Concept2 Forum

Is there a general rule of thumb for optimizing the foot rest position? Any kind of formula based on things like height, inseam length, arm length, etc? I am also interested in knowing if there is a correlation between foot rest height and power.

Set the heel heigth so that the ball of your foot is at rail height. Perhaps try +/-1 from there if you want to experiment.

There probalby is a correlation between bigger feet and power porduction, but only because bigger feet generally belong to bigger people. No causation implied.

Some seem to think that getting there heels higher will help them to "drive more horizontally" and thus give them higher peak force potential, though this is likely caused by not being able to compress to the catch as well as they could with a normally adjusted stretcher, forcing them to "short slide". Gains in power would be short lived and not sustainable because the length of the stroke will have been sacrificed.

PaulS wrote:There probalby is a correlation between bigger feet and power porduction

I thought the correlation between big feet was with something else...

p-fitz wrote:

PaulS wrote:There probalby is a correlation between bigger feet and power porduction

I thought the correlation between big feet was with something else...

No your thinking of a bigger nose

p-fitz wrote:

PaulS wrote:There probalby is a correlation between bigger feet and power porduction

I thought the correlation between big feet was with something else...

Typdexsia?

Here are a few excerpts from an article by 3 time world champion Peter Haining.

"When I was sculling internationally, the pre-eminent lightweight sculler was a Dutchman called Frans Göbel. . I was awestruck by his very simple technique and so I was nosey and went and asked him how he got it. He was very plain “I have little time to train and so I use the Rowperfect”. Frans set the machine up beside the rowing lake and rowed a good power curve on the machine, then jumped in his single and sculled until he’d lost the ‘pattern’ and then he returned to the Rowperfect. This happened several times in each training session.

"I watched Frans scull – his feet were high and steep. I started edging my feet up and my leg power became more horizontal but my shoulders lifted and so I did ‘good mornings’ weight lifting in the gym to help correct this fault and over ride the temptation to lift my shoulders.

"I met Frans again at regattas – and noticed that he was warming up on the machine before races for 40 minutes at 26 – 28 rate. I went over to him and looked at his technique and the thing that stuck out – his arms are straight for ever. They only bend in a relaxed fashion. There was no hoiking. As he was driving he kept the body into the same forward position and all the pressure built into the handle and legs at the same time. All he had to do was relax his arms at the end of the power and his finish was a beautiful circle and up to the next catch. When he sculled he sculled the same way – it looked like a Rowperfect on the water."