OTW anomalies

jbell · Post by **jbell** » November 24th, 2006, 11:54 pm

There are two things that since I have started crew that I have been taught a couple different ways.
1: Fast hands away vs. with the speed of the boat- When I went to camp, we were told to have hands come away the same speed as the boat, and as we brought the pressure up, it would increase the boat speed, and thus increase the hands away speed. My coach tells us to always get the hands away fast because if we get them out quicker, it is easier to balance.
2: gradual square up vs. quick square up: Again, when I went to a crew camp over the summer, we were told to square up quickly towards to catch because if we start to square up halfway through the stroke and it happens to lean to one side, it will slow us down more. He said the best place to start is about 3/4 up the slide. Our coach tells us to do gradual square up as it allows us to get a quicker catch, thus less hang at the catch.

Byron Drachman · Post by **Byron Drachman** » November 25th, 2006, 6:55 pm

I've been told that the hands should come out from the bow at about the same speed they came into the bow. I've also been told that you should start the gradual roll up when the hands are over the ankles, and if you do a flip-catch it makes it too hard to get a clean entry into the water. One coach said to start the feathering when the seat starts to move, which is pretty close to the hands over the ankles for me. When I was learning sweep rowing, the coach said to start the roll up as the hands pass over the knees. For me, when sculling things work best if the blades are already squared just a tad before I let them drop into the water. That way, I can concentrate on feeling the oars and when the blades have found the correct height and are locked into the water. In other words, I'm less likely to take a bad stroke that way. If I'm going into a strong headwind I'll get closer to a flip-catch.

Byron

bw1099 · Post by **bw1099** » November 25th, 2006, 8:34 pm

I've always been told to square the blades slowly - starting when the hands are over the ankles.

jbell · Post by **jbell** » November 25th, 2006, 11:35 pm

Yea, I guess I should clarify this: this is for sweep rowing. My outside hand was just over the person in front of me's track when I started to square during camp. It was a change for me as I was used to a gradual square up.

citiusaltiusfortius9 · Post by **citiusaltiusfortius9** » November 27th, 2006, 10:12 am

My coach is big on squaring up early, often having us squre up at the knees for a drill. In regular rowing I am squared up by the ankles with a pretty quick squre up.
I find people who squre up too late sky their blades at the catch and as a result miss water. If you wait till near the end you don't have a lot of room/time to square the blades and so you push the hands down raising the blade and dive forward a little bit to square. I think an early square up (start at the knees) is important to a good catch... if you can master the flip-catch go for it- that's something I can't do for the life of me.
-sara-

Afterburner · Post by **Afterburner** » November 29th, 2006, 3:21 pm

The hands away is a function of boat speed to a great extent. Too fast and you slow down the boat, to slow and you get stuck. Personally I'm a fan of the same speed in and out of bow rule of thumb.
As to the roll up, that's largely a matter of style. Some people think flip-catching is the way to go, some believe in early roll-up. The problem with flip-catching is that when you get up to the higher ratings you're more likely to end up catching a crab due to your oar entering the water less than fully squared. The other problem, and this is mostly a problem with less technically strong rowers, is that flip-catching has a tendency to encourage dipping the hands at the catch.
For myself, I go off the rule of start the roll-up when the hands reach the knees, finish it when the hands are around the ankles. This is what I teach, altho when I row I just make sure that the blade is squared by the time my hands reach the wing rigger on my boat. I don't worry so much about when I start the roll-up, that's something I tend to vary depending on conditions, I start later in a headwind, earlier in a tail.
Earlier roll-up tends to help people get a clean catch without missing water, that's a large part of why many coaches tend to teach that way.

Heather