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The Bolster Paddle was designed, developed, and patented by a swim coach:  Brian Bolster of Osprey Aquatics in San Jose, California.

Take one look at The Bolster and you know it isn’t your normal paddle.  It has a slightly curved disk for the hand and some holes – that’s all fairly normal.  It’s the extension piece that sets this paddle apart from all the others. 

When you strap into The Bolster using the easy-to-adjust Velcro strap, you’ll find that it’s almost impossible to bend your wrist.    

By keeping the wrist from bending, The Bolster encourages you to develop a forearm-dominant stroke and to keep the elbow up during the catch and during the initial part of the pull.   Coaches call this technique Early Vertical Forearm – or EVF.   

The Bolster also keeps your wrist from collapsing at the back end of your pull.   This helps to eliminate any “soft spots” in your stroke.  

The Bolster helps you apply uniform force from the fingertips all the way along the forearm – and to apply uniform pressure on the water from the initial catch to the exit of the hand. 

To get the most effective pull, you want to pull with as much surface area as possible.  If you can create a pulling surface with your hand and your forearm, you nearly double the size of your “paddle blade,” and this will provide more propulsion.
  
When you’re strapped into The Bolster, swimming badly isn’t an option.  If you let the elbows drop, you’ll notice an immediate decrease in the effectiveness of your stroke.  

This kind of automatic stroke correction makes The Bolster ideal as a stroke-development tool. It’s a great device for anyone trying to grasp the concept of a high-elbow catch and pull. 

For beginning swimmers, The Bolster is best used for short distances, with lots of thought.

 For advanced swimmers, The Bolster provides resistance at the same time as it reinforces good stroke technique.    You get the strength benefits of a paddle workout and the benefit of EVF training.

 While The Bolster is primarily a freestyle paddle, it can be used for the other strokes – especially backstroke, where it helps you catch and throw water.    

If you try breaststroke with The Bolster, you may find it a bit awkward to execute an open turn… but the benefits of pulling with the hand and forearm still apply -- and you might want to do a flip turn.  

And for fly, you might want to stick with single-arm drills rather than full stroke.  

Learning to swim with the wrist, forearm, and elbow in the correct position is important in every stroke, and The Bolster will definitely help you achieve this.

Text and video copyright © 2011 by Go Swim Productions, LLC


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The Bolster Paddle