Beginner Questions

[[old] peeb]

Hi,<br /><br />I am new to rowing - started in Jan and somehow I <br />unexpectedly (but pleasantly) caught rowing addiction. Something<br />I sense in quite a few people around here!<br /><br />Anyway I started reading the training forum a week or so ago and<br />realised I probably have zero technique and should try to<br />do something that looks more like rowing.<br />I have watched the animated demo for good style, and I have also found some <br />suggestions in different places -<br /><br />1. Do strapless rowing.<br />2. Set the damper to about 4 (not 10). <br />3. I found one mail that said to grip the handle with clawed fingers, not by<br /> wrapping your hands around the handle.<br /><br />But I found all these things in different places. Am I missing a <br />good place on the web page which has "all the stuff for beginners"?<br /><br />I have been trying strapless rowing for the past few days, and my 500m times<br />(for 5K) have plummeted from about 2.02 to about 2.10. It feels not good<br />and although I've seen the other discussions, I am still not sure<br />why it's helpful. Is it purely to stop you from dragging yourself<br />forward by your feet during the forward slide? I don't doubt it's<br />bad but why is that so bad? What's the most important thing I should be looking<br />to work on when strapless rowing? (Basically I'm not sure what I'm aiming for).<br /><br />I had a few other questions too, sorry if I'm repeating questions that were<br />asked a lot -<br /><br />1. When I am starting the pull-part of the stroke, I have experimented with <br />allowing just a little bit of give in my arms (arms straight, but releasing a bit <br />of length from the shoulder region) to make the start of the stroke as smooth<br />as possible as I take up the force. But I get my best time by keeping my arms <br />very rigid as I take up the force. So should I just take the latter approach? - but it feels<br />wrong to be tense in the muscles and rigid.<br /><br />2. Related to (1) should I start the stroke with straight arms and shoulders extended<br />forward, so that part of the pull is pulling my shoulders back?<br /><br />3. I somehow got into the habit of pushing up onto my toes at the very end<br />of the stroke. Don't know where that came from, and I haven't seen it mentioned.<br />So is keeping the feet flat on the footpads important or not?<br /><br />Thanks,<br />Paul.

[[old] H_2O]

The concept2 uk training guide is an excellent source of information:<br /><a href='http://www.concept2.co.uk/training/' target='_blank'>http://www.concept2.co.uk/training/</a><br /><br />Strapless rowing improves your posture on the rower.<br />At the end of the stroke you want to reverse the motion of the slide with the least amount of effort possible.<br />If you sit fairly upright and finish off the pull with your arms you can cancel the backward momentum and reverse to moving forward very smoothly.<br /><br />If you don't do this right and you are not strapped in you'll have problems getting to move forward again.<br /><br />Don't worry about being slower.<br />I do all my slower rowing strapless and all the faster rowing strapped in.

[[old] jamesg]

Peeb<br />The keys to good rowing are length and relaxation. We use so much muscle in rowing that it's the CV system that gives first, so never use any more nor any harder than is strictly necessary to maintain HR. Just those that actually shove and transmit to the handle.<br />If you go sculling, any extra tension can only tip you in, and you'll soon see the best way to stay out of the water is to relax completely.<br />Strapless on the erg helps in this (tho' on water I haven't tried, and don't much want to), and if you find a lot of difference between with and without, you could use it.