Drag

rookierower · Post by **rookierower** » July 11th, 2007, 8:45 am

Just curious - what drag "setting" is used on a rowing machine in official competitions (i.e. 5, 6, 10)?

Also, for a competition/race on a machine, does the time start from the first pull (from a dead start)?

Thanks

rookierower · Post by **rookierower** » July 11th, 2007, 8:52 am

I think I meant DAMPER SETTING for the previous question....

Alissa · Post by **Alissa** » July 11th, 2007, 9:50 am

Just curious - what drag "setting" is used on a rowing machine in official competitions (i.e. 5, 6, 10)?

You can use any damper & drag you like. Here's the Q&A from the Indoor Racing FAQs:

What are the rules regarding the setting of the damper on the Indoor Rower? The damper setting is totally up to each competitor. Most all of the races do have a rule, however, that the damper setting cannot be changed once the race has begun.

Drag, of course, is a function of the particular machine, its condition and the environment in which it finds itself. One of the things you'll want to do during your warm-up is check the drag on the machine you'll be racing on and then adjust the damper to get the drag you want for your race.

Also, for a competition/race on a machine, does the time start from the first pull (from a dead start)?

Actually, a race which is run using the venue racing software starts all competitors at the same time. Rowers view monitors which say "Sit ready", then "attention", then "ROW." In order to avoid losing time, you'll want to start as soon as you can after it says "ROW", but if you start before the software signals 'ROW', the software will "false start" you. You can find info on the Venue Racing Software here.

HTH,

Alissa

coggs · Post by **coggs** » July 11th, 2007, 8:41 pm

Since there is no mandated drag setting you will see a range of setting at 2K competitions. Not likely anybody is going to be overly successful at the minimal setting but I saw a surprising number of rowers at CRASH B with pretty high settings. My guess however is the average was in the range of 120-135 (damper between 4 and 5.5).