HOCR

Maybe hard to see in video, most notable when watching in person was change in shoulder height through drive, or "rowing over a barrel". Throwing the shoulders around shortens the catch a bit and makes the drive inefficient.

Another comment overheard was "lack of aggression".

The technique is pretty good and has been making strides all fall. Later video will look even better than this.

I would disagree with "lack of aggression", but perhaps agree with "lack of confidence in our fitness". Even so, this boat had a very intelligent piece, and didn't die later in the race. That consistency over the last half of the course put them in the top 50%. Maybe it was a surprise to us that we had such a strong 2nd half.

Consider the team's improvement right now to be "70-30". For us, 70% of getting faster is getting fitter, so that we have the confidence to be aggressive on the race course. The other 30% is improving our technique, but we have less distance we need to travel there before the rowing really becomes quite solid.

10/8

First and foremost, we're seeing the "accordion" effect with the oars. Timing is mostly a focus issue, so remember during drills you're also training your mental acuity.

Oar heights and handle heights are (quite literally) two ends of the same stick. Viewing from the stern, we should see essentially a straight, flat line from port blade-tip across to starboard blade-tip (though in reality oar shafts are not quite parallel to the water). Check in this video how some blade-tips are almost skimming the water, while others are at the correct height. Aim to standardize blade height off the water. Cox'ns, oar heights will reveal correct or incorrect handle paths on the recovery.



Again, accordion. Stern 4 actually doing OK job with handle heights. Check body swing. Stern pair is swinging from the hips, keeping core from collapsing. Toomey not swinging enough from hips. Kyle getting body angle and not slouching too badly, but at pause point, the core is scrunched and swing is mostly coming from upper back and stomach. Kyle needs to sit up so his abs aren't rolled, and swing more from the hips with good posture.

Also, a note on set. The boat is set when the gunwales are even, not just when all 8 oars are off the water. If the boat is leaning towards your rigger, you need to lift your hands to counterbalance the set, even if your oar is dragging water. Lowering your hands to keep your oar from dragging will make the lean worse.



Pretty good at the low rate. You can see v-splash at the catch. Not much hesitation and getting locked in pretty quickly (seeing bend in oars no later than 1/2 slide, much better than beginning of year). Bodies are set before the catch, squaring preparation is good, and rowers able to rotate out comfortably and just pick it off at the catch.



At the "higher" ratings, slide control on the recovery is a bit "inversed", and we are swinging the bodies over all the way to the catch. Bodies still need to be at half-slide. Swinging forward and extending the arms in the last half of the catch causes slow catches (you've got to spend time and energy stopping the body and going the other direction). Note much more hesitation in these two videos.



Figuring out the finish, arms and body away is a process. While we are finishing relaxed, and not snapping the hands out right after blade extraction, we are still accelerating the handle on the way out and starting to bring the bodies over a bit late. What happens as a result is the seat accelerating and then decelerating on the recovery rather than staying at a constant speed. This also makes our reach an uncomfortable stretch with the shoulders and arms rather than a relaxed rotation of a poised torso with loose shoulders and arms.

Can see the beginning of splitting to the rigger. Need to continue to move center of body out toward the gunwale at the catch. Part of it is comfort, part of it is flexibility.



Even though stern pair is blocking the view, still should be able to see part of the bodies from the middle 4 swinging out to the riggers.



Jordan is contrasted with two good examples of swing. Logan and Jacob are keeping their chests up and off their legs. Jordan is swinging and reaching, but letting the shoulders dive too far over and letting the mid-section collapse. Jordan needs to "sit tall", swinging and rotating from the hips. The abs should not crunch up as the body comes over.



Not sure if it's viewable with the poor video quality, but Jamie's inside wrist is actually bent down during legs only. You could do a pull up with your wrists bent backwards, but probably not very many. Correct oar grip is akin to hanging from a pull up bar, or how you would hold a heavy wheelbarrow.

Motion at the catch should be fluid (meaning no sudden movements, jerks or stops). Hands follow a "ski tip" up and around as the oar arcs outward. Blade placement happens at the end of the recovery, NOT after the drive initiates (but not before, either). Slides are smooth and decelerating into the catch, then accelerating out of the catch.

In Jordan, we see hands staying and low until the catch. Jordan lifts his hands quickly as he begins to drive. You can't see his oar, but it "chops" at the water, like an axe to wood. The upward motion needs to start before the catch so he can drive horizontally, and have water resistance to drive against.

On the other hand, don't wait to feel the oar hit the water before driving. Placement of the blade is not a response. It is a deliberate action perfectly timed so as not to create too much back splash while also not letting the blade drive while it's out of the water.

Except for a stroke here and there, we're not getting square early enough for a good catch (even on the 1/4 feather!) From 3/4 slide on the blade should be square, don't make the habit of flicking square in the 2 or 3 inches right before the catch.

Novice 9/18

FNF 9/18

Mike is "placing with the back" at the catch. Legs go down faster than Armando's because he doesn't have the body weight hanging behind the handle at the catch, so there is no resistance in the first part of the drive.

Armando has a small lunge into the catch, where the body dives and shoulders extend suddenly in the last few inches.

The 8 is moving along well. Good on both set and rhythm.

Be mindful of "rowing it in". Two things are causing this here: 1) Hands and arms are not loose enough to let the blades "drop in" at the catch; 2) bodies are swinging forward for the duration of the recovery -- body angle should "set" before the 2nd half of the slide. The body swinging forward and down at the catch makes it difficult for the hands to come up to place the blade.

Webb rowing well. Mark doing better at catch but can still work on getting the body in a strong position at the catch. Chuck and Butler not bad, but note that the hands are barely passing the knees before the knees come up. Need more patience with the legs on the recovery, reaching further out (but loosely) with the shoulders before letting the knees bend.

How did we get so lucky?

Jordan Lake Row 9/12

Tyler is doing a good job with the handle path. He can be more fluid and relaxed. Compare to Mike's handle path behind him-- a subtle difference but present.

Alex needs to work more on timing not just the catches and finishes, but the body throughout the stroke. This is a rhythm issue. However, the body is in a good position at the catch and through the drive. He can work on a stronger finish and not squaring before the catch.

Notice the extra movement of the other rowers' bodies in comparison to Armando's. Note how Armando's shoulders stay level the whole drive. The shoulders and arms do not "lift up" at the catch and "drop down" at the finish. There are no sudden dives, twists or jerks. He is not straining to "overreach". Note his catch, finish and recovery -- very much "conveyor belt-ish" but also incorporates the subtle changes to the handle path we've been working on. His catch and finish have almost imperceptible changes in handle height.

We are aiming for smooth fluidity and to cut out all the extra body movement.

Overall good relaxation and the rhythm is not bad-- just need to continue to work on body positioning, handle height and length.

Finer points yet to come are clean finishes, square timing and catching at full reach.

Lastly, we need to develop the fitness and power to move the boat farther on each stroke. It may look a bit sloppy and weak because, though we will eventually, right now we don't have the erg scores or strength to really leverage the boat along during steady state.

Pair not going straight? Catch and finish timing is important, but so is where you are in the drive relative to your partner. This is not good footage until the end of the video, where you can pause at different points to see the mismatch, especially around the finish. Mike has arms bent well before Armando. Changing to match your power application to that of your partners will make the boat move better and help correct steering issues.

Alex is rowing well with pretty good length. Very close to proper body sequence -- using legs at catch and delaying opening of back. Chris, Mike and Mark all using the back too early (pause video to see).

Alex is leaning slightly away from rigger at finish (again, pause to see). If you feel "pinned" at finish and half to lean away to extract blade, move your foot stretchers towards the bow a few notches. This will give you more clearance, but might decrease your length at the catch.

Armando and Lang getting good reach, though Lang dipping outside shoulder @ catch and release. Hewett is getting good reach, but could follow the handle more with the torso. Also, is slow in getting the legs down in comparison to stroke.

Gardner has level shoulders, but cuts swing off to early and rows without rotation towards the rigger.

Logan example of some good rowing. Very level, catches quickly, finishes cleanly.

Logan can get a better stroke by adding some rotation in the 2nd half of the recovery and relaxing the arms, esp. inside elbow.

Note how level hands remain at coming in and out of the finish. Not pushing hands down as he brings the oar out of the water and slides the hands away from the body.

Ulirsch also rowing well, but with more length because of more rotation at the catch. Note also a more relaxed inside arm/shoulder. Still quick at the catch, squaring early and finishing cleanly, but is slightly using the back at the catch to place the oar.

Contrast with Preston, who is getting more length but doesn't have as good a connection between legs, body and oar, and Jordan who could use more body angle and better posture at the catch. Jordan is also swinging the back too early in the stroke.

As usual, pause the video at various points in the stroke to see this more clearly.

Ulirsch is good example of level shoulders throughout the drive. He could gain more body angle, but has good reach with the arms. Overall, disrupting very little, getting connected and staying connected through the whole stroke.

At 30" into the clip, view the differences between Ulirsch's arm reach and Butler's. Butler's hands remain very low and close to his ankles. Ulirsch has the arms extended but loose, oar loose in the fingertips, the path is flat and he is reaching out but without diving.

Pause the video at several points in the stroke to see this. Catch, drive, finish, mid- and late-recovery.

Check the matching of the blades during the recovery. Looking for small differences in blade height from the water and amount of feather. Pause video at various points in the recovery to see this clearly.

Also check at the catch for backsplash. Looking for a bit of "v" splash as blades enter. Pause video at catch to see presence or lack of back splash. Alternatively, we don't want lots of back splash, indicating that we are slow into the water and are checking the boat.

Cox'ns: You should avoid leaning into a turn. The lean doesn't turn the boat any quicker, but will significantly alter the set. Sit even over the keel and allow the rowers to adjust the set for the turn.

Check body swing matching throughout the stroke. Mike/Armando getting long reach and engaging legs first. Taylor getting good reach but using back to early. Gardner not reaching as much but keeping shoulders level. Also using back too early. Pause the video at several points during the drive to see the difference in angles.

Mark gets good body angle at the pause point but lets the hips slide under the shoulders as he compresses to the catch. As a result, he lacks body angle at the catch and opens the back right away on the drive. Pause the video to see this difference between him and Alex.