Pull Set (Buoy)

The Pull Set (Buoy) is a swim drill where you hold a pull buoy between your legs and swim using only your arms. It builds upper-body conditioning while teaching you to catch and pull the water cleanly, without help from kicking. Most of the work lands in your lats, shoulders, and forearms, with your triceps and core helping to finish and stabilize each stroke.

Place a pull buoy between your upper thighs so your legs float and stay close together. Push off the wall and settle into a freestyle body position on your stomach, face in the water, arms reaching forward. Keep your body in a straight line from your head to your hips.

Start each stroke by reaching one arm forward and setting a high-elbow catch - anchor your forearm in the water so your hand and elbow stay in front of your shoulder. Pull your body past that anchored arm, then finish by brushing your thumb past your hip. Return your arm forward low over the water and repeat on the other side in a steady rhythm.

Turn your head to the side during the arm recovery to take a quick breath, then bring your face back down. Keep your core gently braced so your hips and legs stay steady and don't wiggle. To make it easier, use a smaller pull buoy or take more rest between lengths. To make it harder, add paddles, but introduce them gradually and skip them if your shoulders feel irritated.

Fault: Dropping the elbow at the catch. Fix: Start each stroke with a high-elbow catch and anchor your forearm vertically before you pull, so your hand and elbow stay out in front of your shoulder.

Fault: Reaching across the centerline of your body. Fix: Enter the water in line with your shoulder and pull straight back, focusing on pulling your body past your hand without snaking through the water.

Fault: Adding paddles too soon or too often. Fix: Introduce paddles gradually with small ones first, and avoid them on any day you feel shoulder irritation, since they increase load on the shoulders.