Swim toys add variety to your workouts and when they are properly mixed in, can help you improve your stroke, help you focus, break up some monotony in long workouts, and make swimming both faster and more fun!

Fins - these are one of the best tools for swimming, especially if you’re newer to it!
-increase efficiency
-improve kicking form and mechanics
-increase ankle flexibility
-help you hold better body position so your drills are more productive

Pull buoys are another must have in the water:
-isolate the upper body
-improve body position
-build endurance - pull sets help you add more distance to your swims with less fatigue
-work well with breathing technique drills (think about the good old 5,7,9 breath work)

Paddles:
-help increase upper body strength
-improves the quality of your stroke
-gives you a better “feel” for the water
-often can be used in tandem with pull buoys

Snorkel:
-helps you focus on head position since you don’t need to turn to breathe
-allows you to stabilize the head and neck to fine tune your catch
-is an excellent tool for breath control
-if you go the snorkel route, don’t forget your nose clip, too!

All of these are great tools to help you get more efficient in the water. Be careful not to get over-reliant on them (IE, mix it up and make sure you don’t use them your whole workout, unless that’s intentional from your coach!) but all of them serve a different purpose in improving your form in the water.

Happy swimming!