slides?

[johnlvs2run]

PaulF,

Based on your low rigid stroke rate, I'm amazed you are finding even a 1 second difference.

Of course a person's body mechanics don't magically change on the slides. When you row at the same meters per stroke and keep your stroke rate the same, your time and pace are also going to be exactly the same.

For example, I keep around the same meters per stroke, have found the slides to be from 1.5 to 3 seconds faster per 500 meters, and have found these same results every time that I've used them.

This is done by paying attention to the simple matter of mathematics and proportions. By keeping the same meters per stroke, this comes out to around 1/2 a beat higher stroke rate for every 2 second decrease in the pace.

[mpukita]

I use slides a lot with my erg. I find that the motion is more similar to that of a boat and the motion is easier on my back. I can increase my erg scores by 1 second over 500 meters by using the slides. It doesn't matter if it is 500m or a marathon. However, I have not heard of any other person having a similar increase in erg performance. It probably has something to do with a quirk in my stroke.

Cheers,

Paul Flack

Paul:

Are you saying that you see a 1 second difference on 500M pace regardless of distance between 500M and a marathon? If so, that's astounding. Might this mean that with some stroke modifications, you could go much faster off slides? Just a thought.

-- Mark

[canoeist]

Mark,

To answer your question, yes, I see 1 second difference in pace when going at my maximum ability. This has puzzled me for some time and is part of the reason that I took up outdoor rowing. My hope was that the coaching associated with the outdoor rowing would improve my indoor stroke. So far, the outdoor rowing has changed my stroke, but not for the the good of my erg time. (Poor performance can also be due to other factors such as getting old, stress, lack of sleep, etc.) Hopefully, by the time of the indoor rowing test, I will have the most efficient stroke figured out.

Cheers,

Paul Flack

[canoeist]

PaulF,

Based on your low rigid stroke rate, I'm amazed you are finding even a 1 second difference.

Of course a person's body mechanics don't magically change on the slides. When you row at the same meters per stroke and keep your stroke rate the same, your time and pace are also going to be exactly the same.

For example, I keep around the same meters per stroke, have found the slides to be from 1.5 to 3 seconds faster per 500 meters, and have found these same results every time that I've used them.

This is done by paying attention to the simple matter of mathematics and proportions. By keeping the same meters per stroke, this comes out to around 1/2 a beat higher stroke rate for every 2 second decrease in the pace.

John,

I don't recall mentioning stroke rate in my post. On my maximal efforts, I usually let the stroke rate vary to what feels best. The rate normally varies over the piece.

I certainly don't try to maintain a 10 mps during a test for a best score. Of course maintaining 10 mps and the same stroke rate would produce identical scores. But, I let both of these variable fluctuate.

A few times, I tried maintaining the same stroke rate both with and without the slides in order to eliminate the spm variable. I still found better performance on the slides. If I recall corectly, my stroke rate was either 28 or 30 spm. I wouldn't consider this to be a "low ridgid stroke rate."

Regards,

Paul Flack