One of the major standouts about rowing and sculling is that it’s a sport for life.
You can learn to row at any age, leave and not row for years and then come back to the sport.
Clubs love it when rowers return - it’s like having a prodigal son or daughter!
When someone shows up, do find out when they were last in a boat - for some they may never have used carbon fiber oars or used a non-wooden boat. And so some re-introduction may be needed.
The first thing to do is to welcome them back. They likely remember the feeling of community, shared endeavor and achievement. But the folks they rowed with back in the day aren’t with them now - the club has new and different members.
Friendship is a critical part of the successful masters rowing experience. Invite them to coffee after the row, message them to have them join an outing later in the week or next weekend. Let them feel welcomed and valued.
The second thing to do is to hold them back physically.
When you come back to a sport after a break (even a few short weeks) your mind and body assume, wrongly, that you can return at the same standard as when you last were in a boat. We all know that’s not going to be true. Your muscles will have weakened, your fitness declined but your mind thinks “Hey, I know this.... Let’s go!”
Nobody wants an injury in the very first outing - avoiding blisters too if you possibly can.
Take your time, get them to recall the stroke sequence - do some drills like pauses, like rowing square blades (half the crew only), early square - all designed to remind them of the stroke, the order things happen and what it feels like. Pauses are particularly good because it offers a physical rest and keeps the stroke rate low.
After the workout, do a short debrief and ask them how they feel, what they enjoyed and how their muscle memory was working - did it all come back easily or were there things they’d forgotten?
If you can encourage them to make a new rowing habit quickly, that's amazing. They will gradually return to fitness and re-learn the stroke sequence.
As a coach, you will do well to get them to track the length (distance) and duration of each outing so they can gauge how well their body is adapting. Take time to encourage them to work on the basics - use only one focus per outing so you don’t overload them. Remember masters learn differently from youth rowers and having a single technique point which you repeat in drills at least 3 times during a workout will serve you best in the long run.
Racing is the last thing you should re-introduce to the returning rower. It takes time to build fitness and to then be able to rate high as well. So if your athlete rows 1-2 times a week, it may be 6 months before they feel ready to race. Do some trial races during your regular coached sessions so they get a feel for how “racing fit” they are. If they row 3 or more times per week, you can cut the months down - particularly if they remained fit from other sport during their time away from rowing.
Can you give me any tips on how to get started with the programme and how to build myself up from pottering around on the river to actual training? I’m 62 next week, was a successful heavyweight senior rower in the 1980s but always very inflexible and prone to back injuries. I taught myself how to scull a single in 1977 but only raced for the first time in August 2018. I won my first two races but the third regatta in mid June 2019 was a disaster, I felt really weak, lost by miles, and haven’t raced since.
Take a read of this answer to the question
All Faster Masters Rowing training programs are customized to each athlete’s fitness and skill level. As you get fitter, you will be able to row longer duration, higher stroke rates and row further during your workout.
Learn about what it's like to row in the Netherlands from the Royal Dutch Rowing Federation Chair Seada van den Herik.
Timestamps
01:00 Seada was an international rower prior to Atlanta 1996. She organised the Junior and U23 Championships in the Netherlands before moving into more administration leadership roles.
02:30 There are about 100 masters clubs in the Netherlands. The network is very strong from age 27 upwards including "mid-week" masters groups. There is also erg rowing and coastal masters groups. A solid, enthusiastic, self-organising group of masters.
The Head of the River Amstel and the Heineken Regatta in Amsterdam both in March. There are other long distance races of 5-7km and some marathon rowing events. Recreational tours (20-30) happen each year. There are active mid week rowers who organise to row at each others' clubs too.
07:00 Innovations in masters rowing include collaborations with the German and Belgian federations co-ordinate joint "wander-rudern" touring events. A recent change in masters age categories was made to encourage student rowers to stay on in the sport after they stop studying. It is a pre-masters field from age 20-30. The race rules changed so the Masters A category is an average of 27 - this allows younger rowers to take part. It gives space for ex-students to grow into masters.
There are a lot of rowers joining aged 45 plus - people looking for a new sport join general clubs. They stay in the sport for 30-40 years. The Board now includes a novice master, Eric, to bring diversity to their group so they can understand the driving force for why adults start rowing.
13:00 Camps - the Touring Committee organise tours internationally (local and in UK, Germany and France). Masters want to keep on learning and developing and they see businesses offering clinics and camps for masters.
There are 5 committees for masters - the Masters (international); Mid-Week; Marathon; Recreational; and the Touring committee. The recreational group want to both have fun, be healthy and to progress and be challenged. There will be a focus on how to promote offerings for masters recreational rowers. There will also be a new focus on coastal and erg rowing for masters.
The ambitions are of the clubs and rowers, not the Federation - we stimulate their ambitions and exchange of information within clubs so we are the beating heart of the sport.The self-organisation of the network is great with super organisers and volunteers.
Getting coached sometimes feels like being told you are wrong all the time. What can you do as an athlete to enable yourself to receive critiques and not feel vulnerable?
Resource:Â How to hire a rowing coach
3 Value Bombs
Improving requires us to know what we are doing right, what we're doing less well and how to change. It is hard not to feel it's personal because it's directed at you. Separate the message from the emotion and the personality giving the feedback. Peer-to-peer coaching in the boat where you don't have a coach enables you to give and receive feedback in an environment where it's appropriately received and acted upon.
03:30 John Zarao [captain sabre fencing team 1984 Olympics] quote
"Competitive sport is a cruel mistress. You are competing on merit, but you can have a gad day - like everyone else. You must listen (not if) to those who know what they're talking about."
John Zarao
Do I want to improve the way I row and scull? If the answer is yes, you have to be open to hearing information about your current state and how to get to a desirable future state. 1 - What is the message being given to you? 2 - Does this message apply to me? 3 - If yes, how can I use it to improve my rowing?
06:00 How you get the information and feedback. Work with the person giving you the feedback. - repeat back to them in your own words what you think they have said to you. Clarify the message until they say to you "that's right" so there's no ambiguity. - challenge your defensiveness and work out why you are so bothered by this message. - focus on the message not the delivery. - apply the message to your rowing / sculling
You have to prepare the athlete to receive your message first. Few people change their position after being shouted at. Ask the athlete "May I give you some feedback?" and stay silent until they answer yes. Because if they aren't ready to receive your message it won't land. "Before I give you advice can I ask if you are interested in improving your technique?" and get the answer yes to this question too.
10:45 Coaches giving feedback
Contextually it's important your athletes know that you only give feedback to athletes you think can improve. Few coaches invest time in someone who you think cannot change. See the feedback as respect from your coach that you're a worthwhile athlete to invest their time and energy in. Receiving love and respect from your coach is desirable and the pathway is changing something which isn't right in your rowing just now.
13:30 Ask your coach "Where am I standing right now in the crew and where do you see me at the end of the season?" This helps you to put a timeline onto your improvement and to understand where you stand compared to others in the group. The attention you are getting may be because you are on a good pathway to improvement. Help each other to receive messages which are not 100% positive is a good pathway to becoming a better rower.
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Beginning to row is unlike any other sport - before you try, nobody can “just row”, especially in a fine racing boat. When I teach beginners, I remind them that the most famous Olympic rowers were EXACTLY like them when they began in the sport.
The sequence of body movements in the rowing and sculling stroke is unlike anything else we do in our normal lives. Where else would you straighten your legs, then swing your back and bend your arms in that order?
As rowing coaches, you know this and understand how teaching rowing requires use of drills and exercises which help the athlete to learn to fire their muscles in the correct order.
There are two types of rowing drill
Both are really useful as methods for teaching athletes how to make the correct movements.
We also know just how long it can take for an adult beginner to become proficient in the basics of rowing and sculling. Unlike youth rowers who frequently practice four or more times a week, an adult may only do two classes each week. And so it takes more elapsed time for them to have the same number of lessons. Plus adults learn differently from young people - our brains are less plastic, we need to frame our learning differently and many of us are out of the habit of learning new things.
As you coach your students, you can see that some acquire skill faster than others and you will also notice that some athletes plateau with their skills for a while before advancing again. I find this normal, but I don’t know the reason for it.
When teaching adults there are challenges which come from you, the coach, as well as those related to the age of your students.
Why do you want to coach masters? What’s your motivation and what do you want to get out of this coaching practice?
Secondly, how do you feel about coaching people who may be older than yourself? When we study (for school, life and sport) frequently our teachers are older than us. We have a mental image of a teacher being old. Having this age difference flipped around affects how we approach coaching rowing to adult masters.
Faster Masters has deep experience working with adult athletes. We have also surveyed masters rowers to find out why they choose to row.
When placed in a learning situation, there are eight key fulfilments which adults need in order to get maximum benefit from your teaching.
These are very different from youth and junior rowers and, again, present a challenge for coaches who are working with this age group.
Now you understand these eight needs, can you adjust your coaching practice to incorporate more of them? And notice how your students react when you change how you teach.
The first module in the Coaching Masters Certification covers the Philosophy of coaching masters including lessons on motivation for choosing rowing, goal-setting, the four-stage learning method and self-discovery.
Coaching adults makes it hard to give feedback. Three things to consider.
00:45 Masters may not have a coach. We help each other with in-boat coaching. There isn't an obvious person who is a leader.
Feedback is a delicate topic. Some people may not want to hear what you have to say and you may not have sufficient authority in the eyes of your crew mates.
Is there a focus for this workout practice? By setting a framework of expectations before you start rowing, there's a structure which everyone can use during the workout and at the debrief afterwards. Ask each athlete "how did it go?" and "What were you working on?" So you can align your feedback to their needs.
The group dynamic risks whatever is said in the first person who talks tends to lead everyone else to follow their theme. Say one positive thing about the workout. Avoid a spiral of self-criticism. Give each person one thing to work on and one positive message about the workout. Strike an appropriate balance that the athletes are ready to receive and understand.
The tone can be different for this as the whole group watches together. Set the framework at the start - after watching the video you can say anything you like about yourself and your rowing. But observations about other people can only be positive remarks. This helps show that care is needed when choosing words.
06:30 What to look for in a video
First ascertain what the athlete can see from their own technique. Playing the short video on a loop means people can watch fast and several times before getting bored. Up-skilling your "eye" watching rowing and sculling so you know what pattern of technique you are trying to achieve and how that compares to your rowing video. Can you help the athlete to see what you can see? Do they realise they are squaring late? Small refinements require skill at looking and seeing subtle movements.
Ask if they want feedback or coaching first. The other party has to agree to receive feedback first before you give it. When someone says yes they want feedback you have prepared them mentally to receive what you are going to say. They will be more minded to do something about your advice afterwards.
11:00 When coaching masters only focus on one thing per workout, It's hard to think of more than one thing at a time, So wrap up the discussion with the one thing you want then to work on next time. Set up the best ways of enabling each other to hear the advice and act on feedback offered.
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What is a rowing mindset? Do you need one? And can it be trained?
Timestamps
01:00 Rowing for life Welcome Jack Burns from Edge Rowing who has an interesting backstory. He enjoyed the process of learning to row rather than the external competitions and winning. His struggles were around injury and mindset. He learned the systems and tactics for mindset improvement in a systemised way.
03:45 What is performance mindset? Ability to handle external factors, to perform to the limit and ability to visualise what you want to achieve. Where is your attention going, how to handle distractions and nerves while dialling your focus to what really matters. The Edge Rowing business is about getting the edge. Bringing high performance focus to anyone. Jack wanted to say he had put everything he could into achieving his fullest potential.
08:00 Rebecca's 19 year old self also worked out how to focus.
09:45 Rowing gives transferrable skills for life. Jack's early rowing progress was based on his drive and his will. He got injured with a good mindset and a good trajectory. When he returned he had a bad mindset and was lying to himself about this. He trained inconsistently with poor focus. Jack now helps rowers shortcut the process of learning rowing mindset.
15:00 Why Edge Rowing is different The approach is to be athlete obsessed to deliver the best service possible. Row to the best version of yourself. Data analysis and tracking individually which is used to make changes to programs. The coaching mindset is for Edge Rowing to be so good that it could take someone to the Olympics. Attitude, motivation, understanding new concepts are all part of the athlete experience.
Masters' ability to recover means we cannot do 12 sessions a week - physiology and balance is key. Each decade as you age through the sport of rowing is very different as this article explains. Jack thinks recovery is overlooked as an aspect of performance. He believes rowing is behind the curve in the application of science to training. if the athlete doesn't succeed in the programme, it's the athlete's fault. But if the coach changes things and it doesn't work, the fault is laid at the coach's feet.
25:00 Rowing Mindset webinar April 23rd 2024 An early bird discount will be shared with members who receive the Faster Masters newsletter.
It will help you find the process you need to focus on within your mindset. Get yourself a free self-assessment from Edge Rowing - you get a mark and it gives you a clue to whether you are rowing to the best version of yourself with a feedback report including what you need to improve.
Racing is 90% in the brain - a lot of successful outcomes can be trained. Set up your rowing in a way that will suit you.
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What changes are needed when doing big or small boats - length / inboard.
01:00 It's all about gearing.
How long are your oars and what is the ratio for the outboard to the inboard? Small boats versus large boats. You have to carry your share of the total mass of the hull, riggers and oars. In a single scull you are carrying around 14-17kg. As the boat gets bigger, you carry less mass because it's shared between more people. If you have a bigger boat - you can afford a heavier gearing on the oars.
Coaches try to give each athlete a consistent load to move the boat so you don't have to work a lot harder in small boats compared to big boats. They adjust the rigging to make this broadly consistent.
03:00 So you should be able to rate a similar strokes per minute almost regardless of which boat type you are rowing in. Generally people rate higher in larger boats.
03:50 The span and spread affects the load.
Last week we reviewed the arc through which the oar tip moves each stroke. You want a wider span on a smaller boat (single = 160 cm) but in a quad it may be tighter 159 cm. Sweep spread is measured from the mid point of the hull out to the pin and these will be wider for smaller boats.
You have to be strong enough to move the oar past the fulcrum. A 1k race is around 110 strokes and you need to be able to deliver each stroke to a similar power. For most clubs you will find that sculling oar lengths - sculls will be set at a length of 287 - 288 cm long Sweep 370 - 374 cm. These rigs are what you expect for younger rowers.... and oars get passed around the club and the lengths aren't changed. Masters needs are different from younger athletes. We need shorter oars and sculls.
07:20 Jim Dreher invented the adjustable length oar - the story behind the invention.
Masters are a hugely divergent age and strength group of athletes. Increase the load for younger masters, tailwinds and for beginners. Decrease the load for older athletes or it's a headwind. The more experienced are more dextrous and can cope with a higher load and can rate higher. You have to be able to put the oar in the water at the same speed the boat is moving past that part of water.
How long are your oars and span/spread? How old are you, how fit are you? Rigging for Masters webinar - Volker Nolte has a detailed chart for oar lengths and span/spread for masters. He considers most masters to row on much too heavy a gearing.
If you are older you probably want to decrease your load. When buying oars and sculls the spoon size and shaft weight / flexibility are different options you can choose, Cut an oar shaft in half - the internal diameter isn't spherical - there are more layers of carbon on the front and back edge. This gives more or less rigidity / flex to the oar shaft. The tensional stiffness in the shaft comes from the thicker carbon which is on the front / back of the shaft facing the direction of travel when the oar is square in the water.
Buy the Rigging for Masters webinar and get Volker's oar and scull charts.
Want easy live streams like this? Instant broadcasts to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn. Faster Masters uses StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5694205242376192
The masters rowing cohort is the most physically diverse of all the groups of athletes in our sport.
Think about juniors - yes they may start rowing aged 13 or 10 but most are on a clear pathway of physical growth as they mature through puberty up to age 18. Similarly with under 23 or open athletes. They may be physically mature, and with training most are getting fitter and stronger over time.
Masters are different.
There are two types of masters athlete - those who return to the sport after learning in their youth and those who are new to the sport. The first group’s mobility and strength will probably start to decline after age 40 or 45; while the second group will have mobility similar to the first group, but whose rowing strength will increase as they acquire more years training in the sport.
Either way, you can see that their training capability is varied.
Think about the athletes you know already - what’s the age range within the group? What about personal mobility and flexibility - how many can touch their toes, sit comfortably at the catch, rotate their pelvis to sit in a forward position with legs straight?
Even on this limited range of measures, I know you’ll find huge variation within your group. This is normal for masters rowers.
It’s a good illustration of why we need to educate masters rowing coaches about different things than youth coaches. They need to deliver a high quality experience to their athletes just like other rowing coaches. But the parameters are different.
Your masters athletes will be able to work together as a group as long as you can present your workouts, training program and technique coaching around the masters coaching framework.
Here are five essentials for your coaching methodology which will help you to effectively coach masters
Those five short items contain an enormous depth of background insight and information to put into practice.
Each is explained in detail in the Masters Coaching Certification modules on training (module 7); on physiology (module 6) and on how to run a masters program (module 8).
I am using a daily monitor app to better understand my need for rowing rest and recovery.
00:30 US Masters Rowing Camp April 2024 includes Rebecca as a coach.
02:30 March 2024 Masters rowing training programs by Faster Masters Rowing
Head race program includes a taper week. The 1k May and June program is for sprint racing. Imposter syndrome in rowing and how to cure it. McGill spine stabilisation big 3 exercises. Technique sequential versus concurrent stroke profiles. Get yourself a program including discount coupon.
06:00 Heart Rate Variability tracking
This tracks the variation between heart beats and is is a good indicator of your state of rest and recovery. How ready are you to do a workout today?
Masters often row on the same rig as they used when younger - clinging onto what we used to do rather than testing and re-measuring your physical state and strength.
09:30 I use HRV4Training app
A daily one minute measure of Rebecca's recent measurements. This is very individual. Homeostasis - my body's reaction to stress and the autonomic nerve system to keep the body in balance. Read the HRV4Training blog post
11.00 HRV case study
After getting a very low score and a red warning on HRV4Training. I backed off my training. I was getting a virus - some was normal body stress, and some was post-training stress. It took 3 days before the HRV score came back to the normal range. A clear indication that the invisible virus had enabled me to recover quicker.
12:30 Medical conditions affect heart rate
One community member had an ultra-low heart rate. Another member has "slightly haywire circuitry" in his heart and knows this affects his HRV measurements.
The HRV measurements are taken by putting your forefinger over the camera light on your phone. It takes a week to get enough readings to set a benchmark.
ull disclosure - Faster Masters Rowing is a brand ambassador for HRV4Training.com
Want easy live streams like this? Instant broadcasts to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn. Faster Masters uses StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5694205242376192
The masters rowing cohort is the most physically diverse of all the groups of athletes in our sport.
Think about juniors - yes they may start rowing aged 13 or 10 but most are on a clear pathway of physical growth as they mature through puberty up to age 18. Similarly with under 23 or open athletes. They may be physically mature, and with training most are getting fitter and stronger over time.
Masters are different.
There are two types of masters athlete - those who return to the sport after learning in their youth and those who are new to the sport. The first group’s mobility and strength will probably start to decline after age 40 or 45; while the second group will have mobility similar to the first group, but whose rowing strength will increase as they acquire more years training in the sport.
Either way, you can see that their training capability is varied.
Think about the athletes you know already - what’s the age range within the group? What about personal mobility and flexibility - how many can touch their toes, sit comfortably at the catch, rotate their pelvis to sit in a forward position with legs straight?
Even on this limited range of measures, I know you’ll find huge variation within your group. This is normal for masters rowers.
It’s a good illustration of why we need to educate masters rowing coaches about different things than youth coaches. They need to deliver a high quality experience to their athletes just like other rowing coaches. But the parameters are different.
Your masters athletes will be able to work together as a group as long as you can present your workouts, training program and technique coaching around the masters coaching framework.
Here are five essentials for your coaching methodology which will help you to effectively coach masters
Those five short items contain an enormous depth of background insight and information to put into practice.
Each is explained in detail in the Masters Coaching Certification modules on training (module 7); on physiology (module 6)Â and on how to run a masters program (module 8).
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