Newbie Question: Feet Flat On Footrest?

[[old] davidpmcintyre]

My question is whether it's ok to keep my heels planted on the footrest the entire time, and not lifting my heels off during the catch. Many posters here say that the heels should come up a bit (and xeno in rowing dvd's lets his pop up a bit too). but i find when i let my body slide far enough forward that my heels bend off the footrests, my leg push is weaker for the duration of the drive. i feel more explosive when i keep my feet flat, i can do more spm, and my times are a littler faster, but i worry that this is a temporary thing and will limit my improvement.<br /><br />i know i'm not supposed to let my shin to past vertical, and it doesn't regardless of whether my heel comes up or not. but if my calves are really flexible, i could still slide as far forward as a less flexible rower. if this is the case, then instead of being concerned w/ keeping my feet flat, i need to know what would be the minimum angle of my thigh and shin that i should slide forward to? <br /><br /><br />

[[old] PaulS]

It's definitely okay to keep your heels down, and it sounds as if you have nice flexibility. My rule of thumb is to get your shins to the point of being vertical, if the heels must lift to do that, still get the shins to vertical but work on ankle flexibility with the goal being to be able to keep the heels down. Being as flexible as you are, once you come up on your toes your calves are going to be absorbing force rather than the heels providing a solid platform from which to drive. When the shins go beyond vertical, the angle at the knee is so small that a quick move at the catch is going to be very difficult. Sometimes this is coached along with a "soft catch", so it might depend on what your coach has to say, that is if you have a coach. 8)

[[old] dougsurf]

<!--quoteo(post=55961:date=Feb 15 2006, 10:58 AM:name=medford)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(medford @ Feb 15 2006, 10:58 AM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>My question is whether it's ok to keep my heels planted on the footrest the entire time, and not lifting my heels off during the catch. Many posters here say that the heels should come up a bit (and xeno in rowing dvd's lets his pop up a bit too). but i find when i let my body slide far enough forward that my heels bend off the footrests, my leg push is weaker for the duration of the drive. i feel more explosive when i keep my feet flat, i can do more spm, and my times are a littler faster, but i worry that this is a temporary thing and will limit my improvement.<br /><br />i know i'm not supposed to let my shin to past vertical, and it doesn't regardless of whether my heel comes up or not. but if my calves are really flexible, i could still slide as far forward as a less flexible rower. if this is the case, then instead of being concerned w/ keeping my feet flat, i need to know what would be the minimum angle of my thigh and shin that i should slide forward to?<br /> </td></tr></table><br />This is an interesting question as most of the time I hear from those worried that their heel is coming up too much. Best answer I heard to that question was, "how many basketball stars do you see shooting with heels flat on the ground?". But if you have such flexible achilles that heels are all the way down at the catch, more power to you, literally. Generally, I don't know any reason to limit reach by any link. Confirm that chest is flat against thighs, back straight, arms straight but with shoulders relaxed and down, not hunched. Personally I have no problem with shins past vertical either, if it gets you an extra inch. Surely this is not a "power" position, but there isn't any hard power right at the catch. The catch should be very quick and soft, a paradox taking much practice to master. Power builds smoothly from there to peak a third or so of the way along. More than you asked about, but the thread looked quiet anyway. Nice flexibility. Wish I had it!<br /><br />- Doug

[[old] PaulS]

<!--quoteo(post=55969:date=Feb 15 2006, 11:39 AM:name=dougsurf)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(dougsurf @ Feb 15 2006, 11:39 AM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>This is an interesting question as most of the time I hear from those worried that their heel is coming up too much. Best answer I heard to that question was, "how many basketball stars do you see shooting with heels flat on the ground?". But if you have such flexible achilles that heels are all the way down at the catch, more power to you, literally.<br />- Doug<br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />You are creating your own paradox Doug, relative to the "best answer" you've heard. Perhaps I should ask you, "How many basketball players are pushing off a surface that is 45deg relative to the direction they are jumping?" None, but if they were, their heels would stay down as well. I think you must understand this, due to your "more power to you" comment, but it's better to be less confusing by maintaining consistency of principles. <br /><br />Now as for the "soft quick catch", I'm going to let you do just what you want to, because we may end up in the same races and I don't want to help out the potential competition too much.

[[old] dougsurf]

<!--quoteo(post=55977:date=Feb 15 2006, 01:33 PM:name=PaulS)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(PaulS @ Feb 15 2006, 01:33 PM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>... we may end up in the same races ... <br /> </td></tr></table><br />By the way, sorry I didn't check back then, but were you or any of yours at the Head of the Lake last time? I had a great time. Hope to get back to Seattle again some time. Did I hear correctly that Nationals were there this year?<br /><br />- Doug<br />