Ways to adjust your stroke to match the boat hull speed. Ways to move so efficiently that your body mass moves with the boat speed and improves your maximum boat velocity in rowing and sculling
Timestamps
00:45 The boat velocity changes through the rowing stroke cycle and you can feel these changes as you row.
01:30 Efficiency is key
This is a measure of the difference between a skilful crew and less experienced athletes. When watching crews in a race you can see some crews just inch ahead of the others. Efficiency is a key to why the best crews do well – they use their power efficiently; they help the boat hull to move through the water with greater efficiency – how do they do this? They manage their body mass well.
Body mass is resistance to changes in velocity.
This matters because the entire boat is moving forwards all the time (even though you may think you go backwards and forwards on the slide).
Because of the sliding seat, the boat hull doesn’t travel level, the bow moves up and down through the stroke cycle.
03:40 Maximum Boat Speed
Diagram of boat speed through the water (credit British Rowing)
https://fastermastersrowing.com/getting-ahead-or-behind-the-boat-speed/
Maximum boat speed DOES NOT happen in the power phase. The point of maximum velocity is after the oars have come out of the water. [NOTE: not maximum acceleration as said in the video.] At this point you are transitioning onto the recovery (arms away / body rock forwards).
On a video filmed square off 90 degrees to the rowing boat – when the bow ball is at its highest point is when the athletes have moved closest to the stern (on the recovery) and the point of maximum acceleration is when the bow ball is lower and when the athlete is transitioning from the power phase onto the recovery phase.
The diagram shows the boat at low and high rates (right hand side). At higher rates the point of maximum acceleration is nearer to the catch on the recovery.
The boat moves differently at high stroke rates from low stroke rates.
Understanding and noticing the boat acceleration feeling and how your body moves are two things you can control. If you can learn how to feel the boat movements you can make refined adjustments to how you are rowing at race pace compared to steady lower rates.
07:30 Low rate endurance rowing
We get good at efficiency at low rates because rowers do a lot of endurance training. Yet athletes who race want the effect of efficiency at race rates. Can we improve our agility and how we are moving with the hull and practice in training?
Periodised training plans do not include a lot of high rate work. What we can do to keep the boat skills of handling the oars and body mass at low and high rates?
08:45 Agility Drills
These are key to learning the skills. Ways to move quickly and keep the handle speed in time with the boat. These can be spliced into endurance rows for short periods of time. This doesn’t upset the physiological training effect.
Try doing agility drills for 1 minute in every 10 minutes low rate rowing.
– Half Slide rowing – go from stroke rate 20 down to half slide the rate will change to around 26-28. This forces you to prepare the handle earlier for the catch, to move with more precision around the finish – you have less time on the recovery.
– Half Slide Up Twos – take the rate up two points while staying at half slide. Stop when you lose the front end timing and / or the crew cohesion. This indicates your limit.
– Double quick hands round the recovery – go twice as fast as normal round the early part of the recovery. Decide where this stops e.g. at hands away or body forward or quarter slide.
Notice after the drill if you can be more precise with your handle / body movements.
– Pause drills – choose where you pause for example quarter slide or weight on the feet. Look for the moment when the boat glide begins on the slide and the athlete body is relaxed.
– Double quick hands and pause at weight on the feet.
Learn how to feel whether you are getting ahead or behind the boat hull speed is key to going really fast when you are racing.
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