Meet Jonathan Drake who teaches rowing using Alexander Technique methods.
01:00 Jonathan is an expert in rowing, Tai Chi and the Alexander Technique. His awareness of his co-ordination issues comes from being an Alexander teacher. Insights into how adults learn. His book is Rowing from the inside out: The art of indoor rowing with on the water in mind.
What is it like to scull on the water while you're learning to row indoors?
Understand how rowing is "in your head" and how to connect this to what your body does. Ingrained movement habits are hard to change especially as you get older. Move more lightly, freely and less movements creating tension.
Pulling your neck forwards and downwards creates tension in the rowing stroke. Feel how the dynamic opposition of one part of the body connects or separates from another part. Using your body changes through the rowing stroke. In the power phase the spine lengthens and changes at the finish before lengthening again on the recovery. The perspective is novel - indoor and outdoor rowing combined with Alexander Technique and Tai Chi. Learn from the inside rather than copying someone else from the outside.
10:00 There's a sequence in the feet - pushing off the balls of your feet causes calves to tighten and then after your heels are down and the stroke finishes, people lift the balls of their feet again. That's why gym rowers strap in their feet tightly. The basic dynamic is through the feet - the inside of your heels means you access the whole of your foot arch, this gives you the power you need to perform rowing while sitting dynamically.
It gives you more awareness of when you're using more effort than necessary. Engage in the journey yourself because you cannot teach what you do not know. You can get results without all the effort.
Encourage your athletes not to strap in your feet from the beginning. How to hold the handle without gripping (creates tight wrists and shoulders). When you understand about how to control the blades in the water - feather into your fingers - you can use your fingers on the indoor rower in the same way.
The key to coordination is the relationship between the neck, the head and the back. If your neck stiffens it creates spinal compression and tension. Our habits feel comfortable. Come to a state of quiet to help the body to organise itself. Learn to do less in order to achieve more. At the start of the drive the connection comes from the feet, then moves into the legs / hips / back and into the arms. As the recovery begins the pelvis takes the energy into the arms and body.
Ed Coode, rowed for Great Britain in Athens 2004 - he was taught AT.
20:00 The book is very clear on how you teach. When Jonathan is on the rowing machine he views each stroke as a potentially new experience. Use them as an opportunity to be constantly refining and improving your movement patterns. It's never too late to make improvements. The book has links to video clips on YouTube to show what to do.
Contact Jonathan [email protected] www.everydayfitness.co.uk
Want easy live streams like this? Instant broadcasts to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn. Faster Masters uses StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5694205242376192
Handling varying levels of dedication to the sport in masters clubs. How do you give the both the person who wants to practice once a week and the person who trains daily a meaningful race situation?
01:00 This is normal for masters rowing. Training and practice commitment isn't an issue usually until it comes to racing. When going to a regatta you want to be in a crew where where you're the 'worst' in the crew. Competitive people want the best possible crew.
In most youth rowing clubs the coaches do selection - this takes the emotion out of the lineups. Types of race - in your calendar there are local events and bigger events like the masters national championships. Each year you will have 2 or 3 peaks which help you manage your training load. Typically most masters will do 3 + races in a single day.
In local regattas your racing priorities may be different. The more experienced people can race both with less experienced (mixed ability crews) as well as their own regular training group. To get the racing priorities accurate, the single scull is the best measure. The outcome is up to you alone.
Regatta organisers can enable a pathway into racing for masters - novice - new masters - age group. Differentiate based on rowing experience, not age for the first 5 years of racing.
Aligning can be challenging. Fitness matters a lot in racing; bladework skills are also important. Enabling compromise as part of your lineup selection can help give a meaningful experience. The fitter athletes find compromise less palatable rowing when with less experienced people.
There is satisfaction to be had from a mixed ability crew. Skill judging stroke rate and technical calls through the race is a worthwhile endeavour. "That was harder than childbirth". Achieving the best possible outcome for this crew.
Can you mentally set yourself up to see satisfaction from both types of races with experienced people and less experienced people?
Folks who always train together means there is no way in for a newcomer. Club priorities can enable coaches to make selections and validate their choices with the Captain (who's independent). A goal could be to enable your groups (elite, intermediate, new masters, novices) to all have at least one event in which they stand a chance of being competitive. I've found this is a method which helps to bring on less experienced people so that in future years they advance faster than if you just leave them to race in their skill group.
17:00 The art of compromise is discussion without emotion. Rebecca invites people to choose a priority crew which she tries to guarantee that race. Everything else is secondary. This means some events are "sub-optimal. The competitive spirit drives racers to selfish outcomes. This is an attribute of successful racers. It can be hard for athletes to accept their perception of being put in sub-optimal crew lineups. Independent lineup confirmation and discussion of compromises helps to frame these decisions. Balance our priority against the opportunity of this one regatta.
The club is the entity which should set the goals (3-5 years) and how this impacts regatta entry choices. Tell us how your club manages their crews for regattas.
Want easy live streams like this? Instant broadcasts to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn. Faster Masters uses StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5694205242376192
Three innovations to improve your learn to row classes and prevent drop-outs. Time to get your club organised for LTR 2025. What's new that you could do this year?
Timestamps
Clubs do these to grow their membership. New joiners are an investment in time and effort - it takes time before that pays off. Around one third of all masters rowers started to row as adults. There are two pathways into masters rowing - people who started in their youth and then come back later in life, and those who start as adult beginners.
02:00 How to run a good adult learn to row class. Buy the book Masters Rowing by Nolte & Fritsch - the chapter on how to structure and teach LTR is really good.
Masters Rowing – Training for fitness, technique and competition – Volker Nolte & Wolfgang Fritsch
The experience of your first lesson is very important to the success of the program. Can paperwork be done ahead of time? Rebecca starts with an interior tour of the boathouse, the oars, the boat types, the changing rooms. Handling the oars - how to hold the oar handle. How to put the oars on the dock, positioning so nobody trips. How to do the sculling crossover. Parts of the boat - how to open an oarlock, the button position, how to adjust the foot stretcher. Carrying the boat, getting in and out of the boat safely.
06:00 They start rowing. We don't give instruction about how to row in the first lesson. They do some confidence drills and then start rowing - working it out for themselves. This may sound like they've being pushed quickly into doing something they haven't been told how to do.
This method serves a purpose - they work stuff out for themselves - take personal control. There is a lot of rest and waiting while others row in the first lesson. Short periods of rowing then stopping and talking or watching - a learning from Tony Buzan (the Mind Mapping man).
You need volunteers to help, give support and be alongside the beginners. Ask those who did the prior learn to row class to be the helpers - they know enough. It helps the new beginners to see how quickly they'll learn. Invite them to coffee after the lesson.
Want easy live streams like this? Instant broadcasts to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn. Faster Masters uses StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5694205242376192
Researching masters physiology - aging from 50 to 70 affects your rowing.
01:00 Guests from Athlone, Ireland Lorcan Daly and Paul Gallen
Lorcan is a sport science researcher starting with his grandfather, Richard Morgan who was an erg champion. Uniquely he was sedentary for most of his life, was a smoker and at 73 took up indoor rowing. He was tested aged 92 and some of the tests were on a par with a 30 year old. Three world champion indoor rowers were his next test subjects - described as a "game changer" by Irish Rowing.
Paul Gallen Dennis and Ken were recruited after winning their divisions at the 2024 World Rowing Indoor Championships. The tests were done over 2 visits - diet, lung and muscle function and sporting history.
06:00 Paul Gallen rejoined masters rowing
He took 30 years out of the sport and his first event back was the Head of the Charles Regatta. Learned to scull aged 60 and indoor rowing competitions. His 8s crew includes school friends. For the winter season he does a 10 week lead in to the Irish Indoor Rowing Championships. The three age gaps gave a good framing for the study.
Lorcan found that their muscle oxygen take-up was similar to an Olympic champion. The deterioration over life is much flatter than non-trained people.
Paul has 10 years of his splits at the indoor champs 6:59 - 7.14 times over ten year drop off. Paul does daily Yoga for rowers - 12 moves a day. Off season 2 weights; mix of high intensity and longer rowers. At least one high intensity per week.
13:00 General advice on aging well
The principles for healthy aging - keep your full body system going is a mix of resistance exercise and the mix of aerobic exercise is key. The two together is the winning formula.
15:00 Returning rowers
Paul the big thing about people coming back to rowing - it depends on how busy your life is. Start at recreational level and not commit fully to being in competition. Build up if your life gets less busy.
Lorcan's paper is called Toward the Limits of Human Ageing Physiology: Characteristics of the 50+, 60+ & 70+ Male Indoor Rowing Champions
Want easy live streams like this? Instant broadcasts to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn. Faster Masters uses StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5694205242376192
Is biggest fear you have doing a rowing race for the first time? How to prepare, what to expect and the aftermath.
First races and how you can help your crew mates facing their first race. As adults it's unusual to get into a situation we've never seen before. Children are different.
Kim Mulvey wrote to us saying "I'm not ready to race."
The first race fear is mostly about the unknown. You feel out of control and it triggers the flight-or-fight response. Practice in training The way to overcome this is to get familiar with the situations you'll encounter in a race.
One way to do this is to practice in training.
03:15 Practice the racing distance find a simulation as close as possible - how long is it and how intense will it be? Practice being alongside another crew as you race.
Discuss the race plan within your crew - how to approach the stages of the race. Coxing your first race podcast episode will also help you understand what to expect.
Have a checklist for the race day and the night before. Rowing Regatta Checklist article explains the different elements of the list.
The things which help you feel most ready for racing are practicing ahead of time and actually doing a race. Once you've done one race you know what to expect next time.
Stories of first races are fantastic. How the unexpected came about and what they did after it happened. Learn by hearing from your crew mates.
Read Rowing against the Current – Barry Strauss What you experience is unique to you, but you'll have a lot in common with everyone else's first race.
Want easy live streams like this? Instant broadcasts to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn. Faster Masters uses StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5694205242376192
Daunting? Hell yes. Listen to our guide which shows you what "tricks" you need to have and how to use them with your crew.
Timestamps
I've got to cox a race and I don't know what I should be doing. The broad formula you need.
What's expected of you - steer the boat carefully around the course to the best possible route that you can. Take the straightest route and when you steer, take as tight a turn as you can without disrupting the crew rhythm.
Think of the river as if it was a road and you are driving a car. In general you gent to be in the middle - judge the distance between the tip of the blades and the bank on both sides of the boat to see if you are positioning well. For corners, water flows in a straight line and bounces off the bank as it bends around - think of this as lots of little straight lines and rebounds as the current adjusts for the curve of the bank.
If you are going round a corner to your right hand side - the deeper water is on your left hand side where the current has scoured out the bank (a slip off bank on the right and an undercut cliff on the left). The fastest water is nearer the cliff on the left hand side. So position your boat towards the left hand bank and get one third of the river between the boat and the left hand bank, two thirds of the river on your right hand side. After the corner is done and you're on the straight - re-position the boat so you are in the middle 50:50 of the river on each side of the boat.
Rowing against the stream - it's the opposite - hug the bank so you're close enough so you don't have the stream moving against the boat. The rule of thumb of thirds (one third of the river between your hull and the bank) works quite well as the current is usually concentrated in the middle third of the river. Steering is likely what you won't have problems with as you are an experienced steerer.
Have two calls - technical call - pressure call (working harder).
You should be able to work out what motivates your crew and what they are skilled at doing. For the pressure call - 10 strokes working harder - will increase your boat speed for ten strokes. Your job is to work out what the right technique call is that supports the pressure call. Speak to the coach and crew - what are the aspects of the stroke technique which they find harder to do when they're tired.
You only need ONE technical call.
Use the calls in combination during the race - pressure followed by technique or vice versa. In the race - if you do the technique call first - improve the technique over 10 strokes and then follow that up with a pressure call so they hold onto the technical aspect while they add the pressure. Or do pressure first to increase the boat speed and then use the technique call to maintain the higher boat speed afterwards. You must practice this in training so the crew knows what to expect and the nuance of the two calls.
When to use these calls in the race? Landmarks like a building, a bridge or a bend in the river are good markers. If the landmark includes a steering change - you have to do the call before you start to steer because the boat slows when you steer. Get increased speed before the steering manoeuvre. As you finish the steering, do another call as you are straight and have passed the landmark. Get the crew to look at the bridge / landmark so they can see it moving into the distance.
Big picture - divide the race into quarters. You have to know what's the beginning and end of each section. Have a focus for each quarter.
Other things also happen e.g. overtaking / being overtaken. Build these into your race plan if they happen. "Walking" the crew past another crew - what to say.
Your average speed in the race - the boat speed will change. Your job is to take the crew back up to the horizontal ideal speed line. A good cox can motivate and encourage. Do not talk all the time - silence for 5-10 strokes gives the crew greater focus and clarity of purpose when you do speak. Give the crew enough time to do the things you have called - 10 strokes minimum.
You must be able to judge how many strokes it takes the crew to cover a certain distance. Look at a landmark and estimate the stroke count - practice on your home course against a buoy or tree. You must be accurate to decide when to start the call as you lead into landmarks and the finishing sprint.
Want easy live streams like this? Instant broadcasts to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn. Faster Masters uses StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5694205242376192
Boat weight classes across your fleet can be assessed against members' weights.
Many masters group 'inherit' boats but for optimal club alignment match the boats with the membership needs. Assess the current fleet - look for the manufacturer's label - serial number, year of construction and athlete weight. Log these for your whole boat fleet.
Different boat moulds accommodate the water displacement for heavier and lighter athletes. Variations can be built in by lowering the deck or the saxboards. When my club did the survey we added in a "state of repair" for each boat. Some are used more than others. And the frequency of boat use - we have some which are favourites and get used a lot more than others.
All members were asked anonymously what their weight is in kg and if they are men or women. We had fallen into the habit of calling boats "mens boats" or "womens boats". This was erroneous - we had men and women in three out of four weight categories. Masters do a lot of mixed rowing and so we need boats suitable for mixed and single gender users.
We found a spread of needs across 4 ranges of boat weights. Remember crew weights are averaged to align with the boat. 4 Sizes of boat - Lightweight 60kg boats - Mid lightweight 70kg boats - Mid heavyweight 80kg boats - Heavyweight 90kg boats 48% of our members could fit into a 60kg lightweight boat; 60% of our membership can fit into a mid lightweight boat; 44% can fit a mid heavyweight boat; and 23% fit a heavyweight. Our club is skewed to female members and older females who are smaller in height and lower body weight. This affects the fund raising, boat purchase plan and the boat maintenance plan where club resources are focused.
10:30 Considerations for purchases
The resale value of second hand boats is important to consider. This is not just about the boat's age and state of repair - it's who wants to buy this type of boat. Resale values for coxless quads is high in New Zealand due to a lack of supply. Few clubs choose to buy 60kg double sculls because lightweight rowing is being phased out of schools and international rowing.
Boat builders can advise what size of boat they typically build. Size inflation has happened in boat weights - classified at one weight but will fit a bigger range of athlete weights than previously. It used to be +/- 5 kg and I believe it's larger than this now - maybe 10kg range. I believe that you want the oarlocks to sit half way up the pins for the average weight of the athletes when they sit in the boat with oars squared and buried at the finish.
Too heavy athletes in a boat and you find insufficient freeboard to get the oars out at the finish or to row square blades. Too light athletes in a boat and you find you have to hold your handle higher up your chest in order to keep the oars buried at the finish and you cannot keep your wrists level with your elbows in the power phase.
Gain an understanding of the number of years you use a boat before you replace it. Plan a replacement strategy so you can get the right range of boats for your needs. For example, we boat a lot of quads and now have a quad in three of the four weight ranges. Champagne tastes on a beer budget - we always want more equipment than we can afford to buy!
Want easy live streams like this? Instant broadcasts to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn. Faster Masters uses StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5694205242376192
Why the blade pathway from crossover to catch is so different between the left and right hands. If you aren't going straight, three things to check.
01:00 What generally causes difficulties?
Beginner errors are straightforward to work out if these are affecting you.
Look from your stern to the horizon and line up your stern with a fixed point (house, power pole, tree) and watch the wake off your stern. You can see if the vee of the wake is symmetrical.
04:30 Blade extraction - are the blades coming out at the same time and are you pressing down symmetrically? If one blade drags that affects the boat course.
05:30 Blade crossover - from extraction to handle crossover it's important the boat is level. The rig is left higher than the right - your handle heights have to reflect the difference in oarlock height. Ensure your hands are "nested" close together.
08:00 Blade catch - the handles have to be symmetrical around a similar arc from the oarlock so the tips of the blades are the same distance from the side of the boat.
The right hand has to move a greater distance from crossover to the catch than the left hand. It's probably 2 cm greater distance. Practice the fine motor skills to make subtle adjustments to the handles using pontoon floats on a single scull. Your arms have to go out to the same distance at the catch (not the same handle height). Listen to the sound of the oars going into the water - you can hear if one oar goes in before the other.
Want easy live streams like this? Instant broadcasts to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn. Faster Masters uses StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5694205242376192
As a developing sport, there are aspects of masters rowing which we need to improve, change and adapt. Three signs of dysfunction and four solutions.
Timestamps
01:00 What are the symptoms and cures to move our sport forward? Most clubs now have a masters group and a good waiting list of people wanting to learn to row.
Rowing is designed to take a beginner towards higher performances. As we age we generally have diminishing strength each decade. Many of us love rowing but don't want to compete - so masters rowing is different.
12:00 How can these be set in place? How to bring your board / committee along with you so they understand what the masters group is trying to achieve.
What are solutions we haven't yet thought of?
Want easy live streams like this? Instant broadcasts to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn. Faster Masters uses StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5694205242376192
Go on rowing camp! The pros and cons of going on training camp. You'll either love it or hate it.
Timestamps
01:00 Going on a camp refocuses your attention on rowing. Are camps useful? There are lots of different types of camp - training camp - selection camp for racing crews - finishing camp before a big regatta
You don't have to go with your whole club. Doing a camp at your own club has disadvantages - people keep their other life commitments and so tend to rush off after the workout. So you lose one of the good aspects of going away to camp which is the luxury of un-pressured time.
Athletes get a lot of individual attention on camp compared to home training. There's time for debriefs, for mini tutorials, one-on-one time, sit next to coaches at meals and pick their brains. Coaches get a captive audience of athletes and can get messages about focus points across to them all.
05:00 Camp issues Increased training load - if normal rows are 60-90 minutes once a day camp workouts will be shorter. But you may do two or three workouts a day.
Overtraining is not an issue in the long term. Camp is only 3-5 days plus travel days when you're resting. Schedule an off day when you get back home while you rig boats. Then pick up your regular training volume.
If you come into the camp injured or recovering - that's a big red flag and needs management. When athletes don't tell the coach that they are injured that causes problems. Doing only part of the camp program is still beneficial.
Getting injured on camp does not mean your time is wasted. Volunteer to go in the coach boat with the coaches, volunteer to film crews, volunteer to help the coaches. Hanging out with coaches, you learn by listening to their discussions. You can train your eye watching crews rowing to find out where improvements are needed. Illness on camp - take care a virus doesn't spread to everyone. Good hygiene practices are needed.
Crew bonding and learning accelerated in a focused period. Plus fitness gains and technique input from coaches. Camp also allows you time to work on technique on your own. Self-coaching discipline and practice is also good.
Want easy live streams like this? Instant broadcasts to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn. Faster Masters uses StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5694205242376192
Join our community and get our exclusive Faster Masters Rowing Magazine, packed with tips, techniques, and inspiring stories. Includes four new articles monthly.
