to the end.

This promotes two critical aspects of an efficient stroke, namely-

• An early vertical forearm position for maximum propulsion
• High elbow position for an efficient catch

The paddles can be used for all swimming strokes, but I recommend primarily using them for freestyle swimming as they can feel a bit awkward when used on other strokes. 

It’s also essential to use them frequently as they rely on ingraining proper technique through muscle memory. You don’t have to use them the entire time but try to throw them in for a 400 or so during each workout until your technique has improved. 

You can also choose to only use them during warm-up and cool-down while you swim normally for the rest of your workout.

By improving your stroke technique, you are significantly improving your swimming efficiency while reducing your risk of injuries.

Swimming Paddle Specifications-

• Shape: Figure eight
• Use: Technique only
• Straps: No
• Strokes: All strokes (recommend primarily for freestyle)
• Size Options: Two sizes: junior and senior

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How to Choose Swimming Hand Paddles

Now that we’ve gone over the best swim paddles, I’m going to walk you step-by-step through the process of using the perfect swimming paddles for you. 

Paddle Purpose

The first step in choosing your swimming paddles is deciding your primary goal regarding your pull. 

Ask yourself:

• Do you want to improve your pulling strength, power, and endurance?
• Do you want to improve your pulling technique?
• Or do you want to do a bit of both?

Knowing the answer to these questions will enable you to pick features in your paddles that will contribute to your goals. We’ll now go over each of these features separately. 

Swim Paddle Size

Size is an important aspect of picking your swim paddles. You want your paddles to be comfortable, provide a secure fit, and not be too small.

Each paddle has its own size table, and we recommend using that to pick your ideal paddle size.

You can find the size tables on SwimOutlet. I highly recommend them for purchasing your swim gear since they have the best prices and widest range of gear.

Generally, your paddles should be a bit bigger than the size of your hand.

That said, some coaches prefer oversized paddles for power work, so if you’re unsure, consult with your coach beforehand on what size would be ideal for you.

I only recommend sizing up for advanced-level swimmers who don’t have any underlying shoulder problems.

If you don’t know what size your hands are, you can use a measuring tape to determine your hand size.

If you opt for the paper method, make sure not to place your fingers too far apart, as they won’t be completely spread out when wearing a paddle.

Shape and Design

As you would’ve noticed, there are a few different paddle shapes to pick from. Apart from a few outliers, the two primary shapes you’ll find are:

• A flat elliptical paddle
• A contoured elliptical paddle

Flat paddles are better for power work. They allow for easy entry and control in the water and provide more water resistance. That said, they can still be ideal for technique work as well.

Contoured paddles, on the other hand, are better for focusing on stroke technique as they require more focus to control the paddle and create a better feel for the water. Once again, although they are better for technique work, you’ll still be able to improve your power and strength in the water with this design.

You can also go with one of the outlier designs like the FINIS Freestyler Paddles or the Arena Finger Paddles. This is ideal if you want to focus on specific strokes or technical points to which these paddles are tailored or if you have underlying shoulder problems. 

Paddle Straps

Straps have advantages and disadvantages.

They secure your paddles in place but can also lead to incorrect pulling technique by holding your paddle in place when instead it should fall off. This can be detrimental since the wrong technique combined with the added water resistance can place unnecessary strain on your shoulders. 

Strapless paddles are good for teaching correct swimming technique by falling off when you slip up.

That said, paddles with straps are better for power work since they allow for aggressive swimming without falling off.

To get the best of both worlds, you can remove the wrist strap from your paddles and only secure them around your fingers. This way, you can still do aggressive power training, but if you maneuver your hand incorrectly in the water, the paddles will be more likely to fall off. 

Price

In general, paddles aren’t expensive. That said, you may not want to spend much money on a pair– and that’s fine. There are budget options available. 

If you want to go for something cheaper without compromising quality and performance, I recommend the Sporti Power Swim Paddles. 

Common Questions About Swimming Hand Paddles

What Are The Benefits of Swimming Paddles?

Due to the numerous benefits they offer, swimming paddles are one of the most commonly used pieces of swim gear today. Here are some of the benefits:

• Improved technique and efficiency: Work on your hand positioning, entry, feel for the water, and pulling mechanics.
• Strength and power: Added water resistance enables you to build upper body strength and power.
• Endurance: Added water resistance contributes to stamina in your stroke.
• Increased propulsion: The added surface area allows you to train at higher speeds.
• Muscle balance: Improve muscle balance by engaging underused muscle groups due to the extra water resistance.
• Prevent injuries: Better technique and stronger muscles will lower your risk of injury.
• Progress faster: A meta-benefit is that by improving your technique, power, and strength, you’ll be able to progress more quickly in training. 

Related: Best swimming fins for training.

How Do I Use Swimming Paddles in Training?

Here are a few uses cases for using paddles in your swim training:

• Drill work: Use them to add propulsion, power, and speed to execute specific swimming drills more effectively and with correct technique. For example, one arm-drills with paddles will allow you to train the strength and technique of each arm individually. 
• Speed and power work: Throw on a pair of paddles and do short, high-intensity sprints to build power and upper body strength. 25s and 50s are ideal.
• Endurance work: Throw on a pair of paddles during distance swims (400s, 800s, 1500s). The added water resistance during these long swims will improve your stamina.
• Technique work: Use technique-specific paddles like the FINIS Agility or the FINIS Forearm Fulcrum paddles to do focused technique work and improve your pulling mechanics and stroke efficiency. 
• Kicking: Yes, paddles are for your arms but can be an effective kicking tool as well. Use them as a kickboard by stretching your arms out in front of you or pointing your palms directly forward to provide extra water resistance while you kick. 

How Do I Take Care of My Swimming Paddles?

There isn’t much that you can do to take care of swimming paddles. 

However, as I generally recommend for all swim gear, you can rinse them off with fresh water after training to remove any pool chemicals. 

Also, store them in a cool place away from sunlight, as this can degrade the plastic, silicone, and rubber used in these items. 

Related: Best swimming goggles for racing.

How Do I Avoid Shoulder Injuries from Swimming Paddles?

As mentioned, paddles can be a direct tool for reducing your risk of shoulder injuries. Still, they may also pose a risk due to the extra stress on your shoulders– especially for swimmers with previous or underlying problems.

Here are a few things to do to minimize the risk of injury from paddles:

• Always make sure to warm up properly.
• Make sure you are using the correct swimming technique.
• Don’t use oversized paddles if you aren’t an advanced-level swimmer.
• If you have underlying shoulder problems, opt for a finger paddle, or don’t use paddles at all.

Enhance Your Swimming with a New Pair of Swimming Paddles

Paddles have become a staple piece of swim gear in many swimmers’ training. They offer numerous benefits that help enhance your technique and performance in the water.

Make sure to consider all of the different factors when picking your swim paddles to choose a quality pair that caters to your swim goals and needs.