It seems like so long ago, but it was just last Saturday.  When I went out to Lake Quinsigamond for a outing with my pals at the Worcester Boat Club.

I set up for side video to see how I was doing with the feedback that my coach had provided.  For reference, here is the before video.

The things that I needed to work on.

• Rigging:
  • Decrease inboard to reduce the amount of overlap at the crossover and give me more room at the finish.  (I went from 89cm to 85cm)
  • Move foot board to stern to give me more distance through the pin for my hips.  (I moved it 2cm to the stern)
  • Move the oarlocks down one spacer so that my hands would be lower during the drive.
• Technique:
  • Get my heels down quicker in the drive and keep my heels down during recovery
  • Maintain outward pressure on the handles during recovery to get the blades off the water and stay more stable.
  • concentrate on hinging at the hips and keep my back straight.

She recommended that I include the King of the Mountain Drill into my routine.  I’ve do it in a couple of workouts so far.  You can tell from the video that I need to do it more.

Here’s what it is supposed to look like.  Link to Video

Here’s my version.

I don’t know what my problem was, but I was really tense during the drill.  I feel like I did a better job the first time I tried it.

Then it was into the work out.  The assignment was 4 x 12′ rate ladders.  I include 2 videos here.  The first is the last couple of minutes of the r18 section, 4′ at r24 and 2′ at r28.  This one was done with basically no wind.

So, what do I see.  I know it’s tough to make things out because of the position of the sun.

• The rigging changes are good, and maybe should go even further.  My finishes look a lot better.
• I am doing a little better in the way my body is hinging, but not much.
• I seem to go deep at the catch and then come to a good depth in the last 2/3 of the drive.
• My balance still sucks.

Here’s the second ladder.  Again the end of the r18 bit and all of the 24 and 28.  The sun is now behind the camera so the video quality is better.  The rowing is a bit worse.  There was a bit of head/cross wind and I went a bit too hard in the first one so I was starting to fatigue.

I look a kinda slumpy in this one.  I need to really work on sitting up straight in the boat.

Finally, because I can’t help myself.  Here’s another blooper.  When I started my second ladder, I managed to lose track of where a buoy was in front of me.  By the time I saw it again, I was too close to cleanly steer away from it, so I just braced for impact.

Not my proudest moment.  I guess I should have worn the sunglasses.