Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a training aid device for use, for example, in the assistance of swimming training.

Background

There are a number of devices currently available which assist in swimming training, for example, hand paddles. These conventional paddles assist in strengthening the swimmer's arms and shoulders during training but do not generally assist in improving propulsion technique when the paddle is removed. A number of conventional types of hand paddles are shaped to curve the hand and spread the fingers over the paddle. These types of conventional paddles may suffer from the disadvantage that once the swimmer ceases to use the paddles, the swimmer's fingers may splay apart, having been used to such a position whilst using the paddles, in which case the swimmer will lose propulsion as the effective surface area of the hand is not optimised to maintain an effective pull through the water. For example, if the fingers are spaced too far apart, the pull phase of the swimming strokes such as the front crawl stroke will be inefficient as the water slips between the fingers of the swimmer's hands and when this happens the swimmer's body does not move over the hand in the desired manner for achieving maximum speed.

To achieve maximum speed, in swimming strokes, for example, the front crawl, the hand should be effectively anchored in the water and the body should move over the hand. Competitive swimmers' hands generally exit very close in the water to where they entered when swimming, using for example the front crawl stroke. If the swimmer has a poor streamline position, a poor body alignment and poor hand positioning or shape, these will

all contribute to reducing the distance that the body moves forward with each pull of the stroke.

It has been appreciated that a common problem which exists in competitive swimming is that the hand shape and finger width when swimming strokes such as the front crawl is not in the correct position to achieve maximum speed through the water.

Thus there is a need for a device which trains the fingers to stay a desired distance apart to increase the effective surface area of the hand when the pull phase is initiated and also changes the muscle memory to retain that spacing when the device is removed from the swimmer's hand.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a training aid device for swimming comprising:

a plurality of spacer elements for retention in use between adjacent digits of a user's hand; and

a flexible member on which the plurality of spacer elements are locatable.

Preferably, the training aid device further comprises an attachment portion for attachment around a part of a user's hand, such as the wrist or the thumb. In a preferred embodiment, the attachment portion may be connectable to a spacer element, or alternatively to the flexible member. In a further preferred embodiment, the attachment portion may be integral with the flexible member.

Preferably, the flexible member comprises a cord, but in another preferred embodiment the flexible member may be formed, for example, of a plastic material or an elastic material such as rubber.

Preferably, each spacer element has a thickness, wherein the thickness of one or more spacer elements differs from the thickness of one or more of the other spacer elements.

In a preferred embodiment, a first one of the plurality of spacer elements has a thickness greater than the thickness of the remaining spacer elements, for retention of the first spacer element between a user's thumb and index finger in use.

Preferably, the thickness of any one or more of the spacer elements is between around 5mm to around 10mm.

In a preferred embodiment, the plurality of spacer elements comprise a plurality of disc shaped elements.

Preferably, one or more of the plurality of spacer elements is/are movable along the flexible member.

Preferably, the flexible member extends through an aperture in each of the plurality of spacer elements, wherein the apertures are offset from the centre of the spacer element through which they extend.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The present invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a conventional hand paddle for use in swimming training;

Figure 2 is a plan view of a further alternative conventional hand paddle for use in swimming training;

Figure 3 is a plan view of a device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the back of a hand to which the device of Figure 3 is attached;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the palm of a hand to which the device of Figure 3 is attached; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a device according to a further embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

Figures 1 and 2 show two different conventional hand paddle devices for use in swimming training, each comprising a paddle portion 2 and a strap portion 4. In each device, the strap portion 4 is attachable to the paddle portion 2 and extends through a number of apertures therein, the ends of the strap portions being shaped to secure the strap portion 4 to the paddle portion 2. The shape of the paddle portion 2 and configuration of the strap portion 4 is such that a swimmer's hand may extend over the paddle portion 2 and be secured thereto by means of the strap portion 4.

In use, the swimmer attaches the paddle devices of Figures 1 or 2 to one or both hands by threading his hand and/or fingers through the strap portions 4 attached to the paddle portion 2. The strap portions 4 are generally formed of an elastic material, such as rubber. The swimmer may then practise swimming strokes with the paddle devices attached to the hands and, in view of the increased surface area of the hand when the pull phase is initiated, the paddle devices assist in building muscle strength in the upper arms and shoulders of the swimmer.

In the paddle devices of Figures 1 and 2, the position of the user's hand on the paddle device is defined by the positions of the strap portions 4 and the paddle portions 2 may be shaped, for example ridged, as shown in Figure 1 to locate the user's fingers. The paddle portion 2 may also be arcuate to hold the user's hand in a slightly cupped or curved position.

Figures 3 to 5 show a training aid device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The device 6 comprises a flexible member 8 which extends through an aperture in each of a number of spacer elements 10 located thereon. The spacer elements 10 are preferably free to move along the length of the flexible member 10 but are retained thereon by the shape of the end portions of the flexible member 8 which may be knotted or otherwise shaped to prevent the ends of the flexible member 8 from being drawn back through the apertures in the spacer elements 10.

The flexible member 8 may be, for example, a cord, or it may be formed from an elastic material such as rubber, or a plastic material. An attachment portion 12 may be attached to one of the end spacer elements 10 of the device 6, for example by passing through an aperture therein and being secured therethrough, or it may be attached to one end of the flexible member 8. In a further preferred embodiment, the attachment portion 12 may be integral with the flexible member 8 as an extension thereof. The attachment portion 12 preferably comprises a looped section which, in use, is threaded over and retained on, for example a user's thumb. In an alternative embodiment, the attachment portion may be retained around the user's wrist.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, in use, the user may thread his thumb through the attachment portion 12 to retain the device 6 on the user's hand. The spacer element 10 adjacent the attachment portion 12 may be located between the user's thumb and index finger and the remaining spacer elements 10 are located between the other fingers, one spacer element being

located between each pair of adjacent fingers. The user's fingers work to hold the spacer elements 10 in position whilst the user is swimming.

The attachment portion 12 is particularly advantageous to inhibit the device 6 from falling off the hand of the swimmer in use, which is particularly useful during the early stages of use of the device 6 when the tendency may be for the fingers to tire of the position defined by the spacer elements 10 and revert to being held in a wider configuration which could otherwise result in the device being dropped.

The spacer elements 10 are preferably freely movable along the flexible member 8 to permit the device 6 to be used by different hand shapes and sizes with minimal adjustment.

Figure 6 shows a further preferred embodiment of the present invention which is similar to that shown in Figures 3 to 5 however, a clamping member 20 may be fitted to the free end of the flexible member 8 to control the maximum spacing of the spacer elements 10 along the flexible member 8. The clamping member 20 may be clamped to the flexible member 8 at a desired position along its length to inhibit the spacer elements 10 from moving further along the length of the flexible member 8 so that the maximum length of flexible member 8 along which the elements 10 may be spaced may be selected to suit the hand of the user.

Alternatively, or in addition, a further aperture may be provided in each spacer element 10 through which either a portion of the flexible member 8 or an additional flexible member may be inserted to control the length of the flexible member 8 along which the spacer elements 10 extend to suit the user of the device.

In a preferred embodiment, the apertures through which the flexible member 8 passes may be offset from the centre of the spacer elements 10 to permit the

flexible member 8 to pass under or over the user's fingers and reduce the amount of spacer element 10 projecting below and above the fingers in use.

Preferably, the spacer elements 10 may comprise a number of disc shaped portions, as shown in Figures 3 to 5. However, in further preferred embodiments, the spacer elements 10 may be comprised of various other shapes, such as substantially square or rectangular, for example.

The thickness of the spacer elements 10 may be selected to permit and encourage the swimmer to develop a hand position in which the fingers are spaced to provide an increased and preferably optimum effective surface area when swimming, for example strokes such as the front crawl, to improve propulsion through the water without encouraging large amounts of water to slip between the fingers which could reduce propulsion.

The spacer elements 10 in a device 6 may be of different thicknesses from each other. In an alternative preferred embodiment (not shown), the spacer elements 10 may not be of a uniform thickness but may be ergonomically shaped for easier retention between the fingers. However, it is preferred that the spacer element locatable in use between the user's thumb and index finger is of a greater thickness than the thicknesses of the remaining spacer elements.

Preferably, the thickness of the spacer elements 10 is between around 5 to around 10 millimetres and may be further selected to take account of the nature of the distance to be covered during training and also the size of the user's hand.

In summary, the device of the present invention may be used to assist in teaching swimmers to swim with the correct hand shape and finger width to maintain or assist in obtaining a maximum forwards propulsion which is particularly beneficial for anyone wishing to improve their swimming speed

and technique. This is made possible through encouraging the swimmer to swim with the fingers located in a position so as to inhibit the device from falling out of the hand. The spacer elements 10 for fitting between the fingers are held in position by the force of the hand during swimming. The device 6 is attachable to the user's hand so that when the user tires and allows the spacer elements 10 to slip from between the fingers, the device 6 does not fall to the bottom of the pool. The device is particularly useful for a number of different swimming strokes including but not limited to, for example, the front crawl.

Various modifications to the embodiments of the present invention described above may be made. Other components and method steps may be added or substituted for those described above. Thus, although the invention has been described above using particular embodiments, many variations are possible within the scope of the claims, as will be clear to the skilled reader, without departing from the invention.