Concept2 Forum

My wife has started rowing also so I need to get her some good gloves so she doesn't blister her hands. I use workout gloves but they heave my fingertips blistered. We also tried to get full baseball gloves but they are the worse and too thin.

Looking for some thick padded rowing gloves that will give her protection so she can row without getting man hands.

Curtis wrote: Looking for some thick padded rowing gloves that will give her protection so she can row without getting man hands.

Thanks for reminding me that I was once asked if I tear down trees with my bare hands. Made me feel really girly!

Grahhh, there's a significant difference between "man hands" and "rowing hands." While I could be wrong, I believe that no major rowing equipment manufacturer provides "rowing gloves," and with "good" reason -- hands are supposed to be involved in a certain capacity. If she's rowing with a good grip, and if she's not on some sort of daily Olympic training program, then I doubt she needs to worry about "man hands."

http://www.c2forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=6940

If soccer players were too worried about getting scraped up, they wouldn't play. If hockey players were afraid to get knocked up and bleed all over the place, they wouldn't play. If rowers were afraid to get blisters and ultimately callouses, they wouldn't row. Right? Or something like that...

I don't know where to find your gloves, again, because major manufacturers that I know of don't make them. So you might have trouble getting an adequate quality product.

By the way, I think "rowing hands" on girls is... sexy?

I might suggest motorcycle trials gloves. These are thinner and lighter than regular MX gloves and provide better feel. You want them to fit TIGHT, or you will just have more problems. You will have to buy them from a shop or distributor who knows trials, because a regular bike shop won't have them.

You might also try a pair of unlined XC ski racing gloves. Again, make sure they fit tight.

I like wearing gloves for lots of different activities, and so I don't see why it should matter to me or your wife if crew teams have an ethic that is uncool or a sign of weakness to wear gloves while rowing on the water.

I don't wear gloves when I row now, and I can't remember if there was a specific reason why I stopped. I think I wanted to try rowing without them for a while, and got used to not wearing them. Blisters can be painful and a problem, particularly when I was training for the marathon, and gloves definitely help protect the hands.

There are a couple of options for paddling gloves. I bought these for canoeing/kayaking, and so these were the ones I ended up rowing with too. They are pretty beat up now, but have lasted for years. I don't really like the velcro wrap around strap on the wrist, but the leather palms are unpadded (don't see why you would need padding for rowing) and provide a solid, sure grip wet or dry. They come in full finger or 3/4 finger:

http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp? ... 25-To-2430

Many paddling shops will sell NRS stuff if you look around. Chota also makes paddling gloves.

It's not about being "uncool" or weak, but it's about being pragmatic. One can put up with a few weeks of a normal, typical process of building up a resistance to rowing-specific friction and then not have to worry about blisters or irritation, or one can apparently unsuccessfully search for gloves of some sort used in other sports or activities that largely ineffectively try to prevent that normal process. The point of those stories I posted on the other thread is to illustrate that it's just not natural to prevent... natural processes, especially when they result from deliberate action. E.g., yea, I'd love to find some magic product or training method that still allows me to build a good deal of mass and muscle and yet still provide for the necessary volumes of aerobic training, but, even if such an approaches exist, I'm sure it would be way too much of a hassle, just like finding gloves to prevent some inconsequential detail of rowing reality. I'm already downing over 4000 calories per day... so I just accept it: I'll never realistically gain that 40lbs. It's just pragmatic.

Boxing gloves?

Sorry, I'm ill at the moment and that must be the meds kicking in.

I like to wear gloves, not only to avoid blisters and rough "rower" hands, but because it help me to mantain a better grip after the first 5K meters cause I tend to sweat a lot. I use garden gloves that are cheap and easy to find.

FWIW, I have been using "New Grip" gloves for about the last 6 months and I really like them.

http://www.newgrip.com/rowing.html

Interesting gloves, they look like they'd reduce maneuverability for minor adjustments as well as feathering, though.

Uhm... that's a very interesting boat that those fellows are in for the top picture. I think rowing for 70 days straight would require some sort of support, but I don't think most people are into that whole rowing across the Atlantic Ocean in some supershell thing. And, that guy on the erg has despicable form.

"Using your rowing gloves I have had a noticeable improvement in overall endurance." Oh, is that how rowers build endurance?

"NewGrips will eliminate those hassles and instead deliver greater More endurance, power and energy. No more blisters, calluses or sore hands." Oh, and that's how it's done?

Ok ok I'm done, I know I don't say anything helpful! But seriously I don't know how they can advertise like that...

Phil

I got suckered into buying NewGrips way back when... They didn't work for weights, so I don't see how they would work for rowing.

I guess it just shows how different everyone is... The only problem I've had with my NewGrips is "sweaty palms" which I just wipe off and wipe the pads off during a rest. I don't put all my fingers under the strap because my grip isn't as strong that way... I usually leave my pinky out or my index finger and pinky... It varies for what I am doing. I don't use them when lifting (much).... I do use them when I'm using kettlebells though... I have gotten a much better grip to slow the bell before it slams into my forearm (I would still consider myself a novice...). ANYWAY.... What works for some doesn't always work for others. I'm happy with mine. Enough said.

I use short-finger sailing gloves. They come about half way down your fingers and so protect the base of the fingers, which is where I get my worst blisters. They can be washed and don't make your hands too sweaty.

I sail and recycle my old sailing gloves as rowing gloves as they wear in different places, but all the big sailing clothing manufacturers make them - Musto, Gill, Henry Lloyd etc.

I use weight training fingerless gloves, but only if I have a blister that's sore. I think you have to accept that you will get callouses and blisters.

My (water) rowing coaches tell me that I shouldn't get blisters, and that if I am it's because my grip is too tight - so try to relax your grip as much as possible. I do this by keeping my thumbs on top of the handle on the erg, which means you can't squeeze the handle too hard. That's also seems to help prevent/ease tennis elbow.

So, relax and accept some roughness as inevitable, but if a blister is so sore that it is stopping you from rowing, use gloves only until your hands are better. Personally, I also deliberately burst any blisters once they occur, as they seem to dry out and heal quicker.

I have been using fingerless bicycling gloves for the past couple of years. They work well, and are relatively inexpensive.