Regatta Online - News and Features
News and Features
Issue 97 - April 1997
Coaching the right stuff
National Coach for Lightweight Men Sean Bowden with April tips.
The grip
This needs to be correct and secure to get the best power application. The grip
for rowing and sculling is similar. The main knuckle should be on the top of the
handle when the blade is squared. This ensures that the wrist is flat. Full
contact with all the fingers must be maintained. Although there is a loosening
of the grip on the recovery, the position of the hands doesn't change.
In rowing the handle is important for a good grip. Attention should be made
particularly for lightweight women and tall men.
Turning the blade
With the correct grip this job is made easy. At the finish the elbow and handle
should be level. The initiation of the feather is made with the wrist and then
the handle is rolled into the fingers. This will mean that the wrist drops
slightly. It should however stay relaxed and should not drop below the height
of the handle. The blade is squared by the opposite process of rolling the
handle back into the hand and flattening the wrist.
The finish
This should not be seen as an extra part of the stroke where the arms and
shoulders pull hard. The finish should be the end of the boat acceleration of
which the legs are the prime movers. The body should be still and supported and
not laying too far back with the connection maintained with the arms and lats.
The blade is then released from the water. An over-vigorous pull at the finish
may simply rip the blade out of the water and disrupt the run of the boat.
Generally a poor finish comes from a bad connection at the beginning of the
stroke.
The hands away
The acceleration of the handle and the boat are clearly related. To keep this
relationship the handle should be moved away as part of one continuous
movement. At low speeds the handle will move slowly and at high speeds the
handle moves away faster to relate to the speed of the finish.
'Spinning' the hands away too fast can disrupt the run of the boat and may cause
too much slowing down at front stops. There should be no delay in putting the
blade back in the water and the rower or sculler must always have a feeling of
moving on to the next stroke.
Rig
Whilst measurements of blade arcs can be very useful, a common sense approach
should not be devalued. The coach's observation and the crew's feedback can
count for a lot.
A hard rig will enable the rower to produce more power per stroke, but there is
an energy cost to this. A 2000m race for an eight involves at least 240 strokes.
An easier rig on the other hand may encourage, particularly in training, the
dynamic aspects of the stroke being emphasised and sustained.
In setting the rig you will need to consider the speed and fitness of the crew
and the duration of the race. You will have to make some more subjective
judgement of rhythm and technique. Don't be afraid to experiment.
© Copyright S. Bowden, 1997.
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