This is the most simple of exercises, but needs the best balance to succeed. Everyone rows with their blades square throughout the entire stroke, this will ensure everyone has their hands low enough in the recovery and ensures a cleaner finish as the tapping out will always be square all promoting good balance.
This requires the rowers to feather-square-feather-square during the recovery. This promotes the basic feathering movement, and ensures that there is always enough space between the blade and water to square in the middle of the recovery.
A simple exercise to promote tapping out at the finish showing good reference points for the high of the hands and oar for when they should be in and out of the water. Sitting at backstops, or frontstops the rowers start in the water and all in time tap in and out of the water.
This envolves starting at backstops in the water, and tapping out, feathering, moving up the slide whilst squaring then placeing the blade in the water, not taking the drive. As this is done stationary it is harder to balance and it will be possible to see the smallest of errors that are affecting the boat.
Whilst the boat is moving the rowers are called to pause on every stroke (or alternate strokes) on a certain part of the stroke, after a short pause they are told to continue the stroke. This will see if they all have correct hand heights following the extraction and at different parts of the stroke. To see if hand heights are still correct whilst rowers are moving they could do 'cutting the cake' this adaption requires the rowers to go to a defined part of the stroke eg. hands awaya, come back to backstops then take the stroke, all whilst out of the wate.
This fun exercise can also be done on the erg. In a boat most the crew should sit the boat during this. The rowers doing this will place their blades in the water and drive the legs. During this drive they should press the legs hard keeping arms straight and shoulders relaxed, the rower should raise off the seat at the same angle of the footplate. It will be clear to see if the drive has been successful and clean, or if the rower has not seperated the body and arms from the legs. This promotes a good clean drive and rowers should focus to get the weight off the seat and hang off the handle when rowing normally.
This exercise promotes raising hands to the catch. During the recovery the blades stay feathered, and raise the hands to the catch whilst still moving forward, once the blade has slapped the water they can then square blades and drive, all whilst in contact with the water.
This to to promote a nice long stroke. The outside hand should remain on the end of the handle, and the inside hand should move near to the screws for adjjusting length, on the thick, black carbon. If arms remain straight this wide grip shoudl allow for increased stroke length, focusing on dropping the inside shoulder and keeping the arms straight. Then when normal grip is resumed rowers should try to maintain this length.
Rowing with just the legs, keeping the body and arms in the same position, this can also be done with slide variation. Done with square blades this will be harder to extract the blade and help improve this, and be harder to balance. This will also help with seperation ensuring that rowers dont use body and arms while legs are in motion.
This will help to get a feel for the boat and the sounds that happen. You don't need your eyes in rowing (other taht to steer) so should be able to feel what everyone is doing and still row well. When you open your eyes again the extra sense of sight should make it even easier to row cleanly.
This exercise should be done regually on an erg, aswell as in a boat. Focus on pointing the toes away from you this will ensure an early transfer of weight onto the feet and off the seat, helping the boat to balance and ensuring pressure is in the correct area for the drive.
During the recovery have your palms open and no grip on the blade other than finger (or thumb) keeping pressure on the end of the blade. Focus on keeping weight of the blade in the outside hand and relax.
Starting at the backstops postition and keep the blades in the water, move up to the catch, pause breifly then drive. This will promote good balde height in the water, making it harder with resistance on the wrong side of the blade to start with.
Done in a 1x lower one hand and raise the other so the the rigger touches the water, then alternate direction. A confidence drill to get used to being in a single.
Another confidence drill to be done in a 1x, spinning the handle around each other in a circle, can go quicker and change direction, again getting a feel for the balance in a 1x.
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