Novice Squad

Last Updated: 07OCT07 - Tank Session Recap

Stretcher

Your footplate should be adjusted [Picture] so that

• You can get your knees flat without your seat hitting the back of the slide
• You can get forwards to full compression without your seat hitting the front of your slide

Generally this means that short people will need their stretchers close to them and tall people move them further away.

Hand Positions

When the blade is "square", ie the tip is vertical, both wrists should be flat relative to your forearms. This is to allow you to pull with maximum effort during the "drive" phase, ie when the blade is in the water.

• You should have your outside hand at the end of the handle - preferably with your little finger over the tip of the blade [Picture] to help keep the oar pushed outwards against the gate
• Your inside hand should be approx 2 handwidths further down, ie about 6-8" of handle visible between your hands [Picture]

Backstops

This is the position [Picture] from which you will normally start a piece of rowing, corresponding to the "finish" of the stroke.

• Blade handle drawn up to ribs, outside hand just touching ribcage
• Blade floating in the water (not in the air)
• Blade square, although if the boat is moving you may have to have it partly feathered to let the water flow under it

Hands Away

This is the position at which you will normally finish a piece of rowing, corresponding to the first part of the recovery (the "Hands" in "Hands - Body - Slide")

• Arms should be straight so that the blade is perpendicular to the boat
• The handle should be pressed down so that the blade is clear of the water (allowing the boat to continue running)
• The blade is normally feathered (unless you've just been rowing square blade)
• On the command "Drop" you can let the blades drop down on to the water (feathering first, if still square)

Stroke Cycle

The rowing stroke is split into four parts

• The Drive - when the blade is in the water and pulling
• The Finish - the end of the stroke where you extract the blade
• The Recovery - getting yourself into position for the next stroke
• The Catch - placing the blade in the water at the start of the stroke

Drive

During the drive phase the "spoon" (painted part) of the blade should be fully covered but the shaft should not be [Picture]

• Start by pushing your feet against the stretcher, leaving everything from the waist upwards "hanging" from the oar handle [Picture]
• As the knees go flat use the back and shoulders to continue the pressure on the oar
• As the shoulders go back past the vertical allow the arms to bend to finish off the stroke [Picture]

For most people, all you really need to think about is pushing with the legs and the rest usually looks after itself.

Finish

If rowing "square blade", you can just use both hands to tap down lightly on the oar handle to release the blade from the water. Do this when the oar is a couple of inches away from your body to make sure that you have enough room

Feathering, ie rotating the blade so that the tip is horizontal between the strokes [Picture], allows maximum clearance over the water and minimum wind resistance, also a little more length on the finish, is actually "normal" rowing but takes a little more coordination:

• Tap the handle down (as in square blade rowing) with the outside hand. Try to keep the outside wrist flat as you do this otherwise it will not be so effective at lifting the blade out.
• As you tap down with the outside hand, drop the inside wrist and use the thumb and fingers to rotate the handle.
• If you get it right, the tip of the blade should describe a quarter circle: vertically up to start with, then rolling on to the horizontal

Recovery

The mantra is "Hands - Body - Slide"

• Hands - push the oar handle away until the arms are straight
• Body - rock the shoulders forwards until the oar handle is past your knees [Picture]
• Slide - gradually lift the knees letting the seat move forwards

We often break the stroke down to use only the first ("arms only") or first and second ("with body swing") parts of this sequence.

Whatever length of stroke you are using you should always square up the blade well before the catch [Picture] - if you feather "correctly" you will actually notice that keeping the inside wrist pressed down isn't that comfortable and you'll naturally want to let it rise until it's flat with the blade squared up again

Catch

As you approach the catch (using full slide rowing) [Picture]

• Your arms should stretch out at at 45 degrees to the centreline of the boat
• your shins should come up to the vertical
• your chin should arrive over your inside knee
• your outside knee should be just outside your outside shoulder
• your thighs should come up against your chest (which is what limits your reach)

Then you just let the blade drop in (keeping arms loose and straight) and, without letting the seat pause, start the drive.

Anu Dudhia (dudhia@atm.ox.ac.uk)

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