RowingChat

Boathouse habits we all have but rarely record. Boat damage happens on racks and in doorways. Good habits are cheap and broken riggers are not.
Timestamps
01:00 Small things with an outsize impact.
When you go and lift your boat - does everyone do it the same way? Most of the "lore" lives in people's heads and gets passed on by word of mouth.
Boathouse habits worth making visible.
02:15 Before the boat moves
Focus on safety here - from signing in and out; which people and boat are you using, and which water circulation you are using. And the safety features in the boat - the bow ball and heel restraints on the shoes. A damaged boat stays on the rack and does not get used.
Most clubs take their oars out first with water bottles, seat pads and electronics. Put them where nobody will step on them.
When carrying oars do you hold them spoon or handle first? Does it matter which way? If it's important you need a policy on how to do it.
04:00 Carrying boats
When moving small boats it's all about balance and managing the boat balance. Big boat safety is about communication amongst the crew carrying it.
Single sculls weigh about 14kg - find the balance point before lifting of the rack.
Doubles and pairs are carried differently. One person at each end, next to the canvas holding the boat in the crook of your elbow in order to have control over the boat. Before lifting any crew boat agree who is doing the calls.
Eights and fours - they are long and we have a rule only one person calls and everyone else is silent unless what they say is abut carrying the boat safely. Spread yourself evenly down the boat, opposite your rigger. Make the calls one at a time - lift - roll it vertical - walk it out. You may need someone to check it's clear of the doorway.
06:45 Protect boats
Simple things to protect boats - the pool noodle hack. Slit them and cover them to go over the oarlock (top and bottom of pin). Wooden wedges to tilt the riggers of the boat above up to give more space for lifting. Also tennis balls, rubber caps, old socks also work to protect top nuts. Remember the bit which does the damage is the rigger on the far side of the rack against the wall. Put the protectors back on the riggers before re-racking the boat.
https://www.row2k.com/features/6718/rowing-hack-pool-noodled-oarlocks/
08:00 Boat repairs
Do you have a log book for repairs? How are repairs reported? Can you fix something you notice immediately? That is often best and you don't need to report it and take the boat out of use. An 'Out of Use' sign can be made to hang in the gates so it's obvious that the boat is broken. Who is in charge of doing the repairs or preparing a list of repairs for the next working bee? We do these monthly and most of the quick fixes can easily be done by members with no boatbuilding skill. That's where members learn about the equipment, how it is designed and how to look after it.
What's important is to write down and document your processes - write them down in your club handbook and teach it at new member induction, teach visitors and at learn to row courses.
If you've downloaded the Faster Masters Skills Checklists you can edit those documents to add in your way of doing things for your club.
https://fastermastersrowing.com/the-rowing-skills-ladder/

How to blend your individual progress with the coaching resources (virtual and in person) available to you. How can I do each part better, not how can I do more.
Timestamps
01:00 Coach each athlete better
When you do not have a coach with you all the time you will be self-coaching or doing peer-to-peer coaching. Key is not how to do more but to have a pathway (not just this pathway). The training program shows what to do today; the pathway shows you what comes next so you see your own progress.
02:45 Rowing pathways
Masters are all on an individual pathway. You need to know where you are on the journey and what comes next.
Your training program is part of a training block of 2-5 months during which you have a specific end goal which may be a race. Base training is happening now with fitness, endurance and robust technique to set you up for 2027.
This involves low rate endurance and so you have plenty of time each stroke to think and check that your technique is having the effect you want each stroke. Athletes who tend to zone out - this doesn't serve you well. You will slip off the rowing pattern you should be working to improve. The Faster Masters Rowing training program has notes below each workout which are detailed and explicit. In there are goals to set yourself for your skill, strength and capability. How to gauge your progress - our program structure includes repeated workouts - so you can learn the workout and note your progress from the previous time you did it. They may include a technical focus, a drill or skill with a reference video you can watch that shows you how to do it correctly and points you to things which may be going wrong that you hadn't noticed. This is the advantage of working with an experienced coach.
06:30 Usable feedback
- Ask your coach what is my one thing I need to learn or achieve for this training block?
A singular focus allows you to sharpen your mind. On the website is the rowing skills ladder with beginner, intermediate and advanced skills for you to self-assess.
https://fastermastersrowing.com/the-rowing-skills-ladder/
Find what you need to learn next.
- Build your own rowing library of information, videos, ideas, concepts you can use. Review and re-watch webinars from the Faster Masters Rowing learning portal.
- Research into motor learning that shows that learners who choose when to get their feedback tend to learn better. Get feedback and be open minded (not judgemental) about it.
- Technique feedback is best gained using a model of rowing in your mind. How do I want to look? Use video of yourself 3-5 strokes at low rate and firm pressure.
Compare your video to the model and ask what is actually happening compared to what I am feeling. Develop your rowing "eye".
- Does your coach explain things in a way that makes sense to you? If it doesn't work, ask them to explain differently or ask someone else. Or pivot and look at "where do we go from here?".
- Tell your coach your goals. In the context of your crew, training group and club. That will help them to give you what you need.
10:30 Build a coaching system around you
Find what you need and locate the gaps. Always be ready to go back to the beginning of the stroke cycle and re-learn each part over again.

Why the rowers, crews and clubs that cope best are not the ones where nothing goes wrong. They are the ones that can change direction when the plan falls apart. Resilience isn't powering through with brute force, it's the ability to adapt to try a different approach and let go of what's not working (in the boat, the crew, the club). Same question every time - What's our next move from here?
Timestamps
01:15 When Ross from friends gets a couch
The perfect picture of life when the obstacles are bigger and the path isn't straight.
In rowing we get situations where a pivot is needed. Ross was right you do need to have the ability to pivot.
02:30 Technique pivots
In technique you find the coaching approach isn't working - trying harder may just create tension, stress and no improvement. The pivot is to change the approach not the effort. Have a different cue (aural not verbal) or body position which is a different way to achieve the change. Try video, try it on the erg, in the single, slower / faster. All these approaches enable you to make a change by thinking about a pivot to a different way to do it.

04:00 Finding a crew
You want to get a group together to do something - it often doesn't work. It can be hard to break into a group which appears to be already sorted. Don't wait for the "perfect" lineup - think about changing the approach instead.

Row with the crew you've got - cut an eight into a four, have a regular list of alternates/substitutes who can come at late notice. We often suggest building your own crew rather than trying to break into an existing crew. Ask new joiners to try rowing a quad on a Wednesday. Look at the Learn to Row graduates and pick out a few who might be able to join you. "super stars" may get invited to join the fast crowd but most of us don't get selected like that. Be available to be the regular substitutes when the fast crowd crew needs an extra person. This can lead to the two crews blending and helping each other out - it builds trust.

07:30 In the Club
Things break - often just before an important regatta. Or the club has no money to do what you want to do. Your pivot could be to start with what you have. Can you borrow or share a boat? Could you run a club repair day and invite the local boat builder to show you how to do repairs on site? Ask if someone has tools who could lead a working bee to fix up the club house - simple things that don't require a lot of expertise.
Other fundraising ideas can come from other sports - would a group watch party for a coaching video be fun? Sell food at the same time.

when things don't go to plan, shouting Pivot louder is not a solution. Keep asking the same question "what is our next move from here?". Listen to the quiet people - the introverts - they often have good ideas and get shouted down by the loud folks.
These things compound and that can become the "new normal" for your club.

Hip extension is dominated by the three muscle groups - hamstrings, glutes and paraspinals. Get the timing right, your back becomes the connector between them.

Timestamps
01:15 The power phase takes less than a second to do.
The legs, back and arms deliver the power and part way through, the back changes its job.
Triple extension means three joints opening together. Starts with pushing onto the feet and quads work to straighten your knees. The hip extension uses hamstrings and glutes to activate and throughout the paraspinal muscles keep your trunk firm.
03:00 The hand off
The hip hinges twice each stroke - once on the power phase and once on the recovery. When you hinge on the recovery the spine is neutral - it's not actively working the muscles. But on the drive phase the same hinge action opens up the back angle.
In the drive phase there is a 'hand off' between the legs and back muscles. Classic rowing technique suggests using the back swing after the legs are 50% used up. This is when the back changes its job. As the legs start the drive your back is holding its leaning forward angle as part of the kinetic chain linkage.
The back starts to be part of the hip hinge activation at this point. Your glutes are the hinge joining back to legs and learning how to activate the glutes is difficult. You need to learn this. One way to do this is to clench your butt muscles.
The back's job is to continue the acceleration through the water that the legs have begun.
08:00 You can only use each body part once per stroke.
If you take the catch by partially using your arms, that muscle is not available to use at the end of the stroke in the arm draw. Similarly, if you use your back to place the oar in the water at the catch, you have less back to use later in the power phase, because you've used it up already. This limits the potential of your stroke.
https://fastermastersrowing.com/what-your-puddles-are-telling-you/
10:00 Fast boats vs slow boats
The back movement is not the same in big, faster boats. The boat moves faster through the water and so your leg drive finishes sooner and the timing of the back swing starting is also earlier. Feel the difference by experimenting with your back timing - watch your puddles to see the effect. To learn this - increase the load while you row so you can feel the muscles working against the increased gearing.
12.30 Back swing only rowing
Train your back to do this movement by isolating the back swing - train it on its own. Tighten your glutes as you rock forward, start the stroke and move your back more dynamically.
https://fastermastersrowing.com/member-register/drills/
The drills compendium has a drill to teach this and a video explainer.
As you add in more body parts (arms, legs) the oar must continue to accelerate through the water. Keep the back swing active and dynamic as you add in more body parts.

Is your diet really enough to support the training you're asking of your body? Or are you spending money on supplements that do more for the marketing department than for your rowing?

Key takeaways

Eat well, then close the gaps. Food comes first, and supplements fill the shortfall between what your diet supplies and what your training demands. Bruce's two non-negotiables are protein and creatine monohydrate.

Protein needs are higher than the guidelines suggest. The standard recommendation of 0.8 g per kg of body weight is a minimum. Bruce works to around 1.6 g per kg and spreads it across four or five meals or snacks, because older bodies make better use of protein in regular smaller doses than in one big meal.

Creatine is the best-researched supplement there is. Most of us get only a gram or two a day from food. Bruce takes 5 g of creatine monohydrate daily in his morning coffee, and talks about the emerging (and still early) research into creatine and brain health.

Be sceptical of the next big thing. Magnesium helps Bruce sleep but hasn't touched his cramps. Collagen may or may not help his joints, but it adds 18 g of protein to his day, so it stays.

Recovery is where masters rowers win or lose. You don't get stronger in the gym, you get stronger recovering from it, and sleep is where most of that repair happens.

Bruce's slides: [https://fastermastersrowing.com/supplementation-for-masters-rowers/

This episode is for general education only and isn't medical advice. Check with your doctor or a registered dietitian before starting any supplement, particularly if you have a health condition or take medication.