How to coach the finish so that your finishes are not frantic, splashy or messy.
Timestamps
00:45 Find room to tap down before squaring
Start with the correct set-up at the finish with blades buried. Where are your handles? What’s the gap between your hands? This is how you ensure you have room to tap down. If your handles are too close together at the finish, you cannot get out of separation and there’s no space to push the handles down without them hitting each other.
02:45 Check your elbows are level with your wrist (or higher) at the finish when the oars are buried under the water. It’s hard to tap down if your wrist is cocked and your elbow is lower than your wrist.
03:15 Drills for finishes
Stationary stability drill stage two has a tap down and then feather. Learn how to do this whole crew without anyone holding the boat level for you.
Videos of all these drills are in the Coach Mastermind Group as a joining bonus.
Pause drill at the finish – it helps to check you are finishing the stroke at the right position. Take the oar out of the water and then feather and return the oar to resting on the water surface. The reason is that your handles are at the same height as at the finish. Helps you to check how high your handles are actually rowing to in the full stroke. Goal in the consecutive strokes is to get your handle to the same place before you tap down to extract from the water.
J-Curve Drill – tap down before feather.
06:30 Check finishes while rowing
During continuous rowing, get your athletes to check handle heights at the finish while rowing – look down or feel where your thumb brushes your shirt. Hold onto the finish for 1cm longer while rowing. Helps them to keep pressure on the spoons until the end of the stroke before the extraction.
