Introduction
In the sport of basketball, the word “wolf” is yelled when a player from the opposite team attempts to sneak from behind and steal the ball. Just like the wolf from the 1890 folk story “The Three Little Pigs” attempted to sneak up and blow their houses down. Some coaches are still on the fence when it comes to using waterweights in their training, and I do not blame them. There are KILLERS lurking to lure us off the path of science and onto the one of hype and FOMO. Once a fad gains fame you can find dozens of corporations trying to cash in before everyone realizes “that dog don’t hunt.” And once the rug has been pulled out from under us our bank accounts are not the only thing hit – it is the athletes who worked hard for progress but only have sweat to show for it that suffer the most. For many players the biggest wolf in their life is unpreparedness – but instead of huffing and puffing it brings lost performance and in some cases a season ending injury. But I have good news, just like the three little piggies there is a solution that defeats the wolves that keep us and our athletes from succeeding. I spent months hunting down the best companies bags, testing them for thousands of reps, and then built a program that got the most out of each movement.
WOLVES Vs. WATER
You cannot build a house out of water, but we can build an athlete up using it. Some people call them water weights, aqua bags, slosh tubes, or even self-enclosed-swimming-pools but I think we all know what I am talking about. I have used these types of equipment sparingly for warmup or light training drills. That being said, over the past few years I have begun implementing them more with basketball players, baseball & softball athletes, and even professional bull riders with a surprising response – they felt better, performed better, and PR’d along the way. In my quest to figure out if these things are worth their salt, I acquired equipment from 3 different companies and put them to the test both literally and figuratively. This way, you can choose for yourself and steer clear of building a house out of sticks and straw (and possibly avoid spilling brightly dyed water everywhere). But first thing is first, if these things work what are the mechanisms at play?
HOW DO WATER WEIGHTS WORK?
I’m no stranger to slosh tubes, but as I grew my business over the years I opted to spend my money on things that I believed brought immediate value. It was not until Paul Skenes (a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates) was seen warming up with water tubes that the market exploded with competitively priced and creative products. As someone who works with dozens of baseball and softball players every week it piqued my interest to use them more. But if I am being honest, I also wanted a way to help my less traditional athletes transfer their new found strengths to their sport – Bull riders. Believe it or not, both groups of athletes require similar athletic abilities to perform at their peak. For example, both are forced to rotate their body through an anchored limb (baseball is foot, PBR is hand). While rotating through this anchor their entire body is torquing and managing load and velocity through their other limbs (ball players hands at the bat or ball, PBR and their spurs and the bull). Not to mention they are doing all of this while subconsciously reacting to the stimuli of their competitor forcing them to make extreme decelerations in the blink of an eye. The main difference between them is while one is rounding the bases in celebration the other is running from a pair of horns. When both athletes commented they liked the “feel” of the water weights, and we continued to hit improvements and mitigate aches and pains I knew I was on to something.
Image: Professional Bull Riding athletes, which are some of the toughest athletes with unique training needs
Which made sense because I could explain why it should work. There are at least 4 primary advantages to using water weights that are specifically unique and efficient.
1) Eccentric Overload
Strength coaches are not strangers to terms like stretch shortening cycle or fascia but a term many young coaches need to know is Eccentric Overload. Muscles are typically stronger in the lowering phase comparatively and therefore we can train some of these stretch qualities experienced during competition by manipulating this fact. When training with water weights, we are exposing athletes to loads that are heavier on the eccentric phase and then lighter (thanks to the shifting water) on the concentric. When done quickly athletes experience even greater eccentric overload, which a growing amount of research says improves performance. (Hernandez J. L, Sabido R., and Blazevich A.J. “High-speed stretch-shortening cycle exercises as a strategy to provide eccentric overload during resistance training.” Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. September 2021.) This can be achieved through swinging the objects, twisting with them, and in some cases throwing them (if you have the right brand but we will get to that in a minute)
When training with water weights, we are exposing athletes to loads that are heavier on the eccentric phase and then lighter (thanks to the shifting water) on the concentric, says @Endunamoo_SC
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Video: Demonstration of skips while performing swings with a water ball
2) Large Multi Chain Dynamic Movements
We have known for a while that athletes should progress towards large kinetic chain movements if they want to do well in their sport – especially if it is a large chain dynamic movement sport. Throwing athletes are one of the easiest examples we can provide of someone who needs large kinetic chain training. As we like to say, “throwing requires everything from your toes to your nose.” Okay, I admit that is not entirely true but it explains to athletes young and old that throwing hard is a full body movement. The water aids in the swinging motion helping athletes stretch through inhibited ranges of motion typically unavailable. We can strengthen weak links in the chain on the down swing without ignoring the rest of the body through the upswing. Anecdotally we have had dozens of athletes gush that they “feel” looser after using the water weights – and in many cases crush PRs shortly after. We achieve this through swinging across the body or by performing “snapping” actions.
(Sciascia, Aaron, Cromwell, Robin, Kinetic Chain Rehabilitation: A Theoretical Framework, Rehabilitation Research and Practice, 2012, 853037, 9 pages, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/853037)
Video: Demonstration of Split Stance Switches with a crossbody figure 8 swing using a water weight
3) Dynamic Instability
Not a month goes by where an athlete, parent, or coach walks in and asks for their training to include standing on bosu balls to improve balance. You cannot have a battle of wits with an unarmed man so I normally say “we have other ways of working on it” But you guys understand that most athletes are playing their sport from a planted foot, on solid ground, while generating large amounts of force – not a wobbly blue surface. In most cases instability is created UP THE CHAIN rather than at the bottom of it. Swinging weights has been shown to improve balance and we can infer that stabilizing the swinging of a water weight will have similar (if not greater) impact. This can be achieved by standing on one leg or both as athletes balance against the heave and ho of the water weights moving around. We perform hops and swings that put athletes in game-like positions while fighting against the water.
(Erbes, D .A. The effect of kettle bell training on body composition, flexibility, balance, and core strength. MS in Clinical Exercise Physiology, December 2012, 43 pp. (J. Porcari))
Most athletes are playing their sport from a planted foot, on solid ground, while generating large amounts of force – not a wobbly surface, says @Endunamoo_SC
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Video: Athlete demonstrating how to use water balls to train dynamic stability in the shoulder
4) Deceleration
All technical and athletic sports require some form of deceleration – which means we need to train it specifically. Research is showing that baseball & softball players benefit more from deceleration specific drills than other novel training stimuli. When it comes to water weights this would look like attempting to move the object aggressively and then stopping to feel the weight of the water “crash.” Our instructions are typically “try and shoot the water out of the tube.” This is not just for diamond athletes though. Football and soccer players experience hundreds of decelerations per game that challenge their capacity. We can use the water weights to improve their ability to manage these decelerations without accumulating hundreds more thanks to the added and progressive load that the water provides.
Garner S, Wicke J, Legreaux S, Chianchiano B. Effects of deceleration-focused exercise strategies on shoulder range of motion and throwing velocity in baseball and softball athletes. Sports Biomech. 2021 Feb;20(1):86-95. doi: 10.1080/14763141.2018.1556325. Epub 2019 Jan 31. PMID: 30702384.
Video: Athlete demonstrating how to use a water bag to train deceleration on a throwing motion with a water bag
Now that we know water bags are not wolves, but rather a unique and beneficial training tool we have to decide which ones to use. But don’t fret, you don’t have to rely on clever marketing because we did that experiment too.
THE WATER WEIGHT COMPANY EXPERIMENT
This experiment was not sent to a peer reviewed journal but we did explode blue fluids everywhere and I think that makes it more scientific. To find the best water weight for sports training we acquired several different pieces of equipment from several companies and put them through the ringer. Some lasted a few months, some a year, and one company is still holding strong nearly 2 years later. The workouts we performed were not your average gym sessions. We had high level high school, college, and pro athletes swinging, shaking, and even throwing these things. Each of these companies will get an overall rating and we graded them based on:
- Durability
- Creativity
- Customer service
- Price
And before we get going NONE of these companies paid us for this response and we actually purchase from them (we used our money so you don’t have to waste yours)
Video: Durability test of a water bag showing that some aren’t made to handle what you might want them to
FluidX
Image: Product Images of the Water Tube and Water Ball from FluidX
The first company is called FluidX and we used their standard tube and ball.
Creativity (6/10)
FluidX did not leave anything out but they did not have anything unique. Their entire lineup was the exact same as any other company. The only reason I’m not giving them a 5 is because their pump and air up system is very user friendly.
Customer service (10/10)
This company had some of the best customer service with very quick response times through social media as well as the largest amount of resources and education online.
Price (10/10)
Even with all of this effort put into improving user experience they were the CHEAPEST products we could find.
Durability (2/10)
If you plan on jumping, swinging, throwing, and moving these objects fast I CANNOT recommend this company. Within 8 weeks we broke two pieces of equipment.
My final grade for FluidX is an F when it comes to athletic training. That being said, if you are looking for a cost-effective way to add water weight training to a general population facility that will use them with tender love and care this might be the perfect fit.
Tidal Tank
Image: Product photos of the water tube and water ball from Tidal Tank
The next company I want to talk about is Tidal Tank. From them we have their Classic Ball and tube.
Creativity (7/10)
Tidal Tank does not have more than the average company. Their balls, tubes, and attachments do come in a larger variety of sizes but other than that it is basic. In addition, their air pump system is the worst. The products that we received were unable to keep air inside the equipment once the pump nozzle was removed. After the seal was on it was fine but we never got the balls aired up “just right.”
Customer service (7/10)
Communicating with this company online feels like any other major brand. Much of their social media content is also ads – instead of educating their community in how to use the products better.
Price (5/10)
Unless you are taking advantage of one of their “limited time deals” or “combo packs” they are one of the more expensive companies on the market.
Durability (8/10)
For a year we have tried our best to destroy these balls and tubes but the best we could do was a tiny air leak after a few thousand reps.
My final grade for Tidal Tank is a B- when it comes to athletic training. If you are just now getting into using water weights you have probably seen one of their ads, and to be honest, they will do a great job for you. But I could not stop my search until I found the best option.
Finesse Performance
Image: Photo of the Pill, Mini Hydro, and Bulgarian Bag from Finesse Performance
The final company I want to bring to your attention is Finesse Performance. We got our hands on their tube (Pill), shoulder ball weights (mini hydros), and Bulgarian bag.
Creativity (10/10)
Hear me when I say Finesse has the best tubes (handles, grip placement, comfort), the most creative balls (different sizes/colors, dual chamber, football grip) and the most unique (Bulgarian bags and straps). The majority of our athletes prefer them over the others.
Customer service (9/10)
Most of this company’s online content is educational in nature. They partner with coaches and feature their training regularly helping the average user come up with a game plan. Likewise, their responses are genuine and less “sales pitch.”
Price (7/10)
You can get a competitive price for their products without waiting for special sales or bundles. They are not the cheapest but they are not charging as much as I would expect for the uniqueness of their lineup.
Durability (10/10)
Even though most of our athletes prefer the Finesse lineup (meaning they get used more) we have not made a dent on their durability. This is the only company that we have been able to throw a product and not fear an explosion on impact.
My final grade for Finesse Performance is an A+ when it comes to athletic training. To be honest, I was surprised when I came to this conclusion. I stumbled upon them by accident and wanted to see how they compared to the “bigger brands.” And they did not disappoint.
WATER BAG PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Having the best equipment in the world does not matter much unless you know how to use it. But now you know why we do these drills, which companies we prefer, so to make sure you are building your house out of bricks instead of straw or sticks we should talk about how to implement some of these drills. When deciding to perform water drills it depends on what your primary goal is, which can typically fall into these 3 categories.
POTENTIATION:
We have used these tools successfully to squeeze out more performance from certain players. Examples of these would be higher intensity movements done at lower volumes. These are the drills that require an athlete to try and “shoot the water out” of the implement. Sets of one to three with reps under 5 are great for this.
Image: Graphic showing how to use water weights for potentiation
FEEL:
Pain can be the greatest inhibitor of performance (try throwing a baseball fast when your shoulder or elbow hurts). We have found that oscillating movements for extended periods of time can help athletes feel more connected and less achy. We do this at the very beginning of the day so that all of our movements can be optimized. I can give you sets and reps for this but we have found that performing these for time and “feel” are best. We start with 30 seconds, or until they feel a burn, and in some cases for reps until they get a release of tension in those areas.
Image: Graphic showing how to use water weights for feel
CONTROL:
If improving capacity or deceleration is what you want the most then we recommend saving this for the mid to end of a session. If you have never done a set of 20 swings with a water ball you are in for a hurting – and we do not want fatigue to interfere with more important components of training. These drills would include moving around a space, twisting, swinging, and balancing. Our preference is to perform 3 to 5 sets of 5 or more reps each. Just like anything, we start at a lower volume and then work our way up as capacity increases.
Image: Graphic showing how to use water weights for control
There are a lot of different canines that love water. Labs, golden retrievers, and especially Portuguese water dogs. Wolves on the other hand would prefer not to get soaked. Adding water weights to your training is just another way to prepare for the demands of sport while keeping the “wolves” at bay.
SOURCES
1) Hernandez J. L, Sabido R., and Blazevich A.J. “High-speed stretch-shortening cycle exercises as a strategy to provide eccentric overload during resistance training.” Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. September 2021.) This can be achieved through swinging the objects, twisting with them, and in some cases throwing them (if you have the right brand but we will get to that in a minute
2) Sciascia, Aaron, Cromwell, Robin, Kinetic Chain Rehabilitation: A Theoretical Framework, Rehabilitation Research and Practice, 2012, 853037, 9 pages, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/853037
3) Erbes, D .A. The effect of kettle bell training on body composition, flexibility, balance, and core strength. MS in Clinical Exercise Physiology, December 2012, 43 pp. (J. Porcari))
4) Garner S, Wicke J, Legreaux S, Chianchiano B. Effects of deceleration-focused exercise strategies on shoulder range of motion and throwing velocity in baseball and softball athletes. Sports
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