Hi. I was hoping to get some explanation on how to call a power train. My guys said they like power trains but I’m not sure how to call them. Thanks!
Follow-up question – are you sure they’re not saying “power 10”? I’ve never heard of a “power train” before. Anyone else familiar with them?
Related: All about power 10s
Anyways, assuming they’re asking you to call a power ten, check out the above link. It talks about what power tens are, what they aren’t, how to call them, etc. Also check out this question that asks about a different take on power tens.
When in doubt, the best (and fastest) thing to do is ask your crew to give you an example of what they want to hear. Presumably if they’re asking you to call something then they already have an idea of what it sounds like or how they want it to sound so getting their input first will give you something to work off of (and then fine tune from there once you’ve got a better understanding of what they’re looking for).
From my experience, a power train is basically just breaking down a 20 stroke burst in a way where you call out each rower or pair. Certain rowers/teams take it differently though. I know some folks think of it as 5 power strokes by bow pair, then 3/4, 5/6, and lastly stern pair to finish the 20. To me, that produces uneven results so I’ve done it where all 8 do the strong 20 let’s say, but I phrase it where for the first 5 I personalize it for bow pair and so on.
Oh, that’s pretty much exactly what I talked about in the link I included in the second paragraph, I just didn’t call it a power train. Thanks!!