Design Objectives
Develop swim paddle that assists muscle development while relieving stress on fingers and joints through the use of anthropometric and user-focused design.
Design Sketching
Sketching was done over a simple CAD underlay buck with the intention of ideating on deal shapes and forms that would be both eye-catching as well as ergonomic. Consideration was also paid towards the possible shapes of cutouts within the paddle that would aid grip and direct the flow of water over the surface.
Lots and lots of iterative models.
Prototyping
A combination of PLA and SLA printing was used to quickly test for fit and ergonomics of models. When testing the designs in-house, we would often use automotive putty and dremels to quickly modify forms and handholds, without spending excess time modeling and printing
Quick adjustments with dremels and automotive putty.
Testing
Over the course of several weeks, prototypes were sent out athletes as well as recreational swimmers to best gauge the performance, strengths, and weaknesses of each design. We focused on rapid iteration and attempting to hone in on any pain points while keeping the designs manufacturable.
Evaluative comparisons between competing swim paddles.
Testing overall sizing.
Final Model
Rendered in Keyshot
Product images provided by FINIS