RowingChat

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.

Follow one hand through one stroke in sweep rowing. Your outside hand is a second oarlock - controlling the handle when the blade is under the water.
Timestamps
00:45 Setting the height
Visualise your outside hand tracking through one stroke. It's setting the height for the oar. It goes through the longest arc. You get control for catch and finish timing from the outside hand, force on the face of the spoon and rhythm.
02:00 The second pivot
When the oar goes into the water, it doesn't move much during the power phase. But the boat is being levered past the oar tip. The pivot point from the end of the spoon is your handle and this is the 'second oarlock concept'.
the outside hand times the catch placement and manages the oar depth. Placement is proactive to make the handle move before your slide stops at the change of direction. Your outside hand moves a greater distance - moves further - than your seat moves.
Placing with the inside hand won't give you the same finesse and control compared with the outside hand. This is because it's closer to the pivot point at the oarlock.
05:00 Middle knuckles
Your outside hand knuckles should point forwards towards your feet / the stern. This helps to keep your wrist flat. It also connects the handle through the kinetic chain to your feet.
Look at photos of rowers whose hands are not wrapped around the handle - they are likely using their inside hand to control the handle.
06:00 Where the inside hand does control
From 90 degrees square off in the power phase your outside hand loses leverage and your inside hand takes over. Try not to let your elbow point out the side of the boat - let it go along your side ribs and point it to the person behind you.
From this point to the finish you can add power with your inside hand (pull hard).
07:00 Outside hand at the finish
This controls how the blade comes out of the water and sets the rhythm for the recovery. Use the movement of timing the extraction - sit still while extending the outside hand and arm only to take the oar out of the water and start moving to the stern on the recovery.
Speed of the handle into the body is approximately equal to speed out from the body. Only move the shoulders after the arm is straight. This makes the rhythm for the recovery.
On the recovery the blade shaft should be parallel to the water surface and approximately the same as all the other blades on your side of the boat.

Four jobs for your outside hand
- height at the catch
- pivot through the drive
- a clean release at the finish
- rhythm on the recovery.

How gripping tighter makes you slower. In this episode you’ll discover why the tightest grip on the handle is often the slowest stroke, and what to do about it instead. The idea comes from Tai Chi, not the boathouse, but it applies directly to your hands, wrists and shoulders on the water.
Here is the reframe. Softness is not the absence of power. It is how power actually travels through the body. Tension blocks it. Softness lets it flow.
Soft hands, hard drive. Let's go.

Timestamps
01:00 Tight handle grip does not give you control
You might think that if you grip harder, you'll row faster but if your thumb is tight, your whole hand is tight. Tension is like a virus - it spreads. A tight thumb leads to tight fingers, wrists, shoulders.
Fear of losing your grip or catching a crab when under pressure makes you clamp down instinctively.
How should you hold a blade handle? Imagine you're holding a kitten or a puppy - or like it's a banana - if you squeeze too tight the skin splits and you have squashed banana on your hands.
Tension blocks power
When you have a tight hand or thumb it locks your wrist and forearm and travels up the kinetic chain of your body. Control and power are two different problems. A tight hand is just stiff and loses strength rapidly.
Relaxing while keeping your fingers hooked around the handle gives you control and security.
04:00 What to do
When trying harder (like when rowing firm pressure) your instinct is to grip harder. This stiffens the kinetic chain and slows the transfer of power from your legs and body to the blade.
Soften your hand grip starting with your thumbs, then move to your fingers and you'll find this also loosens your forearm and try to row with a long neck (drop your shoulders).
A muscle which is already tight finds it harder to activate when you are calling for that muscle to work during the power phase of the stroke. A relaxed muscle is easier to engage and activate to move the boat.
Let your focus come down to the mass of your body and your leg drive doing the work rather than your hands being the driver of effort. Keeping your hands soft allows the mass/weight of your body to make the power.
A mental re-frame - soft hands, hard drive.
Softness isn't weakness it's how explosive power propels the water.
Tai Chi says Tightness is life running out of a stroke, softness is life flowing through it.
Hand tension blocks power and gives you a slower catch, a slower grip on the water. Let this flow into soft shoulders which will enable you to get your body weight behind pushing the blade through the water.