How to Apply and Use FAST Paddles (Patent Pending)
To Build Your Sprint Stoke and Power Instantly

Description:
Friederang Advanced Sprinter's Training (FAST) Paddles are three  
sizes of large shaped and bent aluminum paddles designed by coach and  
biomechanist Steve Friederang. FAST Paddles also have buoys at the  
arm to lift your elbow into the perfect sprinting "catch". Each  
paddle forces you to catch instantly like Cielo and Bousquet and to  
connect with your core as well as your arm. This connection builds  
power and the rhythm necessary to win against modern sprinters.  
Better for rhythm. Better for balance. Better to build power. FAST  
Paddles: the world's first and only pure sprint paddles.
How to Apply:
        • FAST paddles have two ends -- the front, which is bent, requiring  
you to catch and hold the water as soon as your middle finger enters,  
and the back, where you choose how many packets of closed-cell foam  
you use to ensure you are catching with an early vertical forearm  
(EVF) and maintaining a high elbow throughout your stroke.         
        • Place the velcro strap through the slits in the back of the FAST  
paddles and use the velcro on the each packet to hold it in place.  
Try one first and use the second one if you need it to keep your  
elbow higher on entry and throughout the stroke.
        • Connect the finger/hand strap with the tubing. Find the one that  
is best for you. Most people like the tubes to cross and to use  
multiple fingers.
        • Do the same with the other Paddle for the other hand. The wrist  
band is optional, but most people will choose to use it.
        • All three sizes of FAST Paddles are larger than flat paddles but,  
surprisingly, they are often less stressful on your shoulders because  
they are almost impossible to use without engaging your whole body.  
Engaging your core and pushing all the way through the stroke is the  
very best way to maintain healthy shoulders. Instead of laying the  
arm out flat on the water and pushing down, you catch with your whole  
arm and engage your legs, chest, lats, and core immediately. If you  
have unbalanced shoulders use your Tropical Penguin isokinetics to  
measure the balance before sprinting all out. Need help? Call us. And  
make sure you are professionally coached.
Some Principles
        FAST Paddles help you align with the principles of summation of  
forces and specific adaptation to imposed demands (the SAID  
principle). They are like lifting weights in the water and the three  
sizes and variable buoys also align with the principles of overload  
and progression. You will probably use them no more than three times  
a week for 10 to 20 laps a practice with four to eight times the rest  
as the effort.
        Summation of forces: This principle helps keep your shoulders  
healthy and your core improving. It also helps you gain and maintain  
the rhythm and power of championship sprinting.
        You will want to keep an eye on your cadence training once you take  
off the FAST Paddles, but a number of college sprinters are using  
them like baseball players use weighted bats before coming to the  
block to prepare them to feel the quick catch and powerful engagement  
of the whole body.
        FAST Paddles are challenging so, just as with weights, etc., if your  
shoulders hurt use them carefully under the direction of a great  
stroke coach and consult your doctor if you are recovering from  
injuries. And give your body plenty of time to recover -- another  
basic principle of reaching your potential!
How to use:
        For Everyone: Adjust the finger tubing to your liking. Warm up  
sufficiently as you would before any weight workout. Then swim each  
bout all out! No more than one lap at a time. Count strokes and time  
your efforts. Keep them in your Cool Coach 4 or Hy-Tek software or  
just in your log book. Set goals and, once you achieve them, see how  
you do with other sizes of FAST Paddles on without paddles.
        For Advanced Sprinters:
        • FAST Paddles encourage power and instant catch. So forget your  
habit of gliding or skating your arm forward when your fingers enter  
the water with paddles not designed for sprinters. Rotate before you  
catch. This will provide a great advantage over sprinters who are  
sliding and gliding in their pull sets.
        • Focus on "connecting" more than pulling. Rotate into an ideal  
position and feel for your ideal center from front to back as well as  
from side to side.         
        • TURNS: We don't encourage turns. You are building power for  
sprints. You will need our Long Fast Distance (LFD) paddles for  
longer training swims.
        • ADVANCED Sprinters should use the larger FAST paddles to build  
specific strength and power and progress to the shorter ones when you  
need more turnover. For many, this means to use the larger paddles at  
the beginning of training cycles and the shorter ones closer to taper.
        If your paddles seem to want to come off at the end of your stroke  
you need to make sure to push all the way through before releasing  
into the recovery.
        Other strokes: Backstrokers love our paddles combined with our RANG  
Pull buoys because they are forced to rotate. Some very strong well- 
balanced flyers also use FAST Paddles, again, under the careful  
direction of a professional coach.
        For New Sprinters and those who simply need more power for longer  
races:
        • Reverse the instructions for progression. Use the smaller FAST  
Paddles after warming up.
        • As your season or career and your strength progresses, you may  
move take the challenge of your larger FAST paddles.
        • FAST Paddles, used properly, encourage an early vertical forearm  
catch, very fast front-end swimming, engaging of your core, and great  
rotation.  You should feel as if you are swimming or pulling down- 
hill, and underwater video should show your hips in exactly the  
correct position allowing you to knife through the water even as you  
develop power and endurance in the right muscles.
        • We discourage the use of "knee squeeze" pull buoys since they  
tend to force you to lay flat on the water and keep your core from  
engaging. We'd encourage you to use our Independent pull-buoys called  
RANGS™ since they allow you to rotate and engage your core even if  
you are conserving your legs for upper body development.