Rowing position for feet

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garb303
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Rowing position for feet

Post by garb303 » September 26th, 2024, 1:43 pm

I am getting sharp pain just above the outside of my left ankle when rowing. Should I be keeping my feet flat on the flexfoot at all times. I get some relief when I go up on the ball of my feet when I am sliding forward. After about 25 minutes and feeling warm, I recover from the pain and can allow my feet to remain almost flat on the pedals so to speak. Should I rest for a week or so or do I continue to work through the sharp pain I get when I begin the row.

MPx
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Re: Rowing position for feet

Post by MPx » September 26th, 2024, 6:18 pm

Heel lift at the end of the recovery/catch is common and not an issue. Drive efficiency is improved if the foot is back flat on the footpad as soon as possible into the drive.

No idea about the pain in the ankle - sounds bad.

Do you have your feet positioned particularly high or low? Conventional advice is to adjust the foot position so that your ankle bone is in line with the top of the rail. Lower works fine for steady state and max stroke length but might promote over extending forward. Higher better for very high power/high rate (less component to lift you off the seat). But for most people nearly everything works well with the ankle bone level with the top of the rail.
Mike - 67 HWT 183

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gvcormac
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Re: Rowing position for feet

Post by gvcormac » September 26th, 2024, 6:25 pm

Is the pain during stroke or recovery?

If during recovery, undoing the straps might help.

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