Tag: technique

Reverse pick drill progression + what “bob drills” look like

By readyallrow April 11, 2015

The reason I posted this was mainly to show you what the reverse pick drill looks like if you’re unfamiliar with it, what bob drills look like, and to give an example of what one of our warmup drills are.

We did this by stern 6, bow 6 (who the video features), and finished up with all eight, which is typical of all of the drills we do. This was from Thursday morning of our spring break trip (check out that sunrise in the background and the gorgeous flat water…) and we had a different lineup than we’d had the rest of the week because two guys were rowing on opposite sides and two guys who row in the V4+ were subbed in to give two other guys a break.

One of those guys had to sit out because a cut on one of his fingers got infected, causing that finger to swell up to roughly double the size of his other fingers. Pro tip kids, keep your wounds clean. So, if you’re wondering why the rowing looks … sloppy … that’s a large reason why.

Coxing Q&A Rowing Technique

Question of the Day

By readyallrow April 7, 2015

My team has been working on our starts and sprints for our races coming up. One thing that I have noticed is that we have a really difficult time hitting our rates for our high strokes. We usually hit between 34-35 but we are supposed to be in the upper 30s, maybe even 40. Any suggestions for how to hit these rates? Thanks!

Here’s a couple…

Focus on getting the rate on the drive and through the water instead of with your slide speed on the recovery

Coming out of the finish match the speed of the hands coming away to the speed of the boat immediately – eliminate any pauses

Make sure you’re not slamming into the catch – you want there to be a smooth transfer of energy when the slide reverses

As the rates go up keep the focus on maintaining good form (if you let the bodies get sloppy or fall apart then you’ll never hit your target rates)

I’d talk about this with your coach(es) too and see if you can incorporate some stroke rate ladders or something into a couple of your practices. Definitely make sure you’re communicating with them (on and off the water) when you’re not hitting your rates. If you let them know then they can watch the boat and figure out what’s going on but if you don’t say anything then they can’t help you.

Drills Ergs Novice Rowing

Video of the Week: Biomechanical analysis of the rowing stroke

By readyallrow March 30, 2015

This is a great video for novice rowers and anyone that’s looking to improve their technique (both on the erg and the water). It goes over each of the four parts of the stroke and describes what they should look like from a mechanical perspective and then transitions into a critique of her own rowing on the erg. From there it goes over some drills to highlight some of the technical changes she wants to make.

Something she does that I’d probably recommend you not do is be so bouncy with the hands through the final part of the finish and the beginning of the recovery (when the hands are coming in and moving away from the body). A lot of the time people confuse matching the speed of the hands to the boat’s speed with just throwing their hands away from their bodies as fast as they can which results in that super bouncy, ripcord-like motion she’s got going on. I’ve always been taught (and seen other coaches teach) that this isn’t the correct way to approach the finish/start of the recovery but every coach does things a little differently so make sure you understand the style that your coach is trying to develop before making any drastic changes your own rowing.

Outside of that I think this is a great video. Coxswains, this would be a good video for you to watch too, especially those of you who are new to coxing, so you can start to understand the stroke a little bit better. Since you physically can’t see what they look like when you’re on the water it’s important to have a good understanding and visual image of what the bodies should ideally look like during the catch, finish, drive, and recovery so you can make the appropriate calls if something with their bladework indicates that something is off with their body mechanics.

Coxing Drills Racing Rowing Technique

The Language of the First 500

By readyallrow March 24, 2015

A couple weekends ago I had the opportunity to go to the What Works Summit that’s hosted each year by the IRL program at CRI. The theme this year was “The First 500” and each speaker created a presentation that related in some way to that theme. For the most part I’m writing everything below as it is in my notes so while I’ve completed some of the thoughts, some of it is still in shorthand.

The first presentation I went to was given by Yaz Farooq, current head coach of Stanford’s women’s program and former national team coxswain in the 90s. She spoke on “the language of the first 500”, managing the transition strokes, and knowing how to balance focusing on your speed and communicating your position relative to the other crews.

Breaking down the start from a language perspective

What does the start look like and what are it’s core components?

Start sequence to get out of the blocks → high stroke sequence → lengthen → lengthen again to base

The first lengthen is what you might know as the “settle” but as Yaz said, most programs are starting to move away from calling it that and instead are focusing more on calling it the “lengthen” or the “sub-lengthen”. The thought behind this is you’re not really settling so much as you’re trying to maintain as much boat speed as possible while transitioning to a more sustainable pace. It’s one of those subtle changes in language that, in theory, has a more positive effect on the psychology of the crew. (Regardless of whether you use “lengthen” or “settle” though, pick one and stick with it.)

How do you break it all up?

Based on strengths/weaknesses of the team, how well they handle the high strokes (i.e. how efficient they are at high rates), and how powerful they are.

Scripting out the starting sequence

First and most importantly, have a plan and map it out. This is the only area of the race that is really worth scripting (in addition to maybe the sprint depending on how your team approaches it).

How many strokes do you need to get off the line, how many high, how many to lengthen, how many base, etc.

Assign key words – these are things the coxswain would say to reinforce the rhythm and make sure it’s as effective as it can be. They key here is to have technical themes assigned, possibly emotional or philosophical themes based on team beliefs that the crew can lock into. Instill these themes throughout practice so coxswains can set up attacks with key words/phrases that reference each theme (without monologuing). Having key words/phrases attached to each theme results in no confusion and everything is clear because it’s been practiced daily.

When possible, reinforce the rhythm with your voice to support it and/or get it to where it needs to go. For a standard five stroke starting sequence (1/2, 1/2, 3/4, full, full):

Squeeze, direct, build, lengthen, full

Grip, lock, lock, lengthen, full

Complete, direct, grip, lengthen, full

Drills to work on the start

These drills, if done with multiple crews, should be done leapfrog style so each crew can watch/cheer for each other. Remember to be patient when something isn’t working. Talk it out with your crew until you find what works for you. I always talk with my stern pair first when something doesn’t work but it’s important to make sure you talk with the entire crew and consider/incorporate everyone’s feedback into whatever changes you make.

Stroke-by-stroke start drill

The goal is to perfect the sequence and bladework.

First stroke done from a dead stop.

Stroke 1 + 2 done from a pause.

Strokes 1 + 2 + 3 done from a pause.

First five done from a pause.

First ten done from a dead stop.

The first stroke is heavy but you get to keep perfecting it and improving the strokes by doing them one at a time and building up through the entire sequence.

Example: If your start is the standard “half, half, three-quarters, lengthen, full” followed by high strokes…

Half stroke done from a dead stop. When this stroke is done, pause at half slide. Hold the pause long enough for the crew to collect themselves and the boat to set up but don’t hold it forever. Two seconds or so max.

Half, half done from a pause. Again, pause at half slide when finished.

Half, half, three-quarters from a pause. Again, pause at half slide when finished.

Half, half, three-quarters, lengthen, full from a pause. Let it run when finished, balance the boat, weigh enough, and check it down.

Half, half, three-quarters, lengthen, full + first five high strokes from a dead stop. Let it run when finished, balance the boat, and weigh enough.

4-6-8 drill

Starts are done by 4s, 6s, and all 8. Goal is to learn how to use your legs and complete each stroke. The boat is heavier when rowing by 4s and 6s so you don’t want to wail on the oar right away otherwise you won’t be able to hold on to the water and ultimately your strokes will be short and ineffective.

Example:

Stern 4 goes through the starting sequence (just the first five strokes). When finished, let it run, weight enough, and check it down.

Bow 4 ” “

Stern 6 ” “

Bow 6 ” “

All 8 ” “

Square blade starts

Goal is to complete the strokes. Can do the entire starting sequence straight through or do each stroke individually as with the stroke-by-stroke start drill. Best to start off stroke-by-stroke and then progress to doing them straight through the further into the season/more experienced you get.

Striking a balance between speed + rhythm and position

Ultimately what you’re shooting for (as the coxswain) is striking the right balance between getting your crew off the line effectively and letting them know where they are relative to other crews.

How much time do we spend focusing on boat speed/rhythm and how much on when/how to communicate the crew’s position?

It depends on the team and skills of the coxswain. If it’s the early part of the season or your coxswain is a novice, focus solely on execution. This may evolve throughout the season though.

Example: At the beginning of the season, Stanford coxswains don’t tell positions until they lengthen to base so everyone can focus on nuances of each phase of the start. By NCAAs the coxswains will communicate as much info as they feel is relevant at the time but the focus remains on the execution of each phase of the start.

Managing the transition strokes

The goal when transitioning from your starting pace to base pace is to maintain boat speed and keep the intensity on while getting the rating down to a more sustainable number. One of the most important parts of managing the transition strokes efficiently and effectively is to set them up and call them consistently. Find a set of calls that work for you, your crew, and what you’re trying to accomplish and then stick with it.

The “traditional” thing to do when calling transition strokes was to lengthen in one beat but now it’s becoming more common to transition over 3-5 strokes depending on how much the rate is coming down. A good habit for coxswains to get into is to say the rate as you’re lengthening, especially early on in the season. (This isn’t as necessary as the season progresses but ultimately it’s dependent on what the crew wants/needs. Personally I think it’s something that’s important to do regardless of what part of the season you’re in but it all goes back to what will help the crew the most.)

Good calls for this part of the start are “push the spacing” or “push the puddles” because it’s something the rowers can both feel and see.

Practice the transitional cues during practice so when anxiety takes over (during their first big race, at the national championships, etc.) you can use those calls as a fall back that they can rely on to be part of your plan in order to get everyone focused in on the same thing and moving/transitioning together.

Make it clear to the crew that they have to establish a solid base rhythm before the coxswain tells them where they are, that way they’re not tempted to rush the transition to base just to find out where they are. It’s important for the coxswain to reinforce and make sure they get to a sustainable base rhythm that mimics what you’ve practiced and worked on so the crew’s not distracted. You’ve got to establish the rhythm before relaying information, not the other way around because otherwise it becomes about the other crew and the people in your boat/their rowing gets frantic.

What should you look for when looking for a “solid base rhythm”?

When you practice your base rate during practice the rowers would know to a certain extent how it should feel based on the coach and coxswain’s feedback. This includes hitting a certain split (i.e. your “sweet spot” when everything just seems to naturally fall into place and come together), feeling like you’re able to get to full slide (coxswains, this is where it’s important to communicate with your stern pair so you can find out if this is happening or not), the stroke is leading the rhythm and everyone else is following and supporting it (again, talk with your stroke…), each end of the stroke is clean, and the rhythm has that “swing” feel to it rather than a “back and forth” rhythm.

Image via // @ryanjnicholsonphoto

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches Technique

Question of the Day

By readyallrow March 12, 2015

My coach who used to cox used the phrase “tuck up those finishes” when we were out on the water and I was wondering what that meant?

I’ve never heard that specific phrasing before (it sounds British…?) but my guess is they’re saying to make sure you’re pulling in high and tight, meaning you’re pulling into the right spot on your ribcage (the high part) and that you’re pulling the handle all the way in (the tight part, aka you’re not going down and away when the handle is still six inches away from your torso). That’s total speculation though so I’d ask them before/after your next practice what they meant by that. It’s always better to ask the person who said it (if/when you can) since they’ll be able to tell you exactly what they mean and how it applies to whatever was happening when they said it.

Drills Q&A Technique

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 8, 2014

Hi! My coach has been telling me the last couple of sessions that I’m opening up too early (both rowing and sculling). He says to imagine that I’m pushing my knees away from my chest rather than moving my chest away from my knees. I understand what he means and can feel that I’m doing it now but there is some mental block between that and actually fixing the problem. Do you know any other way I could think about it or what I could do to try fix it?

On the erg or while you’re warming up on the water try to spend a couple minutes doing some reverse pick drill stuff. This will help you segment your legs and back and really force you to think about your sequencing (aka legs first, then the back, etc.). Ideally you should do this in front of or beside some mirrors when you do it on the ergs that way you can actually watch yourself; this can help a lot with the “mental block” issue because being able to see what you’re doing can/will help a lot in allowing you to actually visualize where the block is happening with regards to your body movements.

Q&A Rowing Technique

Question of the Day

By readyallrow November 25, 2014

Hi! I’ve been rowing for four years and recently I’ve been getting some sort of tendonitis in my forearms: the forearm swells up a little and it feels very stiff and it is very painful to row with. This usually happens when I’m in a single or a double, but it has happened before in an eight and a quad. It has never happened to me so often, last year I got this twice throughout the season, but it went away the same day. I’ve talked to my coach and he said I might be gripping too much with my fingers, I’ve changed my grip since then and it was fine for a few weeks, however over the course of this week, it has come back and I’m not sure what I am doing wrong. I know it’s caused when I row long distances and when my forearms tense at the catch, but I don’t think that there is any other way to row (without tensing the forearms at the catch), when I relax my arms I end up pulling more with my fingers. As far as I’m aware, no one else in my crew has this although some say that they have had it before, but very rarely. I was just wondering if you had any tips for correcting my stroke if it is what is causing this? Thank you.

I definitely agree with your coach, I think you’ve got a bit of a death grip thing going on. If you made adjustments though and the pain came back then I’d probably recommend checking in with your doctor just to make sure there’s nothing else going on. At the very least they’ll likely be able to give you a stronger anti-inflammatory than your standard over-the-counter Ibuprofen that might help with the pain.

As far as tips for correcting your stroke, I really think loosening your grip is the biggest/best technical correction you can make right now. It’s a sequential thing too; if your upper body (i.e. upper back and shoulders) is relaxed, your arms will be relaxed, and that will lead to you having a more relaxed grip. If your upper body is tense, which it sounds like it probably is, then your forearms and grip are going to be tense as a result. When you’re at the catch, you want to maintain what I like to call a “common sense grip” – not too tight but tight enough that you have control of the handle – and make sure you’re unweighting the handle rather than lifting it in. If you’re lifting it in then that’s going to contribute to the tension you feel in your forearms. Tension’s not really the right word but if you’re going to feel “tension” anywhere it should be in your lat muscles as you lock on to the water.

From there it gets a bit harder for me to guess what you can do so definitely make sure you’re discussing this with your coach, having them watch you on the water, look for specific technical flaws, etc. and then go from there. Start with the grip thing though, for sure.

Q&A Rowing Technique

Question of the Day

By readyallrow November 4, 2014

The other day our coach had all of us move our foot stretchers all the way forward on the tracks. I was wondering what the benefit of doing this is?

Trying not to overthink this too much but my guess is that your coach is just trying to have everyone get a sharper catch angle since adjusting the stretchers has a much greater effect on the catch than it does the finish. The closer to the stern your feet are the closer to parallel the oar will be at the catch and the more shallow of a release angle you’ll have (it’ll be nearly perfectly perpendicular to the boat compared to being at a 20 degree angle or so otherwise).

Just going off what I’ve picked up from coaches and boatmen in the past, I think he’s probably just trying to avoid rigging seats individually (be that out of laziness or because of some other reason, I don’t know). If a longer catch angle is what he’s going for though, I’m not sure if this is necessarily the best way to approach it, although I guess if you’re all novices (and/or short…) then it could be a temporary thing as you work on developing better flexibility and mobility throughout the fall/winter. Still, if he’s trying to go for uniformity with one aspect of the stroke the catch isn’t what he should be going for, it should be the finish since you don’t have to contend as much with individual flexibility issues, amongst other things.

How To Q&A Rowing Teammates & Coaches Technique

Question of the Day

By readyallrow September 30, 2014

What the hell do I, as a stroke seat, do to calm outrageous rush?

If you’re already setting a reasonable pace and they’re not following you, it’s unlikely that things will improve if you try to forcefully resist the rush because that’s just going to result in the timing getting way off, which will cause other problems (obviously). I’ve occasionally had strokes that will try to hold their finishes a little longer but that’ll tend to only work for a few strokes before it gets out of control again (and their backs start to hurt).

If you haven’t already, talk to your coxswain and coach about it. When you’re on the water you should consistently be communicating with your coxswain whenever it feels like you’re getting pushed up the slide. During water breaks or on land, you should bring it up to your coach so they can observe the crew to try to determine what/who is causing it and/or so they can adjust their practice plan, if necessary, to focus on slide control for a bit. Fixing the rush tends to be a collaborative task, at least in my experience, and really requires you and your coxswain to be on the same page whenever you’re on the water. Off the water, you have to communicate what you’re feeling to the coach. The coxswain can explain how it feels to them but we don’t feel the rush the same way you do in stroke seat so it’s important that you tell the coach where you feel it the most during the stroke, if it only happens at specific rates or if it’s a regular and consistent problem, if you notice it more when a certain pair comes in (i.e. if you’re rowing by 6s and you only feel rushed when 3 + 4 are rotated in), etc.

One thing that I’ve consistently heard from my stroke seats over the years is that they’re not going to take the rate above what feels comfortable for them. If we’re doing pieces at a 28 but they feel like shit because of the rush, they’ll row at a 26. If it still feels like shit, they’ll go down to a 24. This obviously requires communication between you, your coxswain, and your coach so it’s something I’d definitely try to discuss before going out on the water but there are other times when you just need to make a game-time decision and tell your coxswain “this feels awful, we’re taking the rate down two beats”. You’re the one responsible for dictating the pace so … assert yourself and do that (without being an ass about it). One of the things that rowers need to understand in general is that there’s no point rowing at a certain rate if it feels terrible just to say you did your piece at a 28 or a 32 or whatever. Find a stroke rate that feels good (even if it’s really low), row at that rate for awhile, then bump the rate up and try to get that same feeling. Emphasizing slow recoveries and making sure your coxswain is calling out the people who are early at the catch are going to be two of the best things for your crew right now. It’s also going to be important for you to tell the coxswain when something changes, either positively or negatively, so they can assess it and make the appropriate call to either reinforce what the crew did well or to continue trying to elicit a change from them.

Another thing you can do is ask your coach/coxswain to do pause drills during the warmup. I’ve talked about this before in the post linked above (scroll down to #3 and check out the other links in that section too) but pause drills are great for getting everyone on the same page and really thinking about what they’re doing. I like to break it down into pairs and fours when I can, just because it puts a little more responsibility on the individuals, and because it helps me (as a coach or the coxswain) pinpoint the specifics of what that rower is doing that is contributing to the problem. Obviously that has nothing to really do with you but it’s something you can suggest if they aren’t already part of your warmup or the drills you do.

Also, make sure you talk to your 7-seat (off the water). Their main job is to back you up and maintain the pace you’re setting. That obviously puts a little more pressure on them to resist the rush but at the same time, they can’t be part of the problem by contributing to it. They probably feel it just as much as you do if it’s really that bad so just remind them that you need them to back you up and help set the rhythm.

Bottom line, what it comes down to as far as what you can do to calm the rush is to make sure you’re aggressively and consistently communicating what you’re feeling to the people around you. Effective communication will be your biggest asset here. Let your coxswain (first) and coach (second) be the one to communicate what you’re saying/feeling to the crew as a whole but make sure you’re also talking with your 7-seat off the water or quietly during breaks about how things are going.

Technique Video of the Week

Video of the Week: Technique tips from elite rowers

By readyallrow September 15, 2014

The thing to take away from this, especially for novices, is that there is no such thing as perfect technique. You’ll pick up how to row really quickly but then spend the rest of your rowing career (however long that is) trying to get your technique as close to perfect as possible.

What you’re chasing right now as a novice is exactly the same thing that these guys are chasing … and they’ve probably been rowing for 8+ years. Don’t let that frustrate you. If you don’t get something, talk with your coach or coxswain and have them break it down for you. Do what basketball players do when practicing free throws – similar to how they aim to make a certain number of free throws before they leave each day, get on the erg before you leave the boathouse and try to take 3, 5, 10, 15, etc. good strokes that reinforce whatever technical focus your coach had that day. Little things like that go a long way.