It’s been a while since I took side video, either on the erg or in a boat. I had a little time yesterday, so I decided to do it.
To keep it reasonably short, I did 30 seconds each at 8 different rates from 18 to 32spm.
Workout Summary - media/20171108-1200290o.csv --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|01136|04:30.0|01:58.8|275.2|24.9|157.3|177.0|10.1 W-|01099|04:00.0|01:49.2|268.6|24.4|154.3|176.0|11.7 R-|00042|00:30.0|05:56.3|133.4|15.3|176.7|176.0|05.5 Workout Details #-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS- 00|00124|00:30.0|02:01.2|172.7|14.5|124.0|131.0|17.1 01|00123|00:30.0|02:02.2|187.9|20.3|137.8|143.0|12.1 02|00130|00:30.0|01:55.6|221.0|22.4|147.5|150.0|11.6 03|00133|00:30.0|01:52.4|243.8|23.7|153.2|157.0|11.3 04|00139|00:30.0|01:47.8|275.8|25.5|160.8|164.0|10.9 05|00145|00:30.0|01:43.6|311.1|27.8|166.6|170.0|10.4 06|00150|00:30.0|01:40.3|344.6|29.7|170.9|172.0|10.1 07|00156|00:30.0|01:36.3|391.7|31.7|173.5|176.0|09.8
The first strokes are taken at about 30 seconds in. So to specific stroke rates start at these times.
- 18: 0:30
- 20: 1:00
- 22: 1:30
- 24: 2:00
- 26: 2:30
- 28: 3:00
- 30: 3:30
- 32: 4:00
What do I see?
- To my untrained eye, the drive looks OK. The recovery less so. I am breaking my knees too early on the recovery and my body is swinging way too late. This is going to be a bitch to try to change. It’s a pretty ingrained habit.
- It looks like I am overcompressing at the catch. My legs are not separating as much as they were, but they are not solidly together at the catch. I think earlier body prep would help with this.
Quantified Rowing 
I was looking at hands away vs breaking knees and body swing on the recovery. I think there is some room for improvement, but … I learned to row in the 1980s when hands away was ultra fast.
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My wife and daughter checked the video as well and agree. Try not to stop the hands at the finish. It should be a smooth movement towards the body and away immediately.
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Second that comment
Hands away, body over, gentle knee break
Old school back of slide drills pause at the finish can help that. You seem to pause with the hands on your chest.
Duncan Holland ex NZ and Cambridge Blues coach (my coach as a junior) put up a great rowperfect video breaking down all phases and offering different exercises
– https://www.rowperfect.co.uk/duncan-holland-i-try-teach-good-rowing/
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Easier said than done. I can definitely see the problem, but it’s a real struggle to change ingrained habits. I have almost 30 million meters that I have rowed this way. It’s gonna take a lot of work to make changes.
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It’s all in the drills. I was lucky to get that beaten into me as a junior. When I rowed in college in the US the emphasis was on power no matter how it looked. That works in an 8 but breaks down in small boats where technique flaws impact boat run to a proportionally greater fashion. Sit at the finish, row hands only, hands and body, hands body 1/4 slide etc Think of “coming around” the finish. Make the C shape. You are linear in the video. Helps OTE but not OTW.n Perhaps 2-3 min of drills after you warm up and before you erg might help.
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That’s great input, thanks. I like the idea of starting with some drills (even though I hate drills). I also think that I need to improve the seat padding situation on the erg. I can feel my sitz bones grinding on the seat as I swing my body forward, and it hurts. Doubling up the pad might help that a bit and encourage proper sequencing.
Getting a mirror in place so I can watch myself row would be helpful.
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That is how I start many of my otw sessions. Hands only. Then add body swing. Then half length, 3/4 length, working up systematically to a full stroke.
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Many = around 80% of sessions
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One last thing to think about (if this isn’t enough – when I coach I only try to have each rower learn 2 things). Counter-intuitively great crews the last 2-3 inches of the stroke and first 2-3 inches of recovery (the hand work) stays the SAME speed no matter the rate. Hands around the finish at 18 is the same velocity as hands around the finish at 32. And they should be pretty soft. In an ideal world a sensor on the handle and the seat plus an oarlock pressure device should give you all the stroke information you need.
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