Training
Posted: May 30th, 2005, 1:43 am
Hi,<br /><br />I am new to rowing - started in Jan and somehow I <br />unexpectedly (but pleasantly) caught rowing addiction. Something<br />I sense in quite a few people around here!<br /><br />Anyway I started reading the training forum a week or so ago and<br />realised I probably have zero technique and should try to<br />do something that looks more like rowing.<br />I have watched the animated demo for good style, and I have also found some <br />suggestions in different places -<br /><br />1. Do strapless rowing.<br />2. Set the damper to about 4 (not 10). <br />3. I found one mail that said to grip the handle with clawed fingers, not by<br /> wrapping your hands around the handle.<br /><br />But I found all these things in different places. Am I missing a <br />good place on the web page which has "all the stuff for beginners"?<br /><br />I have been trying strapless rowing for the past few days, and my 500m times<br />(for 5K) have plummeted from about 2.02 to about 2.10. It feels not good<br />and although I've seen the other discussions, I am still not sure<br />why it's helpful. Is it purely to stop you from dragging yourself<br />forward by your feet during the forward slide? I don't doubt it's<br />bad but why is that so bad? What's the most important thing I should be looking<br />to work on when strapless rowing? (Basically I'm not sure what I'm aiming for).<br /><br />I had a few other questions too, sorry if I'm repeating questions that were<br />asked a lot -<br /><br />1. When I am starting the pull-part of the stroke, I have experimented with <br />allowing just a little bit of give in my arms (arms straight, but releasing a bit <br />of length from the shoulder region) to make the start of the stroke as smooth<br />as possible as I take up the force. But I get my best time by keeping my arms <br />very rigid as I take up the force. So should I just take the latter approach? - but it feels<br />wrong to be tense in the muscles and rigid.<br /><br />2. Related to (1) should I start the stroke with straight arms and shoulders extended<br />forward, so that part of the pull is pulling my shoulders back?<br /><br />3. I somehow got into the habit of pushing up onto my toes at the very end<br />of the stroke. Don't know where that came from, and I haven't seen it mentioned.<br />So is keeping the feet flat on the footpads important or not?<br /><br />Thanks,<br />Paul.