Gloves for grip?

[pagomichaelh]

This will likely sort itself out in time, but (as a beginner rower) by the time I've gotten into one of the boats, everything has been immersed a number of times by the other beginners, so my hands slip on the handles.

Will gloves improve the grip enough to bother with? My hands are pretty heavily calloused, so blisters aren't a thing, only the lack of grip.

[Cyclist2]

Personally, I need the feel of the oar when I'm on the water. so I don't use gloves. I use gloves on the erg, but the feathering and catch need a finer feel. My recommendation is to make sure the handle grips are clean. If they are not, they get slippery with skin oils. Water shouldn't make them slippery. You can get knurled (textured) grips if that is an option.

I suspect, being a new rower, you are gripping the handle too tightly. It should be pretty light, with only the feathering motions needing some "friction" and even that doesn't require gripping hard. If you watch videos of races, you'll see the rowers dipping their hands into the water before a race, and Hamish Bond (Kiwi Pair) even does it during races and training; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvUIABS ... nel=JesseC.

[Tsnor]

Bring a towel. No joke. It's not just the previous rower... wind plus the someone taking their oar out wrong can get a splash on your oar handle makes it hard to feather.

The plastics are worse (for me) than wood handles when wet. Others claim the opposite.

Grabbing the handle tighter when the oar handle is slippery is a problem... you just get tired and end up with your shoulder too tight (tight hands --> tight shoulder) so your release is bad.

A small towel you can use on the handle fixes things. Their are usually one or two people in our boats with a towel. Next water break in the workout you can dry your handle and are set.

Recomend against gloves. It's not worth the grief you'll get from other rowers.

[pagomichaelh]

Bring a towel. No joke. It's not just the previous rower... wind plus the someone taking their oar out wrong can get a splash on your oar handle makes it hard to feather.

The plastics are worse (for me) than wood handles when wet. Others claim the opposite.

Grabbing the handle tighter when the oar handle is slippery is a problem... you just get tired and end up with your shoulder too tight (tight hands --> tight shoulder) so your release is bad.

A small towel you can use on the handle fixes things. Their are usually one or two people in our boats with a towel. Next water break in the workout you can dry your handle and are set.

Recomend against gloves. It's not worth the grief you'll get from other rowers.

I'm going to give that a shot next week. Not going for impromptu swims , as well as assimilating technique, helped a lot yesterday.

[rickbayko]

let me second Cyclist2's observation about dipping your hands in the water. My crew captain suggested it, and then while watching a youtube video of Olympic Champion Mahe Drysdale getting ready to start the Head of the Charles Regatta he dipped his handle & hand into the water, first on one side then the other. I've tried it myself and found it to work, especially on humid days when my hands get more sweaty than normal. It seems that our hands produce some amount of oiliness that dipping in water rinses away.

[Mrmouse]

As a beginner rower, I’ve had the same issue with slippery handles. Gloves can definitely help, especially those made for water sports since they have textured grips that work even when everything gets soaked. I’ve tried a few pairs, and the key is to find ones that fit snugly without bunching up, so you keep control over the oar. It’s worth giving them a shot if the slipping is getting in the way of your technique!