Concept2 Forum

Hi there,

This is my first year sweeping (2.5 years of sculling previous). I am a club rower, hence lineups are usually inconsistent and individual fitness levels vary significantly in the boat. I am attempting to fix my own problems with form on each stroke, contributing what I can to the lineup of the day (hopefully positively, better set, moving the boat faster)

My question is: How can I catch cleanly every time? I would like to stop missing water. I know I miss water because every once in a while I catch clean and get really good hang on the leg drive. It just feels like I am putting every inch of my stroke in the water. When I miss water, that hang is not there. I feel most of the pressure about midway through the leg-drive and if my back hurts at the end of a piece, I know I am probably yanking the oar to the finish just so I can put some power into the water. Bad.

Our usual on-water workouts are pyramids, 22 to 28 spm, on occasion 24 to 30 or up to 32 spm. Pieces are usually 8 minutes, ~2k, and ~4.5k.

1. Should I be more aggressive on the catch? When I lift my outside hand at the catch, should I really be dunking that oar in the water? I know at low speeds that can cause digging, but when the boat is in motion and the water is really bubbling under the hull, does it matter?

2. How far should I lean forward at hands away? Does it matter? To get really out there on my rigger, my "Fast hands away" needs to be at warp speed - possibly upsetting the boat - otherwise all the rushing in the boat prevents me from getting full compression with my legs.

Any other advice for getting the ultimate catch?

To me it looks like your problems are caused by you being too worried about what the hands and arms are doing during the stroke and recovery. Hence you are exeperiencing a lot of issues caused by the upper body because you have forgotten about the more important core and leg muscles.

Take the catch with your feet. Yes, I know it sounds funny. You must always maintain pressure on your feet with the foot stretcher regardless of what phase of the stroke your in. Sit up tall at the catch with your head looking up and your bum tucked in underneath you and simply place the oar in the water once you feel you have arrived above your feet(you'll know by feeling the weight of your body on your feet).

No need to lean right out to your rigger. If you sit up tall you'll get the same length with your oar.

Don't be afraid of the water by dipping your hands before the catch. By dipping your hands and leaning over or out you are causing the blade to sky too high above the
water. Hence the blade has to travel too far down to take the catch so when the legs start the drive you miss water and the most effective part of the stroke.

Sit tall, place and straight drive.

It's essential to pull the oar right through to your body at the finish. If you cut the stroke short and try to finish too early you are forced to use too much upper body to yank the oar out because you are going against the natural momentum of the oar travelling through the water. Once the oar has reached it's ultimate distance at the finish it should just pop out with little effort. If you are forcing it out then that's clearly a sign that the oar hasn't yet travelled far enough.

Control the finish with your outside hand on the very end of the oar fitting inside the palm of your hand. If you are pulling right through then it becomes very easy to just use a continuos circular motion with your outside palm with a natural tap down incorporated within the circular motion(outside elbow up and out).

Your hands must never stop at the finish like they do on a static C2 erg. That's a bad habit many pick up from erging.
Don't forget that your feet must maintain contact with the foot stretcher right to the finish. Loose contact and you get left behind in the recovery for the next stroke.

I am applying your advice and find all points extremely helpful, thank you