Courtesy of Sabrina Munatones of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Nicolas Winograd, a surfer and designer from Buenos Aires, Argentina who lives in San Francisco, California, designed the Nonumb, a simple plastic band that goes around the forefinger and other fingers to help enhance paddling while surfing.

But what he also did – perhaps inadvertently, perhaps intentionally – was to create a cool new piece of equipment that is also useful and beneficial for competitive pool swimmers, open water swimmers and triathletes.

“Nonumb is great little tool to replace hand paddles during a swim workout if you have sore or injured shoulders or any part of your arm,” said masters swimmer and ocean swimmer Dr. Lyle Nalli. “Nonumb really takes the pressure off the shoulders, but it still allows you to feel the pressure during your hand path under the water. You can also focus on the proper mechanics of your stroke and get a good tactile feel while properly placing your hand in a high elbow position on your catch.”

Nonumb is an elegantly, simply designed accessory for cold water surfing – and pool swimming workouts as well as cold water training – that helps keeps the hands feel warm while enhancing the paddle and swim in, out and around the waves.

Coach Steven Munatones adds, “Because of the improved tactile feel in the water, we believe Nonumb can help in various ways for the open water swimmer.”

1. Technique: improving the arm entry position
2. Technique: improving the front arm catch
3. Technique: improving the back half push on the arms
4. Technique: reducing the wide finger spread
5. Training: reducing pain or inflammation due to hand paddle pressure
6. Training: improving the ability to scull more effectively
7. Equipment: helps hold a GoPro camera while in the water
8. Cold water: reducing the incidence of The Claw in cold water

For more information, visit nonumbsurf.com/.



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