FINIS Alignment Kickboard Review – An Advanced Kickboard for Faster Swimming

Wondering if the FINIS Alignment Kickboard is the right board for you? Here’s a look at how this specialized kickboard can help boost your swimming.

The FINIS Alignment Kickboard is a specialized swim training tool that is designed to help swimmers improve their kick and body position.

Unlike traditional kickboards, which can be too buoyant, create additional stress on the shoulder joints, and lock the arms in a fixed position, the FINIS Alignment Kickboard promotes a streamlined and swim-specific body position in the water.

In this review, we will look at the benefits of this advanced kickboard, how swimmers can use it for improved technique and speed and offer some tips for getting the most out using it.

Let’s dive in.

FINIS Alignment Kickboard – The Pros

Having used this kickboard for several years, both in my own swim training and with the swimmers and programs that I consult with, here are the key benefits and pros of the FINIS Alignment Kickboard:

✅ Kick in a swim-specific way

The FINIS Alignment Kickboard is designed to promote kicking technique that more closely resembles the natural body position during swimming.

Compare this to traditional kickboards, which can lift the upper body almost completely out of the water, the FINIS Alignment Kickboards encourages a more horizontal, streamlined position.

Specificity is the name of the game in improving swim performance, and building your kick fitness and technique can be done in a more swim-specific way by utilizing a FINIS Alignment Board.

✅ Encourages a longer bodyline

When using the FINIS Alignment Board you’ll notice that you have a lower-profile position in the water, which extends the bodyline and makes you more streamlined.

This is great for reducing drag and also stretching out the body. Fast and efficient swimmers are also long swimmers, and a FINIS Alignment Kickboard can reinforce the “long body” mindset by eliminating the bunching up of the upper body that is typical on a regular kickboard.

✅ Can be used with two hands or one hand

The versatility of the FINIS Alignment Kickboard is one of the things I love most about it.

You can kick in a streamline with two hands (recommend adding a swim snorkel to this for even better body positioning).

Kick on your side to work and improve your ability to rotate the head to breathe the optimal amount.

Or kick with one hand out in front of you, snorkel on, and practice hitting the perfect amount of shoulder roll.

✅ Pull into walls and do flip turns more easily

Swimmers are notorious for pulling into the walls when doing kick, with some swimmers initiating the pull-in a little further out than maybe they should be doing (e.g. from well outside the backstroke flags, ahem).

The streamlined, arrowhead design of the kickboard combined with the strap means you can essentially turn the board into a large, floating paddle when pulling into the wall for a flip turn.

✅ Increased control of the board

The FINIS Alignment Board has a wrist strap on top of the board with which swimmers can slide their hand under and secure the board to the palm.

The increased control means no slippage or sliding around, helping swimmers focus on kicking excellence and technique instead of worrying about the board sliding out from under them.

✅ Works with all kicks

The kickboard can be used for all four types of kick:

• Freestyle (flutter) kicking is no problem.

• Breaststrokers will love the resemblance to their standard kick and glide phase when using it.

• Backstroke kicking with the board is a breeze compared to a big and cumbersome tombstone kickboard.

For dolphin kicking on your front, I especially like the FINIS Alignment Board as swimmers get more range of motion and undulation from the chest compared to a standard kickboard, which tends to “pin” a swimmer’s sternum to the board.

✅ Easier on the shoulders

The increased buoyancy of regular kickboards can cause discomfort and even stress on the shoulders due to the elevated position.

The FINIS Alignment Kickboard has a more natural-feeling positioning, especially when placed just under the surface of the water.

Kick sets tend to be the prescription for swimmers dealing with a nagging shoulder injury, and a FINIS Alignment Board is an excellent way to reduce further distress in the shoulder joint.

✅ Promotes a better streamline

The streamline is one of the most fundamental skills swimmers learn, and many still struggle to maximize them.

For example, a study published in the Journal of Human Kinetics, titled, “Effect of The Swimmer’s Head Position on Passive Drag,” showed just how powerful a tight streamline can be on speed.

When swimmers used a streamline with head down, locked between the arms, they reduced passive drag by a staggering 10.4-10.9% compared to when swimmers had their heads slightly tilted up.  

The design of the board encourages swimmers to tighten up their streamline, maximizing velocity and reducing drag.

A fast, tight streamline is a free habit for more speed in the water, and this kickboard can help reinforce this skill.

✅ Use for one arm drills

Drills are a tool for improving feel for the water, fine-tune technique, and heighten focus on key phases of the stroke that you want to make better.

One arm drills, however, are often where good technique goes to die, with swimmers fish-tailing, over-rotating, and otherwise creating worse technical habits.

See also: Nathan Adrian’s Favorite Drill: Single-Arm Freestyle

By using the FINIS Alignment Kickboard for one arm drills, whether you are doing long dog drill, the old-school classic one-arm freestyle, or any other variation, allows swimmers to focus on technique and making the proper technique corrections instead of maintaining body position.

FINIS Alignment Kickboard – The Cons

While there is lots to love about the FINIS Alignment board, it’s not for everyone, including:

❌ Not for beginner swimmers.

The limited buoyancy and smaller size of the FINIS Alignment Kickboard makes it less optimal for beginner swimmers.

The increased focus on body position and reduced buoyancy is less forgiving on swimmers still developing the basics of an efficient kick.

A larger, tombstone kickboard is advisable for this type of swimmer to avoid frustration and ineffective training of swimming (or kicking, in this case) beyond their abilities.

❌ Pricey for a kickboard.

The FINIS Alignment Kickboard is fairly expensive as it relates to other kickboards. It retails for around $30, which is 2-3x more expensive than budget-friendly kickboards like those made by Sporti, Speedo, TYR and Arena.

Tips for Using the FINIS Alignment Kickboard

Like any tool or swim aid, it’s important to use the FINIS Alignment Kickboard strategically during your swim workouts in service of your swimming goals.

Here are some tips to kick your kick into another stratosphere with the kickboard:

• Change planes often to get the most from it – The FINIS Alignment Kickboard is a great way to explore different planes. Kick on your front. Kick with one arm above you, facing down or slanted at 45-degrees, simulating optimal shoulder roll.

• Use with a swimmer’s snorkel for improved bodyline – The swimmer’s snorkel is another tool in the swimmer’s arsenal for better body position in technique. Pair it with this kickboard so that you can avoid picking your head up to breathe and throwing your bodyline out of alignment.

• Build kick power — One of the benefits of the FINIS Alignment Kickboard is the specificity in body positioning. Which means that you should also pair it with strength development tools for swimmers like resistance tubing, DragSox, or a swim parachute. Do short burst efforts with the kickboard, some resistance, with plenty of rest and build a stronger kick that transfers to your regular swimming.

• Pair with regular swimming – To maximize overall improvement, pair use of the FINIS Alignment Kickboard with regular swimming to carry over the improved body position and streamline. For example, do 8×100 freestyle fast, as 50 kick with the FINIS Alignment Board and then 50 swim, maintaining the superior body position and awesome kick through the full 100. (Kick/Swim Sets are chlorinated awesome for faster swimming!)

The Bottom Line

When it comes to trying to swim faster, every little detail counts. Gold medals, personal best times, and national cuts are frequently decided by fractions of a second.

Whether you’re a competitive swimmer with aspirations of Olympic glory or a developing swimmer looking to crush some personal best times, the FINIS Alignment Kickboard is the best kickboard for advanced performance in the water.

Pick one up for yourself, explore the many ways that it can help you improve kick technique, body position, and take your swimming (and kick!) to a new level.

Happy swimming!

FINIS Alignment Swim Training Kickboard

$30.00

Shop Now @ Amazon Shop Now @ Swim Outlet

02/24/2025 04:26 am GMT

More Kick Resources

How to Develop an Unstoppable Freestyle Kick. Research, sets and technical tips on how to unleash a vicious flutter or freestyle kick.

How to Improve Your Breaststroke Kick with Two-Time Olympian Mike Alexandrov. Here are three breaststroke kicking drills from NCAA champion and Olympian Mike Alexandrov that will help you power up your breaststroke kick (with video demonstrations).