An Introduction to Rowing (8 page)

Feathering starts when the rower drops the hands to remove the blade from the water and most of the blade is out of the water. In sweep rowing, the rower rotates the inside wrist backwards as the arms are being extended. This will twist the oar such that the blade rotates from being perpendicular (or square) to being parallel to the surface of the water. The outside wrist remains straight with the outside arm.

As the recovery phase completes, the rower squares the blade just as the hands are over the ankles. The inside wrist is rotated forward to normal position to square the blade in readiness for the catch.

The diagram below shows the feathering of a blade during a stroke.

Figure 45:
Feathering

The diagram below shows the change in instantaneous velocity of the boat during a stroke from a minimum near the start of the drive to a maximum during the recovery. Also shown are the phases of the stroke as well as the catch and release points. Notice that the recovery takes a longer time than the drive.

Figure 46:
Velocity Profile

The diagram below shows the stance of the rower at the various phases of the stroke.

Figure 45:
Stroke Stance

Here is a list of common mistakes in the stroke:

1. Incorrect posture. The rower's back should ideally be as straight as possible. The rower should sit up tall with the head up and looking beyond the stern of the boat.

2. Lifting shoulders during the drive. The shoulders should be level through the drive and move through a horizontal plane.

3. Rowing with bent arms. The rower should hang from the oar with straight arms for the first part of the drive. Rowing with bent arms will result in the rower exerting unnecessary effort.

4. Rowing with bent wrists. After feathering the wrists should be straight with the arm.

5. Over reaching at the catch.

6. Pivoting the torso backwards too early in the drive which will be seen as the handle moving first before the seat.

7. Leaning back too much and drawing the handle too high.

8. Rushing the slide. This is moving the seat forward too quickly during the recovery. The time taken on the recovery should be about twice the time spent on the drive.

9. Shooting the slide. This is pushing the lower back out at the beginning of the drive ahead of the upper body. The body should be in about the same one o'clock stance as at the catch until the body starts to lean back.

10. Breaking the knees too early on the recovery. This will result in the hands having to lift up over the knees.

11. Not being relaxed.

12. Not maintaining adequate pressure on the foot stretcher.

13. Thumping the handle into the chest at the finish. The hands should not touch the chest at the finish.

Rowing is all about teamwork. The rowers of all sweep boats and double and quad sculls must perform the stroke in a coordinated fashion. If this is not done the boat will be "checked" and its progress slowed. Timing must be coordinated and all the rowers must perform the catch simultaneously so that the whole stroke is carried out in unison. Each rower must watch the rower immediately in front and the stroke sets the cadence.

The crew must be able to maneuver the shell in all situations such as when leaving and returning to the dock, or lining up at the start of a race. The coxswain will call the commands to perform these operations. The boat can be moved around by using individual rowers or groups of rowers. To move forward or backward slowly, the coxswain may use the "bow pair", "stern pair", "bow four" or "stern four".

The coxswain may call "Bow pair back it", or "Port/starboard back it" depending on whether it is a backing up or turning maneuver. To do the backing stroke the rower sits with legs extended and puts the oar blades into the water and pushes the oar handle forward and then pivots the torso forward. When the arms are fully extended the rower drops the arms to remove the oar from the water, pivots the torso backwards and pulls the oar handle back to the chest. This backing stroke is repeated until the coxswain calls "Weigh enough".

The stroke for sculling is similar to rowing but there is the difference of having to control two oars.

A single scull is light enough for a rower to be able to carry it from the boathouse to the dock without the aid of someone else. Hold the scull by the gunwales and then lift it off the rack to an overhead position and rest one gunwale on the left shoulder. Hold one rigger by the left hand and a point forward of where the gunwale rests on the shoulder with the right hand, so that the shell has three separated points of contact with the body. The rower can now walk to the dock. Watch the riggers so they do not collide the doors, trees and anyone else. At the dock lower the scull to the waist and then slowly place it into the water. Make sure the all porthole covers and water-tight seals are closed.

To get into a single scull once it is in the water beside the dock follow the procedure described below. This assumes that the starboard side of scull is against the dock.

1. Put the oars in the oarlocks. Place the narrow part of the oar shaft at the blade end into the oarlock, then slide the oar out through the oarlock until the button touches the oarlock. Tighten the gate nuts.

2. Undo the Velcro straps on the shoes of the footstretcher.

Sit on the dock next to seat of the scull facing the stern with legs bent and feet just to the bow side of the starboard rigger.

3. Put your left hand on the dock and your right hand on the port-side deck between the seat and the port gunwale. Make sure your left hand, your body, the seat and right hand are in a line.

4. With your weight on each arm, hoist yourself from the dock onto the seat.

5. Hold the oars with the right hand.

6. Put your feet into the stretcher's shoes and close the straps with the left hand. Another way to close the straps is to put both oar handles into the armpits with blades resting on the water, and then extend the arms over the handles to reach the stretcher, by sliding forward on the seat so that the oar handles are positioned between the thighs and arms.

7. Push off from the dock with the left hand using a good strong shove.

8. Take the oars in each hand.

9. Start to row slowly away from the dock.

Getting out a single scull on return to the dock is essentially the reverse of the procedure described above.

The oars should be held with the thumbs on the end of the oar handles to keep the oars snug against the oarlocks. The rower should have control over both oar handles at all times to maintain the balance of the scull. The oar blades act as outriggers that prevent the scull from rolling over as long as they are held by the rower. Once rowing, the rower (the bow seat in a double or a quad) should look back over their shoulder every five or strokes to check the direction of the scull along the course.

Each stroke consists of the same four steps described for sweep rowing.

1. The Catch is the instant at which both oar blades are placed in the water and the drive starts. The seat is at a position closest to the stern.

2. The Drive is when both oar blades are in the water and the rower is pulling on the oars. The rower drives the seat towards the bow by extending the legs.

3. The Release is the instant at end of the drive when both oar blades are removed from the water. The seat is at a position closest to the bow.

4. The Recovery is when the oars are out of the water and the rower is moving back to Catch position.

The starboard and port oar handles overlap in the middle of the drive and recovery. This is the crossover point. The starboard (to the rower's left) oarlock is rigged slightly higher (1-2 cm) than the port and so the rower must row with the left hand slightly higher than the right, so that at the middle of the drive and recovery the starboard handle is directly over the port handle. The starboard oarlock is raised by inserting a plastic snap-on (pop-off) shim onto the pin below the oarlock.

The rower starts the drive at the catch position with seat at the stern-most position with the knees bent and legs compressed with the arms extended towards the stern. The shins of both legs should be vertical. The rower's head is up and should be looking beyond the stern of the boat with the torso erect and slightly pivoted forward. The rower's shoulders should be level and remain so throughout the stroke.

At the catch the rower places the oar blades into the water by rapidly raising the arms and then starts to extend the legs to push the seat towards the bow of the boat. This applies pressure on the oar blades to drive the boat forward through the water. The drive may be broken into three sequential phases:

First, the rower extends the legs to push the seat towards the bow. Most of the power for the stroke comes from the leg extension.

Second, the rower leans the torso towards the bow as the legs near full extension.

Finally, the rower draws the arms towards the chest. The hands should almost touch the chest just above the diaphragm and have enough room to drop to remove the blades from the water for the extraction.

The rower starts the recovery by pushing down on the oar handles to lift the blades from the water at the release. The oar blades should come out of the water perpendicular to the surface of the water. Once the blades are out of the water the rower starts to feather the oars so that the blades are parallel to the surface of the water. The recovery may also be broken into three sequential phases:

First, the rower extends the arms out in front. This is the arms-away position.

Next, the rower leans the torso forward. The boat reaches its maximum velocity through the water.

Finally, when the torso is just past vertical, the rower starts to bend the knees and this causes the seat to move towards the stern of the boat. The oar handle must be past the knees before they bend. This bending of the knees occurs slightly more slowly than the drive and allows the rower a moment to recover. The boat now merely glides through the water.

The recovery completes with the seat moving toward the stern position and the legs compressing until the shins are vertical again. It is important to achieve maximum leg compression in each stroke since the bulk of the power for the stroke comes from leg extension during the next drive.

The recovery is performed more slowly than the drive to give the rower a chance to rest and prepare for the next drive.

Feathering is done during the recovery phase of the stroke when the oar blades are out of the water. When feathered the blades are parallel to the surface of the water (with the face of the blades facing upwards) so that they meets less wind resistance and is able to slice through the air during the recovery. During the drive the wrists should be straight with the arms.

Feathering starts when the rower drops the hands to remove the blades from the water and most of the blades are out of the water. The rower rotates both wrists backwards as the arms are being extended. This will twist the oars such that the blades rotate from being perpendicular to being parallel to the surface of the water.