Rowing:

Rowing:

A Grade 11 Culminating Activity

Skill #3: Balance

How to Recover From Flipping a Boat

What does rowing look like?

Now that we have learned how to move in a boat and control an oar properly it is time to address a very important skill: balance. Without balance in a boat a rower will not be able to enjoy rowing. It is important to have excellent core strength to help support yourself in a boat and balance. But, sometimes balance is not possible because of water conditions, catching a crab or hitting a bad wave. If you flip it is important that you know how to get back into a boat and or be safe during and after a flip.

Drill #1: Standing Up In the Boat

Skill #2: Oar Technique

Drill #1: The Tap Drill

Drill #1 Continued

This drill can look very simple but is very hard. It is designed to get a rower into the habit of tapping down with there hands to there lap after every drive. The tapping down of the oar handles is in between the drive and recovery of a stroke. This allows the oars to come out of the water so the boat will move without any obstructions and the rower can recover without the oars hitting the water.

This drill can be done with one tap down then the recovery, ten taps, or any other variation.

This video shows what the tap drill looks like.

Remember to always have the oars off the water during the recovery, if the oars drag on the water during the recovery phase it will slow down the boat and could cause the boat to veer off course.

Now that we have learned how to move our body properly while rowing we must learn how to move our oars properly in the water.

It is suggested to start learning how to move an oar in water by performing dock side rowing. This is when a crew puts a boat in the water beside the dock and then half the crew holds the boat in place while the other half rows. This is good for beginners because the chances of flipping are smaller and coaches can be right beside the rower which allows them to see what the rower is doing better.

It is also important to know that when you flip to watch out for your oars when you enter the water because they could hit you.

Also, the boat is a natural floating device so if a rower ever needs an object to grab a hold of after a flip the boat is an excellent place.

Finally, if the water is cold make sure that you do not have hypothermia as this is common during the colder months of the rowing season. Remember, safety first.

One reason why many people flip their boat is because they are nervous while in the boat. Most of the time it is the fear of flipping that causes people to flip. To get a rower comfortable with the shakiness of a boat coaches make rowers do the stand drill.

How to Perform: The rower will grab both of there oars with one hand and use the free hand to reach behind and balance themselves. Then, they will push up with there balance hand and slowly move there feet to the hard platform in the boat. While still holding onto there oars with one hand they will slowly stand up fully vertical in the boat. Once the rower no longer feels anxious standing up the drill is over, or if they flip.

Why Learn How to Use An Oar?

Learning to properly control an oar is important because even though you may have great technique and power, if you cannot use an oar properly it can slow you down, hurt you, and even cause you to flip your boat. This can happen by a rower catching a "crab". This is when an oar gets caught in the water and a rower loses control of it.

Drill #1 Continued

Watch the rower in the back of the boat to see what a crab looks like in this video.

Drill #2: Learning How to Square and Feather An Oar

Drill #2 Continued

To properly row the oar must change positions from squared to feather.

Squared means the oar is at a position where it can push the most amount of water. This position is when the oar is perpendicular to the water (90 degrees).

Feathered means the oar is flat against the water or parallel to it. This position is used for many different scenarios like moving the blade to get into position for another stroke, when resting the oar should be in this position, or when the boat becomes unstable a feathered oar will give more surface area to the boat which will help with balance.

A drill that is useful when first getting into a boat before a training session begins is the twist drill. This is when a rower twists there hand(s) to get a feeling of how much they must twist there hand(s) to get the oar from squared to feathered. To do this a rower must know how to hold the oar properly. The oar should be held in the fingers, not the palm. This allows more control and power because the wrists will not move during a stroke.

Drill #2: Stationary to Catch Drill

Here is an example of the stationary to catch drill.

Feathered Oar

Squared Oar

What is rowing?

The images above demonstrate how to hold the oar properly and how to perform the twist drill. This drill is perfect for warming up and getting used to moving your hands before you must twist your hands while actually rowing.

• Rowing is one of the original sports in the modern Olympic games.
• Rowing is the only sport where competitors cross the finish line backwards.
• There are two types of rowing: sweeping and sculling.
• Sculling requires one oar in each hand.
• Sweeping requires two hands on one oar.

Drill #3 Continued

Drill #3: Rowing on the Square

These photos show how the twist drill is important to do before taking a real stroke.

This drill benefits a rower in many ways. Once the rower successfully completes this drill they will usually be calmer while rowing since flipping does not seem like such a bad thing anymore. The rower will row with more confidence and balance will be better since they are allowed to sit down again after the drill is over.

Drill #1: Steady State Rowing

One of the hardest times to balance when rowing is when the boat is stationary (not moving) and the rower tries to go from the recovery and then drive. This is difficult to balance because the oars are off the water during the recovery stage which causes the boat to have less surface area.

To improve overall balance try this drill: The rower should start at the finish (at the end of the drive). The rower takes there oars out of the water. Then, slowly and controlled they move up the rails of the boat in the recovery phase and dip there oars into the water at the end of the recovery. They can then take a stroke and repeat.

This drill challenges the rowers core muscles and overall balance.

Some common mistakes are going too fast, not caring about technique which develops bad habits and of course flipping.

This drill is designed to allow the rower to get accustomed to how far they must tap down on the oar when they are done the drive portion of there stroke. Again, this is important because if an oar touches the water during the recovery phase it slows down the boat and can even flip it.

The drill is performed by a person starting to row normally on the drive, perfect form and oar square while in the water but then when entering the recovery phase the rower does not twist there hand to feather the blade.

This forces the rower to recover while the oar is still squared. If the rower does not tap down enough the oar will hit the water, but if they do tap down enough the rower should not see a difference from a regular stroke. This exercise is great for developing confidence with an oar and also helps a rower with correct technique with both there body and oar movement.

In this drill you will begin to learn how to row. Steady state rowing means you will row with timing and in a rhythm.

In this drill: you will row with a steady pace and full stroke for a certain distance or time. The preferred rhythm is counted 1 when you push off the foot board as you drive and then you will count three steam boats on the recovery. This drill is used to get a person used to a rowing stroke, correct any bad form before they get used to it and builds up stamina for harder training sessions. You can do this drill for as long as you want. Also, when starting to learn how to row always begin on a rowing machine until you have the stroke technique down, then get into a boat.

Skill #1: Body Technique

Here is an example of the rowing on the square drill.

Watch as the oar is never in the feathered position and the rowers are concentrating on technique, not power.

Drill #1 Continued

Drill #3: The Pause Drill

You will continue to do this movement in constant and consistent timing.

Remember to keep you back straight at all times. If you bend your back while in a stroke it can lead to injury.

Keep your head straight and always look ahead to avoid bending your back.

Always fully extend your legs before extending your back and pulling with your hands.

Bend at the hips when your in the recovery stage, then bend your knees after your hands have passed your knees while recovering.

Remember to keep your head up and to not look at your oar during the drill.

Finally

Bibliography

Drill #3 Continued

This drill is designed to work on moving your body the right way to get maximum power out of each stroke. Many times rowers will do more work than needed because they lack in form. If a rower has good body movement they can increase there power and how far there boat goes tremendously.

The drill is performed by: a rower taking a stroke but on the recovery portion of the stroke they pause at a certain point to concentrate on moving properly. This is a good exercise to do if a rower is lacking in technique in a certain area of the stroke. For example, this drill can be done to help a rower move there arms and hips forward before they bend there legs during the recovery.

Drill #3: Hand Positions For Balance

There are two phases to a stroke in rowing, the drive and the recovery. You start the drive phase in the catch position (knees fully bent and forward) and end the drive phase when you have fully extended your legs, back and pulled with your arms. After that you are in the recovery phase.

I hope you have learned plenty about how to row.

If you decide to pursue rowing please watch the safety and guidelines video that is available at your local rowing club and get lessons from a certified coach as well.

The first thing a rower should try to do when feeling unbalanced in a boat is to make there hands even or level. Most rowers learn to even put there hands against each to balance the boat. When a rowers hands are put together it balances the boat because the oars are evenly distributing the weight of the boat. A good drill to learn how distributing weight effects a row boat is the "displacement drill" or the "balance drill".

To perform this drill: The rower should stop the boat and wait until it is fully stationary. The rower will let go of there oars and balance themselves. Then, the rower will grab the oarlock (metal piece attached to boat that holds the oar in place). When this happens the boat will start tilting to one side, to counteract this motion the rower will have to carefully lean to the other side and grab the other oarlock. The rower will keep doing this until a coach tells them to stop or they flipped.

Drill #3 Continued

Drill #2: The Pyramid Drill

Drill #2 Continued

This is an example of the balance drill.

Some common mistakes are overreacting to the boat tilting to one side.

Remember to stay calm and focus on balancing, do not worry about the water.

Drill #2 Continued

Start Position and the position you will always finish with

This is the position you will be in when you do arms only and when you bend your hip. The only difference with arms only is you don't extend your back.

This drill is designed to show the rower the different strokes that can be used during a race or during training. This drill also lets the rower get comfortable with the different kinds of strokes and teaches control with power, how far you take your recovery to, and builds leg strength by slowing you done.

The drill is performed by: taking 10 strokes with your arms only, then taking 10 strokes with only a bend in your hips and pulling with your arms. Then take 10 strokes in half stroke, this means you will only bend your knees to a 90 degree angle then push off into a regular stroke. Then you will take 10 full length strokes. This must be done without stopping in between strokes and once your are done the 10 full strokes you must go back down the pyramid scheme. This drill can be done as a warmup exercise, if you are new to the sport, or if form is lacking.

A common mistake while performing this drill is focusing more on the speed of the boat or machine and not enough on technique. This drill emphasizes on technique and teaches the proper way to move in a boat. This drill is important to do on a rowing machine before attempting to go in a boat because a rower can focus on pushing with there legs before engaging other muscles and also helps with focusing on what you are doing since the movements change every ten strokes.

Make sure that every stroke has at least close to the same tempo of other strokes. Most new rowers tend to quicken there pace of strokes while rowing but don't realize that each stroke has a certain length that it can travel and if the stroke rate increases the length of how far each stroke will carry the boat decreases which causes more work to be done. There is a certain pace a rower must keep to be doing productive work and it depends on many factors like height and strength. Many elite rowers still have trouble with keeping a good, steady, and productive pace.

This is half slide position. From here you will push from your feet and extend your body in a powerful motion.

This is "full catch" or full stroke.

This is how to perform the drill properly.

A common mistake performed during the drill is forgetting about the other forms of technique that are not being focused on.

Remember, rowers must still pay attention to the whole stroke while performing this drill, the drill won't be productive if a rower starts to lack in a different area of there stroke because of the drill.