How does the height of a person affect their rowing?

[iain]

I am probably being slow, but why do you assume that the 2 different height people use the same rating? If you need to travel less on the slide, the stroke is quicker and so a higher rating can be maintained. OTW there is a disadvantage for shorter rowers (1X excluded) in that this reduces their stroke length. Everyone needs to start and finish together, so the shorter oarsman cannot compensate by over rating and provides less power however strong they are.

I also don't see why there is a greater boat checking of smaller crews at higher ratings. If they were to travel the same distance up the slide (smaller distance times more reps in same period), then i would have thought that relative to their weight the retarding force should be the same, i.e. ignoring boat weight below, decceleration should be the same).

I have always assumed that the weight of the boat is also significant in that this is "dead weight" is a smaller proportion of a large crew than a small one.

- Iain

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

I also don't see why there is a greater boat checking of smaller crews at higher ratings. If they were to travel the same distance up the slide (smaller distance times more reps in same period), then i would have thought that relative to their weight the retarding force should be the same, i.e. ignoring boat weight below, decceleration should be the same).

The difference in length for a LW vs. HW crew in terms of the slide probably isn't much... maybe an inch or two? But the checking of the boat isn't (as far as my understanding goes, which I'm pretty inexperienced so it could very well be wrong) related to the length of the slide. It's related to the speed with which you approach the catch and the amount of time you stay stationary or traveling toward the bow before catching. Because a LW crew probably rows at a higher rate to compensate for power, they will be taking more strokes and the amount of check, which could be the same as that of a HW boat, would be higher because of the higher rating. Keep in mind though LW crews generally row cleaner than HW crews, which can get away with powering through the stroke.

[jliddil]

Sports Biomech. 2009 Nov;8(4):302-17.
Relative shank to thigh length is associated with different mechanisms of power production during elite male ergometer rowing.

Greene AJ, Sinclair PJ, Dickson MH, Colloud F, Smith RM.

Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Lidcombe, Australia.

The effect of anthropometric differences in shank to thigh length ratio upon timing and magnitude of joint power production during the drive phase of the rowing stroke was investigated in 14 elite male rowers. Rowers were tested on the RowPerfect ergometer which was instrumented at the handle and foot stretcher to measure force generation, and a nine segment inverse dynamics model used to calculate the rower's joint and overall power production. Rowers were divided into two groups according to relative shank thigh ratio. Time to half lumbar power generation was significantly earlier in shorter shank rowers (p = 0.028) compared to longer shank rowers, who showed no lumbar power generation during the same period of the drive phase. Rowers with a relatively shorter shank demonstrated earlier lumbar power generation during the drive phase resulting from restricted rotation of the pelvic segment requiring increased lumbar extension in these rowers. Earlier lumbar power generation and extension did not appear to directly affect performance measures of the short shank group, and so can be attributed to a technical adaptation developed to maximise rowing performance.

[sayn3ver]

I also don't see why there is a greater boat checking of smaller crews at higher ratings. If they were to travel the same distance up the slide (smaller distance times more reps in same period), then i would have thought that relative to their weight the retarding force should be the same, i.e. ignoring boat weight below, decceleration should be the same).



I have always assumed that the weight of the boat is also significant in that this is "dead weight" is a smaller proportion of a large crew than a small one.

- Iain

i think the way the real world is will always put the boat at the higher rating at a disadvantage, regardless of the rowers height and weight. In theory the increased rating should even the playing field between the tall boat and the short boat (longer stroke x lower rpm = more torquey power curve like a diesel engine) vs (short stroke x higher rpm = less torque more hp like a 1.6 honda 4 cyc reving to 10krpm). both of these models can have the same POWER but their curves look much different. However, we all know that the higher the rating increases room for mistakes since their are more strokes being taken over a given distance.

Now most of this really has little affect when talking indoor rowing on an indoor rower that doesn't really care how tall, short, fat, skinny, flexible, stiff, strong ,weak you are. A certain combination of force x distance will give you a certain number, even if your form is poo and you just caught a crab.