Concept2 Forum

Does it ever leave the footboard? Look at Waddell here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=d0JOq0HCBAs
His heel barely moves!
Now we all know Waddell is probably the fastest man on the erg today, and I felt really stupid when I realized my technique was as different from the man as I am.
Is it just the angle? How are your heels?

I think it's a matter of how flexible you are. In my opinion, you're probably more efficient if you don't lift the heel up. You'll have a more steady platform to push from at the catch if your foot is resting flat.

If your heels rise way up so you can reach further forward, you may want to drop the footboard a little.

In Xeno's technique DVD, he says the heel stays flat at 3/4 slide, but comes up at full slide. Xeno might not be as fast as Waddell these days, but he may be prettier.

So I agree it is probably a matter of flexibility. Your footbed setting can also affect this though. I think the higher your feet (more holes showing), the more you would have to flex at the ankle, although I would compress less then, so I don't if feet higher or feet lower would end up with more heel lift.

There's a video of Waddell at crashb's, and his heels definitely came up at the catch.

fvnout wrote:Does it ever leave the footboard? Look at Waddell here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=d0JOq0HCBAs
His heel barely moves!
Now we all know Waddell is probably the fastest man on the erg today, and I felt really stupid when I realized my technique was as different from the man as I am.
Is it just the angle? How are your heels?

His heels have raised in the past as John mentions, but he's faster now, so perhaps he has gained the required flexibility to keep them down.

Do not sacrifice compression to keep the heels down, but continue to work on ankle flexibility so that vertical shins can be reached with the heels down. You may or may not ever get there, but it will benefit you to try.

PaulS wrote:

fvnout wrote:Does it ever leave the footboard? Look at Waddell here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=d0JOq0HCBAs
His heel barely moves!
Now we all know Waddell is probably the fastest man on the erg today, and I felt really stupid when I realized my technique was as different from the man as I am.
Is it just the angle? How are your heels?

His heels have raised in the past as John mentions, but he's faster now, so perhaps he has gained the required flexibility to keep them down.

Do not sacrifice compression to keep the heels down, but continue to work on ankle flexibility so that vertical shins can be reached with the heels down. You may or may not ever get there, but it will benefit you to try.

Hi Paul,

I can't tell for sure. Is Waddell getting his shins to vertical in the video linked by fvnout?

Byron

Byron Drachman wrote:

PaulS wrote:

fvnout wrote:Does it ever leave the footboard? Look at Waddell here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=d0JOq0HCBAs
His heel barely moves!
Now we all know Waddell is probably the fastest man on the erg today, and I felt really stupid when I realized my technique was as different from the man as I am.
Is it just the angle? How are your heels?

His heels have raised in the past as John mentions, but he's faster now, so perhaps he has gained the required flexibility to keep them down.

Do not sacrifice compression to keep the heels down, but continue to work on ankle flexibility so that vertical shins can be reached with the heels down. You may or may not ever get there, but it will benefit you to try.

Hi Paul,

I can't tell for sure. Is Waddell getting his shins to vertical in the video linked by fvnout?

Byron

As close as he needs to be to have plenty of reach. It helps to be 6'8".

This is a great thread. Thanks very much.

I've watched that Xeno DVD probably 150-200 times (I use it for my warm up almost every piece). So it's become second nature for me to lift my heels at the catch.

Lately, though, I've also been working with Paul. And he's had me row strapless as often as possible. When I do that, my heels tend to remain (relatively) flush against the footboard. As I get the hang of it (inadvertant pun, sorry) my splits hover around 1:55 (62% of 2K watts) -- with minimal effort. This way of rowing is helping me considerably.

So, I guess I'm growing ambivalent. Either technique can work well.

working on ankle stretches; I can barely get to 3/4 slide with my heel flat!

I watched the Xeno DVD again and then rowed a few minutes to check my heel at the catch. It did feel comfortable for me to lift my heel. And I think I was wrong about it remaining completely flat while rowing strapless. Even without straps, it still felt natural to lift my heel between 3/4 and full slide.

I remember about 3 years ago a coach telling me to not lift my heels at all, which seemed impossible. After a few weeks of focusing, I made a big improvement. I would agree that it is natural to lift the heels at the end of the slide. Since i'm 6'3'', I get my hands just past the handle holder (can't remember the correct term), before my heels come up. I would think the key is to yield to flexibility, versus the desire to push off on the balls of your feet.
As a final note, after a couple months of focusing on keeping my heels down, i made a great deal of improvement to my times.

fvnout wrote:working on ankle stretches; I can barely get to 3/4 slide with my heel flat!

Try a drill where you row just the first six inches. Then slide back to the catch and do it again. I use the drill almost every row to develop a quicker catch. But the "off-label" benefit will be to stretch your lower calf muscles.

sentinal93 wrote:I remember about 3 years ago a coach telling me to not lift my heels at all, which seemed impossible. After a few weeks of focusing, I made a big improvement. I would agree that it is natural to lift the heels at the end of the slide. Since i'm 6'3'', I get my hands just past the handle holder (can't remember the correct term), before my heels come up. I would think the key is to yield to flexibility, versus the desire to push off on the balls of your feet.
As a final note, after a couple months of focusing on keeping my heels down, i made a great deal of improvement to my times.

Sounds like you have a wise coach!

Slightly different twist on your signature line:
"Pain is inevitable, embrace it; or suffer."

http://www.quistmedia.dk/roklub/crash-b ... 2007.html

here's a guy far shorter than Rob. His heel moves a tiny bit.
It makes sense.
When the entire foot is connected, their should be more power.
It's not like we do leg presses on our toes, why erg on them?

If only it were easy...

I have almost zero ankle flexibility due to who knows what (bone structure? tight ligaments?) I have very high arches on my feet. This is actually a severe problem for me for snowboarding, as I cannot get my center of gravity over the board. It probably also contributes to my shin splints.

I've had several MDs take a look at the problem and they think it is structural too.


I stretch against a wall prior to every work out, but I guess I am fated to always have my heels very far up.

The good news is that I do have very strong calves.