1x Self-training

[mrpeepers]

So. I've been doing a lot of erg work to get myself ready for the spring/summer season, and I have taken a 1x out a few times this year to get reacquainted with it. (I'm a recovering sweep oarsmen.) I can't afford lessons, but I can afford to spend the time rowing. I'm proficient in keeping the boat upright (mostly and moving the boat, but it's not even close to efficient. I wanted to run some of these by the community to see what I can do.

1. Balance. My blades drag across the water on the recovery, and when I try to lower my hands, the boat leans to one side (rather disconcerting in a 1x). As a result, my catches and finishes aren't clean. I have tried doing some square blades rowing (see http://www.oeffner.net/sculling.htm), but that suffers from the same problem as before, and it always inevitably puts me a potential crab situation about 5 or 10 minutes in.
a. What sort of drills would help with this?
b. Is square blade rowing actually helpful?
c. How quickly should I expect to see improvement?

2. Release. At the finish, I can't quite get the "plop" I think I'm supposed to get. If I don't go fast around the finish, i get caught, and if I go fast, I feel like I'm washing out. Are there other drills that might be helpful here?

3. Symmetry. I can't tell whether one of my legs is shorter than the other by about 1 cm, or whether the legs extend by different amounts (it shows up clearly on the erg). It was never a problem in sweep because of the body's natural tendency to load one side versus another, but now that I'm in the 1x, it is a problem. Ideas?

4. Looming inconsistently. I find that when it gets windy, I loom more inconsistently, depending on which way the boat is pointing. Is this normal?

5. Turning head. At which end of the stroke am I supposed to turn my head?

That's enough discussion fodder for now.

-mp

[gregsmith01748]

Hi, I only have one season on the water, so I might be the best person to listen to. Despite this, I will venture an opinion. Just take it with a grain of salt.

Balance:
- I was rowing with training wheels (dragging my blades on recovery) a lot in the 1x. One thing that I tried to do was to practice press down for a short set of strokes. I usually tried to do 10 strokes, and then I would coast at the finish, take some time to look over my shoulder and take of inventory of how I was doing (shoulders relaxed, smooth acceleration from the catch). I found that when I tried to do short bursts of "perfect strokes" I could keep everything together better.
- Square blade rowing. I know Marlene Royle (of "Tip of the Blade" fame) is a huge fan of square blade rowing. I really struggled to put together, even a string of 10 strokes without it all falling apart on me. I'm going to keep working on it this season, even though it's hard for me.
- Pure balance. I tried this once, last season and I think I will do it again. Start with the boat at a dead stop and blades flat on the water. Then turn the blades square in the water and press down the handles and try to balance. When you start to tip, dip your blades to get stable and try again. See how long you can balance at a dead stop.

Release: I really don't have any suggestions here. I am working on trying to accelerate through the stroke. My issue was that I hitting the catch way too hard, and sometimes not completely squaring my blades. This season I am trying to start the stroke more slowly and really push through the body and arms to the finish. Again, Tip of the blade has some great finish drills.

Symmetry: I would investigate an insert in the shoe to see if it makes a difference.

Looming: I don't even know what that means

Turning head: The books that I have read recommend turning every fifth stroke or so, during the drive, when the boat is stabilized by your oars really planted in the water. I have not mastered this yet, and I have trouble maintaining the set of the boat trying to do this. I usually end up looking during the recovery and dragging my blades to maintain my set when I do.

[Byron Drachman]

Disclaimer: I am not a coach nor an expert so take anything I say with a grain of salt.

I found using a point of view video camera (Google on POV camera) attached at the stern and watching the video later helpful. A wide angle waterproof camera would be nice. Contour with a waterproof case and GoPro work well but are expensive. I was doing all sorts of quirky things I didn't know I was doing and didn't realize until I watched the video. I was doing a lean to starboard at the finish, and was also lowering the right hand at the finish and not keeping it level with the other hand. The point is that through the video I found out that what I was doing and what I thought I was doing were not the same. My opinion is that actual coaching is best but this helps with some of the obvious problems.

I think square blade rowing is a good balance drill. I know some coaches don't like square blade rowing drills. In one of his videos Xeno Muller suggests taking some strokes with the blade squared on one side and feathering on the other side, then switch sides. It sounds hard to do but in actual practice I think it is easier than rowing with blades squared on both sides. As the hands approach the ribs, I think which hand is going to do a finger roll and which does nothing.

At the release, let me pass along a tip I got from a local coach. If you concentrate on keeping your hands high enough as you go to the finish, then you get a better tap-down at the finish and it is easier to keep the blades off the water during the recovery. If you let the hands lower a little before you finish then it is harder to do a good tap-down. I also try to visualize the hands moving along a shallow dish shaped path during the recovery. Fairbairn refers to skimming the blades on the water as slobbering on the feather.

Head turning: I use a mirror attached to my glasses so with a slight turn of the head I see the river and I see the water in front of the bow. Some cycling mirrors are not large enough. I use a Take-a-Look cycling mirror, which is larger than a usual cycling mirror. There is a resistance to mirrors among some scullers because of the nerd factor.

Added later: You can attach a small bubble level and see if you are listing to one side or another.

[Nosmo]

what I was doing and what I thought I was doing were not the same.

This will be true for many years, if not forever. A coach or video is critical. You can have someone from the shore video you as a last resort.

Don't push the square blades too much, and don't worry too much about dragging your oars. When you get your catches and releases smooth and together your balance will improve. If you want to do square blades, try them half squared--when they hit water they won't catch.

[mikvan52]

peeps...

You say you can't afford coaching fees...
An alternative is to row with those more experienced than you. For most of us this means on;y now and then (scheduling conflicts) ... But... It's important to do it for several reasons:
1: Eyes out side the boat can diagnose better what is going on with your rowing
2: Safety
3: Motivation
4: The rule of "the advancing bow ball"... That is, you will find ways to make your boat move faster by natural competitive urges

[mrpeepers]

These are all great suggestions. I will try them. I did the half-feather drill a bit today, and it went a lot better than the square blade drill did.

[mrpeepers]

Next question: are there any good resources that say where to release the stroke? I can't figure out biomechanically where I should be releasing.

BTW, the half-feathering is going really well.

-mp

[Byron Drachman]

Next question: are there any good resources that say where to release the stroke? I can't figure out biomechanically where I should be releasing.

BTW, the half-feathering is going really well.

-mp

If you feed your data into the chart by Kleshnev, you can see what your recommended finish angle is.

http://www.biorow.com/RigChart.aspx

A usual rule of thumb is the hands go into the ribs at the finish.

[mrpeepers]

Whew, that is some technical information. I'll give the hand-to-rib a try.

[mrpeepers]

A couple bits of feedback and another question. I figured out that my footstretchers were a bit too far forward, meaning that I was leaning too far into stern at the catch. This made my finish less stable and as I figured out how to keep my hand heights more consistent, I discovered that I was getting caught at the finish, which of course screwed up the recovery. So that's good. Also I just got the NK SpeedCoach Mobile app for iPhone and put it to use today. It's fantastic!

Question: is it normal for the oars to come off the water when I increase pressure? I did a couple AT pieces over the weekend that were largely free of the oar-dragging that happens in my normal rowing. Any ideas why that might be so?

[mikvan52]

Question: is it normal for the oars to come off the water when I increase pressure? I did a couple AT pieces over the weekend that were largely free of the oar-dragging that happens in my normal rowing. Any ideas why that might be so?

Yes, it is normal.
A boat will ride level more easily at higher hull speed. The question remains though: How much effort is required to get that extra speed.

It remains crucial to become proficient in balancing a 1x at low rates and pressure. Such skill leads to even faster times when the rate and pressure increases.

[mrpeepers]

Things have been going pretty well this season so far. I'm still having trouble balancing at low speeds, though, and I think I'll have to devote a bit more energy to it than I have (I've been focusing on hands-level and pulling in at the right heights). I like the pause drill, although it gets fairly boring quickly. Are there any more interesting drills for keeping the boat balanced?