Concept2 Forum

I've seen mention a few times of Mantis wrist position. I get what it is but what can one do to break a bad habit. Try as I might I can't always keep my right wrist from taking on a mantis bend?

Assuming there's no structural problem (e.g. bone spur, tendon adhesion, etc.) causing the wrist break, mechanical aids suggest themselves. You might try training with a bowling (tenpin) brace on the wrist:

It'll probably feel strange at first. But inasmuch as they're designed to keep bowlers' wrists from flapping about, it should help you to keep things flat. The brace can come off after you've corrected the tendency.

Relaxing your grip on the handle also should help some. If you treat your fingers as hooks at the end of a rope, rather than part of a derrick/backhoe crane, your wrists will tend to flatten out of their own accord at the catch.

NavigationHazard wrote:

Relaxing your grip on the handle also should help some. If you treat your fingers as hooks at the end of a rope, rather than part of a derrick/backhoe crane, your wrists will tend to flatten out of their own accord at the catch.

So, Nav', are you suggesting losing one's grip?
You have to be careful It can be taken too far... Then, you'll need yet another contraption... Say:


This "erger" has clearly lost his grip...

In truth: I am guilty of the same thing because of a power tool injury to my right wrist.
What I do to remedy: I think about keeping my wrist at the same height as my forearm and elbow on the draw through. While watching in a mirror erected in front of the machine. It helps.

To add to what Nav said, it is not as convenient as a wrist brace, but you can try taping a long stick or wrench or two to your wrist so it cannot bend. If you use the mental image of finishing the arm pull by pulling from the elbows and do a little flare out with your elbows instead of straight back at the finish that should help keep the wrists flatter. And as Nav says, keep the grips in the fingertips as far away from the palms of your hands as you can.

The relaxing thing works ok but I still have this tendency to bend even using my fingers as hooks. Particularly on longer rows. You'd think the force of pulling would straighten the wrist. Oh well. Time to get the mirror out and camera. Working on form and symmetry is my current "project". Now maybe I do need that pitbull device? My wife might agree to this as a way to keep me off the erg.

Is it important ?

As long as your wrists are straight by the time you hit the drive it doesn't matter or am I missing something ?

OTW your wrists must be used to rotate the oars through an arc of almost 90 degrees for the blades ?

I'm also open to advice.

Carl Watts wrote:Is it important ?

As long as your wrists are straight by the time you hit the drive it doesn't matter or am I missing something ?

OTW your wrists must be used to rotate the oars through an arc of almost 90 degrees for the blades ?

I'm also open to advice.

Hi Carl,

For sculling I think the correct way to rotate the blades is to mostly roll the grips with your fingers and keep the wrists mostly flat. As one coach put it when I was taking a sculling course, if you are picking bags of groceries, as you bring the bags to your body do you want your wrists straight or bent? There is a drawing here of how to feather or square when feathering:

http://www.peinert.com/HOWTO.html

Byron

Carl Watts wrote:Is it important ?

As long as your wrists are straight by the time you hit the drive it doesn't matter or am I missing something ?

OTW your wrists must be used to rotate the oars through an arc of almost 90 degrees for the blades ?

I'm also open to advice.

As Byron said most scullers (but not all) feather the oars with a finger roll. But even if the wrist is used, it is done as a wrist drop at the end of the drive and the wrists are straight throughout the drive. The problem with the "mantis" wrist (i.e a wrist raise) is that the wrists are bent in the middle of the drive, which puts unnecessary strain on them, since the rower is pulling hard on those bent wrists. Using the wrist drop for feathering does not have that same problem, since there is only a light load on them on the recovery. I learned the wrist drop when I first got into sweep rowing in 1942 and was sort of shocked when I had my first sculling lesson in 1988. I was told to use the finger roll and that the wrist drop could lead to carpal tunnel syndrome. It was quite difficult for me to make the change. Later, I asked a friend about this. He had been a crew mate of mine in an 8 in the 40s and he had first learned to row, both sculling and sweep. in the mid-30s. He said that he had always used the wrist drop (with no problem) and that he had never heard of the finger roll. Another note: in the 50s and 60s he was the head rowing coach at a university with a major rowing program. I have also seen recent videos of some top drawer scullers who were using the wrist drop to feather.

Bob S.