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.
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Ways to use your boat rig to get a longer arc for the oar. Simplifying why it works and some key principles.
Timestamps
00:30 Rebecca's new shiny object is a wing rigger mounted gadget to mount a stroke coach and water bottle over your rigger.
Check out the 3Drow website for 3D printed rowing accessories.
Having the oar in the water longer (distance rather than time). Taking the tip of the blade through a greater distance each stroke. Use the principle of the lever to understand how rowing oars and sculls work to propel the boat. Inboard and Outboard ratio is important to understand. With longer levers you need a greater force on the handle to move the oar though the same arc in the same time.
As long as your athlete has the physical strength and power to move the oar through the water then you can use longer oars. There is a point of diminishing returns. The rowing sliding seat was invented to increase the arc through which the oar is rowed through. A longer slide gives a greater arc.
05:00 Does the athlete have the oar handling skills such that they can put the oar in the water at full reach at frontstops so you don't miss water?
Missing water means you have a shorter stroke than you are capable of. Rigging a longer stroke is a good solution for someone who is less skilled in bladework.
Suggest the athlete rows on a longer arc.
A physically short athlete where you want them to have the same oar arc as other crew members. Shorten the inboard and adjust the outboard so their gearing is the same as the rest of the crew.
This might be useful for you to try. Check the rigging diagram from Stephen Aitken - rowing angle changes presentation
08:00 Study the arc through which the rower's arm and oar moves during the power phase. The solid line shows a reduced span (moving the pin closer to the side of the boat). Th length of arc is determined by the athlete's anthropometrics (leg and arm length) and torso (height). A formula to calculate typical arc lengths.
10:00 For small changes of span/inboard this is a useful assumption.
Review the faulty logic - Only change one thing at a time (not always possible as one change affects other parameters)
- Options of things you can change span, inboard, stretcher position, gap between handles at the finish for sculling. Which COULD you change to lengthen the stroke?
12:00 The conclusion that there's only one option that works Reducing inboard and span equally and adjusting footstretcher to keep the handle gap the same at the finish works with increases in all angles - catch and finish. Stephen recommends first reducing the inboard and then reduce the span equally.
Keep oars the same - similar inboards for quad/double and adjust for single. For sweep adjust for eight/four/pair.
What rig should masters rowing boats and oars use? How can clubs set up their equipment to suit as wide a range of athletes as possible?
00:45 I got a pair of mis-matched sculls and so I'm on a rant.... this is easy to improve. Comfort in the boat and ease of use are the most important for rigging club boats. All clubs should have standardised rig across the boat fleet.
Your rig enables you to move the boat in comfort - your torso and legs. Be able to sit comfortably at the boat in the finish. Look for your shins not hitting the deck, hold the oar so forearm at the same height as the oar shaft and at the catch that you can get your hips through the work - at least hips level with the face of the gate. [If you don't know what this is, buy our Sculling Intensive course and learn how to find work through the pin and ways to adjust to suit your needs.]
03:30 Oarlock height and forearm height are related It's important that your forearms are level with or above the shaft and the oar handle. Otherwise you cannot get weight into the hands as you press the handle down.
04:20 Standardise the boat rig
Sculling spread of 159 or 160 cm; seat to heel measurement of 16-18 cm; oars /sculls 286 cm long and 87 cm inboard, maybe longer oars for men or younger athletes. Note the inboards are the same because men/women use the same boats.
Sweep rigging span of 84 cm; seat to heel 16-18cm. Oars 370 - 373 cm long. Inboards standardise from 114 for an eight down to 117 for a pair.
Put tape on the oars with measurements e.g. 370:114 so it's easy to see what the oar is supposed to be set at.
Height spacer washers - put one above and one below the oarlock/gate on every boat. So the oarlock sits at the midpoint above the oarlock to saxboard sill height. So you can easily see if the heights have been moved.
08:20 Shoes with adjustable sizes - we bought ours from Ankaa with velcro adjustment around the heels. Also home-made velcro instep straps for ladies to use larger shoes are cheap to make.
09:20 Spacer Placer tool - if you want the lanyard when you buy it, mention Faster Masters Rowing. Buy from Revolution Rowing
10:00 Oar designs for easy adjustment include Croker's clamp on the button to release and reset the position without needing a screwdriver and tools. Give your rowers autonomy so they can adjust the boat and oars to make them comfortable for their needs.
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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
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What is masters rowing like in other countries and for other athletes? We surveyed the Faster Masters Rowing newsletter audience and members of the Masters Rowing International Facebook Group to find out.
Compare this to our previous survey in 2022.
Understand how your movements contribute to the power phase in the rowing and sculling stroke.
00:30 There are many different ways to row - below we share how you can test this for yourself.
Using the legs, back and arms in sequence one after the other.
Start the legs and back at the same time and then adding in the arms later. Blending the overlap between each body part happens in practice so that the power doesn't drop off between each body part.
03:40 Force curve alignment
The sequential movement gives a longer time in the water and a longer duration of the power phase from catch to finish. Simultaneous gives a higher force curve because the power is higher, but it is a shorter curve because you cannot sustain the power as long as in the sequential.
04:55 Legs | Back | Arms Rowing is about the effective delivery of power and recruiting muscles into that endeavour.
Legs - the first part of the movement is from your knee - you push the footplate away so only the shins and ankles move. Initiate the stroke with the legs. Before your legs are fully straight, activate the back. One of the most difficult things to teach is how to keep your legs pushing straight while the back swing begins. Letting the legs drift without adding to the boat speed is a waste of power. The arm draw is also affected as some forget to continue the back swing when they start the arms drawing. Many masters have a good leg drive and arm draw but the back can be neglected.
Based on my experience legs is 65% and back is 25-30% and arms 5-10%.
08:45 Test this for yourself
In the boat or on the erg set up speed measurement using meters per second rather than 500m splits because it's more sensitive to boat speed changes. Row at firm pressure, low rate. Then stop using your arms and see how much the speed drops - then stop using the back and the arms (row legs only). Then do the reverse - do the pick drill and measure your speed as each body part is added into the stroke. This will show you how much of your stroke comes from each body part.
Faster Masters teaches a drill how to improve your stroke. Contact us to find out.
Buying rowing training programs online - making your decision.
01:00 A customer writes
"I have presented the options to our club & pushed heavily for the program. There are some very vocal people who feel like there are robust free training plans online Some suggest we reuse our plan from 6 years ago and that would suffice for our purposes. It’s more of an uphill battle than I expected. The next step is for people to submit their own recommendations for our committee to consider. Once that’s done, we will put it to a vote. People are just very largely against paying for a plan and think that we have enough talented, intelligent people on our team to put something together that’ll be good enough. We are a recreationally competitive club with no real desire to progress beyond that."
Committee member for masters rowing group
Is this a situation that looks familiar to you?
02:00 Our challenges are often similar but local situations have nuance.
If you're athletic, and well-trained, aged 40 or less You will have no problem using free online programs written for 2k racing.
Men and women cannot do the same program because our physiology changes through the decades.
Try a sample of the Faster Masters Rowing programs. They are not free and by offering this to you we demonstrate the quality you are purchasing. Each program is customized to your ability and needs base on testing.
05:00 When buying a training program, speak to the person who has written it - ask about their experience training masters.
Do they have a good understanding of masters physiology? The diversity of people from beginners through returning rowers.
How to deal with adult novices, rigging adjustments, general adaptations for masters to row in comfort?
06:30 Broken Oars Podcast reviewed online training programs including Faster Masters Rowing.
The review is from the point of view of any athlete. This is what they said about Faster Masters programs.
Good reasons to spend money on a specific program for 1k racing. This program takes you there quite quickly - it has one week of training (specific preparation with a taper week). You get 7 days of training which you repeat each week and then move into the taper week before the regatta.
As you get closer to the race, you need to practice distance in meters, not minutes of workout. This workout is focused on 500m, 750m and 250m workouts aligned with learning the race distance within one workout.
This is a GOOD Training program for one thousand meters, I found it hard to get my training right for this distance.
11:30 Feedback we gave to Rebecca Caroe - the price could be increased to include a consultation - or to buy a consult on its own to get individual coaching suited for yourself.
Buy coaching from Faster Masters Rowing - buy time and expertise in the technique review service.
13:00 The full Faster Masters program offering is currently US$39 per month [2023]; it also includes gym strength and conditioning training as well as 4 articles on technique, peak performance, rowing lifestyle and a bonus.
Coaches can buy these programs in a Word doc format so you can edit them and adjust to your own situation.
Our offer is 100% refund if within 14 days you aren't fully satisfied. Keep the program as our gift for you.
5 dos and don'ts for. crew alignment… when to coach the whole crew versus coach one individual.
01:00 When in a mixed ability crew it can be challenging, especially if you think you're the least experienced. Working on one thing for the whole crew at the same time created common endeavour in the boat. Whole crew coaching creates a singular focus. Five situations where there's an advantage of picking whole crew or individual coaching.
We all do this every practice - the outcome we want is to refresh our memory of the movement and to be warm enough to do the workout. I need the warmup to activate muscles and get into the rowing stroke pattern. This is best done with a coaching focus on the whole crew.
Focus points - these help each person to check their own movement and technique in one area of the stroke. It brings everyone together in one point of the stroke cycle and creates alignment. Try using these in your next workout. First create a common understanding of the static positions in the rowing stroke.
When doing them for the first time, it's important this is done by the whole crew, practicing together. Do the drill 3 times in a workout so the crew learns it fully and is confident executing it.
Join the Older Athlete and Aging webinar
You already know how to do the drill this is the moment to move to an individual focus. Are we all moving in the same way? Check they are doing the drill correctly, that they are moving in time with the rest of the crew.
Tell the crew how to make the change, not just the change you want made. This can help everyone to do the movement in the same way. Example how to get blades closer to the water before the catch. For regular crews, you may already had agreed how to do a drill or movement - so this may not be needed.
This is a whole crew focus situation where a common mental focus is needed and helps the piece to be executed better. A call to focus on one part of the stroke is good as the crew all does it together. Keep 10 strokes between every focus call, ensure the crew had done the focus you called. It's the only thing the crew is trying to do together. Exception is to call it a second time if the crew doesn't do the change you called.
Take a technical focus into a hard work piece is an opportunity for individual focus. It's harder to do the change when you are under pressure, in a more challenging situation. This helps create more alignment in the crew.
Talk about what happens after the workout - did the changes work? Was it more effective to do individual or crew coaching?
You've done the race. What happened? How to decide what could be improved. And what to do about it.
03:00 What we can do to improve our head race performance, Race review - what happened in the race. Look beyond just the race course. Consider the 24 hours beforehand, what you did well to prepare for the race. 10 things you did really well so you can repeat that in another competition. What could have been better?
05:00 Review photos and video of your crew and race - ask friends and family to share. How did you steer every corner? What made you anxious or frightened? When we came close to another crew people turned their heads to look, someone yelled, we lost our rhythm and balance.
Good race results come from many small gains.
Get the free ebook about aspects of Head Racing ebook.
When someone not so good happens ask yourself - Could I have anticipated this? - What you could have done to change it - What are the unexpected things that happened to your crew? - Have a response that you've thought about for these situations.
10:00 Write down the things you did well and the things you need to improve.
Think through scenarios - Marlene's sculler lost his oars because someone took them by mistake.
Being well-rested helps your concentration and focus. You will make better decisions and maintain your focus if you're rested. Focus is key.
Hear what happened to them, what they did to respond to situations. Learn from their experience. Use pens on a table to illustrate where crews were positioned and how they moved as the situation developed. This helps give you a visual memory of the situation.
14:00 Mentally you can practice putting bad strokes behind you and not worrying about them. Focus on the upcoming strokes, not what has passed. Train yourself to stop thinking about what was bad.
Couching something in negative terms "don't do this" gives worse outcomes than using positive terminology "do this".
As you become a better competitor you learn how to recover from bad strokes better. Know what you need to do in order to refocus and get your head back in the boat.
The final parts of your head race preparation including essential pre-planning in advance of race day. Tapering, travel and using borrowed boats.
02:00 Tapering
The training program volume is reduced so you are rested and ready to race. Faster Masters Rowing programs always include the taper. It may feel weird because you're doing much less training and you are less active than normal. Take precautions to not catch viruses.
04:00 Book on tapering
The timing of your rest day is the critical factor for creating a peak. The opportunity exists to over-rate in your practice because you are rested. This mimics the adrenaline boost you will get on race day. 07:00 Rebecca's best peak ever.
08:15 Travel - do this either early or late for timezone changes.
Your bodyclock adjustment is one hour per day. Arrive and race within 48 hours of arrival or wait 8 days to get into the timezone before your big event. Seek comfort during the travel - reduce stress from the environment around you. NSAID - a herbal remedy to aide sleep.
Rebecca likes to check the boat ties; all nuts are tight on the boat, the riggers and footstretchers. Use electrical tape for anything you think needs protecting. Tape riggers together and place blades tip down into the trailer so they nest together with the ends pushed against the hard edge of the trailer box to avoid wear patterns. Her single has a padded cover which is also made of UV resistant fabric. Tie on your boat yourself so if something goes wrong it's on you not someone else.
15:00 Using borrowed boats Be prepared when you arrive to adjust that boat. Take measurements off your boat at home. Span, spread (top and bottom of pin), height from seat top to bottom of shoe heel, oarlock sill to seat top. Measure to the same place (seat high or low point - be consistent). Know your pitch on the oarlocks, the oar length and inboard. When hiring boats the type of adjustments allowed are footstretchers and oarlock heights. Take your own tools (metric and imperial), pitch gauge, an adjustable wrench (spanner) and a height stick. Expect to have to change a few things.
18:00 In emergencies an oar can be used as an alternative to a height stick.
The Spacer Placer tool for height spacer washers can be bought Velcro shoe straps to wrap around the outside (home made) for when the shoes are too large.
Free head racing ebook
​Pre-race nerves diary week 5​ Casey McKenna
​Head race taper versus rest​ article
​Travel, tapering and using borrowed boats​ podcast
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