How to Feather Correctly

Marlene and Rebecca discuss
– How to Feather Correctly
– Drills to stop dropping the wrist while feathering

Sponsors

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Kanghua single for sale
The team at Kanghua has a single scull available for sale. It’s an all carbon Spirit design for athletes weighing 60-65 kilogrammes. You can trial a Spirit single scull near your home club by contacting Eric Sims
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Timestamps to the show

04:00 Virtual Races are happening. A round-up.
09:00 Live Races happening at Secret City, TN, Head of the Hog, FL, Head of the Schuylkill / Hooch and Fish all offering erg or water participation. And US Rowing website has a virtual challenge.
14:00 How to deal with friction on oars in the oarlocks.
It was recently pointed out that I was dropping my wrists while feathering. This morning I noticed that there seems to be some friction and resistance with my C2 sculls in my C2 oarlocks, making it a little hard to feather with just my fingers. The collars are worn and a bit rough and I plan to reverse them to get a smooth surface for feathering. Any other suggestions to make it easier to feather with just fingers?
If you have worn collars they should be replaced annually. You can also spread the oarlock by moving the lock nut on the oarlock swing arm.
18:30 How to feather with your fingers. Release timing is key – getting the timing correct will ensure your wrist is flat. If you feather out the blade at the finish this makes your wrist bend.
You MUST do drills to change this pattern of rowing. Drills to help you feather in sculling with your fingers. For all of these Watch your oar as you row. And SLOW DOWN the stroke rate so you can get it right.

Delayed feather drill
Row circles with one oar
Weight in the hand consciousness
Grip is not in your lower palm on the recovery.
24:00 Sweep feathering – the weight is in your outside hand and the inside hand feathers. It is OK to bend your wrist in sweep for feathering.
Drills to help you feather in sweep
Thumb barely touching the handle (Steve Gladstone)
Light grip with inside hand
Switch hands – outside and inside during the drive and recovery to isolate your hands
Open fingers / open palm drill on the recovery. This works for sweep and sculling
30:00 The Snake Drill – rowing an S shape in the water with alternate sides. Watch your oar as you row.
33:00 Wide Grip – what is this used for? In Sculling and in sweep this drill helps you to open up your chest and feel the separation of the hands. It loads up the gearing in sculling to help you slow down the movement. In sweep it helps to isolate your hands so you can focus on the movement each is making.
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