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Hello again Reader
It’s sometimes the small things that give me the biggest insights.
I was taking notes while listening to Al Morrow speaking at our conference yesterday and he made an interesting observation. One of the pictures from his slides shows a masters mens four. The stroke guy has his left knee leaning sideways over the side of the boat.
Most coaches would try to get that changed because it’s not a ‘strong’ position.
Al said
I allow splayed knees at the catch from my athletes. As long as they drive directly, not move the knee vertical and then drive, as that slows the catch. It’s likely caused by his body build.
What great insight! We are all unique – so it’s OK to adapt rowing technique to fit our personal physique.
His one big observation having watched masters rowing and racing is that most masters can probably row longer at the catch. He points to shoulder alignment as a key indicator of whether we are getting into the right position. Can you work out which athlete in the photo above, Al thinks has best shoulder posture?
Knowing what to look for in your shoulders is good guide when you are reviewing video of yourself.
This week, check the length and inboard of your oars / sculls are still what you think they should be. Wrap tape around the oar by the button and write on it the length and inboard (e.g. 371:114 = 371 cm long and 114 cm inboard). Makes it easier to check next time.
Rebecca
This week’s podcast
Co-ordinating masters’ diaries to make crew lineups is tough. Three tips to make your life easier. PLUS if you’re ambitious to improve quickly, one way to get into better crews every week. Click the image to watch.
When you learn just one useful thing from our podcast, become a supporter from $1 per month. This helps cover overheads and enables us to continue our work to improve masters rowing around the world.
Capsize – get back in a boat
Today we are going to look at several different videos teaching how to get back into a rowing boat after having fallen in.
Safety is something we all know is important and staying current with your own physique and capabilities as you age is worthy of regular review.
Henning Lippke shared these three short capsize videos with us and has given us permission to share them with you.
The first minute shows a capsize using a camera on the boat
Note the athlete is fully submerged and then pulls her feet out of the shoes under water
There’s good advice about ‘simulating’ capsize in a swimming pool – remove backstays
At 1:15 she gets back onto the stern canvas and using her arms only paddles the boat towards shore. A good technique if you aren’t strong enough to get in over the side
The video explains clearly how a coach can teach capsize drills
The “Straddle and Paddle” technique recommended for masters who cannot get back into the boat is at 7 minutes 12 seconds.
This has good instruction from the bank – listen as it’s worth copying.
Feather your oars on the surface of the water before trying to get back in
Getting in from both sides – worth practicing
Recommends swimming underneath to get the far oar lined up perpendicular to the boat
Note if you are over 50 years old you have “3 tries” to get back in the boat and then you are likely too tired to succeed
[The rest of the article includes Daniel’s video, examples from Calm Waters Rowing, Mid Hudson Rowing Association, and 3 tips from my personal experience including using a PFD to help bounce you back into the boat.]
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