Video from CRASH-Bs, please tear my technique apart

[macroth]

This is the first time in years that I'v seen myself row or that anyone qualified will have seen me row, so I'm eager to hear your thoughts.

Off the top of my head, it seems like I'm rushing the arms and that I could stretch out my stroke a tad more at the finish. But maybe not. What do you think?

TIA

(PS: the guy in the white striped unisuit to my right beat me by 1 second; anything I can learn from him?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhYm_kRjLuk

[tdekoekkoek]

Hi,

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what needs improving. Overall it looks pretty good IMO. Decent body angle. It just seems that things could be a little smoother. Starting from the catch and then at the finish you could pull a little longer as you said. The guy next to you definitely rowed a lot longer and lower rate.

BTW, I think you have one leg shorter than the other. (No big deal, lot's of people do). I think it's your right one. One of your knees pops up before the other. Mine does the same thing. Consider adding an extra insole to your right leg.

Cheers,

Trevor

[ccwenk]

Off the top of my head, it seems like I'm rushing the arms and that I could stretch out my stroke a tad more at the finish. But maybe not. What do you think?

(PS: the guy in the white striped unisuit to my right beat me by 1 second; anything I can learn from him?)

The biggest thing I notice is that you don't have a good smooth transition from back to arms. This is probably what you mean by stretching your stroke out at the finish. Your head and neck are moving forward as you draw in with your arms to the finish. How much layback you get is largely a matter of preferrence. I wouldn't go as far as the guy next to you, but his transition from back to arms is pretty good.

The only place it is really noticeable that you are catching with the arms instead of the legs is at the beginning of the piece. I reallly have a hard time with this too. During hard pieces like this, I tend to pick up about 4-6" at the catch with my arms. This can make it hard to get a good back to arms transition at the finish.

Something is also going on with your legs, but I can't figure it out. Do you have tight hamstrings? Your knees seem to bounce back up after you have finished the leg drive. I can't tell how much they are moving, but if you don't keep your legs down, it can also make it difficult to "stretch out" your finish b/c you don't have a solid platform to pull against. The guy next to you has stationary knees until he is arms out and back forward on the recovery.

Just my two cents. I defer to the stroke gurus who know more than I do. On this board, there are many.

[TomR]

Ewen--

You might see if you can find some video of Henrik Stephansen rowing at Boston, where he set a record. (I thought I saw some on youtube.) He's probably about the same height as you, and you can see what an elite 6-footer looks like. Not a lot of layback, handle pulled just above the navel (low compared to many), and a high stroke rate (he moves his hands away quickly at the end of the stroke).

I see that your 500 time is 15 seconds faster/500 than your 2k. That's a big differential, and to improve your 2k, you might want to work on your endurance.

Perhaps we'll meet up on the Road to Boston thread next year.

Good luck.

[BrianStaff]

BTW, I think you have one leg shorter than the other. (No big deal, lot's of people do). I think it's your right one. One of your knees pops up before the other. Mine does the same thing. Consider adding an extra insole to your right leg.

I'm a newbie rower, but a good observer. Your left knee "bounces" at the end of your stroke, which cannot make for efficient technique. That does suggest that your left leg is longer than your right. As Trevor said: look at an insole for your right foot.

Brian

[macroth]

Thanks for all the replies.

The bouncing leg is one of the first things I noticed as well. I always thought both legs bounced! Just goes to show how important it is to get an outside look at yourself.

(I found out a few years back that I have a 5mm differential at the hip, which has induced minor scoliosis. My left leg is actually shorter than my right, but my skewed posture tends to reverse the problem. I now believe it also screwed up my on-water balance and technique. I ditched my running shoe inserts for various reasons, but I'll look into inserts for when I row if I can't manage to keep both legs down and steady.)

I'll also work on smoothing out the transition. As for imitating Stephanson, I'll definitely try to look as relaxed (detached?) as him when pulling 1:29 at 40+spm. Seriously though, I might try a higher stroke rate once my technique gets better.

Thanks again

[Nosmo]

As for imitating Stephanson, I'll definitely try to look as relaxed (detached?) as him when pulling 1:29 at 40+spm. Seriously though, I might try a higher stroke rate once my technique gets better.

Definitely relaxed not detached. His arms and shoulders are incredibly relaxed. Your shoulders and arms do look just a bit tense. Mirrors helps me a lot with this. I have the same problem, and when I'm not relaxing my arms and shoulders it really screws up my stoke OTW.

[johnlvs2run]

The guy next to you appears to be taller, with bigger torso, longer arms, and his movements are smooth.

I timed your stroke rate at below 30 spm in the middle of the piece.

Ditto the suggestion to check out the style of Stephansen.

http://www.concept2.com/us/training/rac ... sp?race=21

[azmodan79]

I think the catch is "slow": you seem to lag a little bit in the catch position (before pushing with your legs) and this slows you down a lot, you should be able to "blend" the recovery with the catch and the first part of the leg pull...I guess it's going to feel like shortening your stroke but if you do it right you are going to shave time by initiating the catch without letting the erg wheel spin down (granted it's a small time per stroke but multiply it for 220...).

I think the layback is good: not too much (like the guy next to you) but the finish needs more polish. First of all: no leg bouncing! Second: elbows are a little bit too tight, lift them a bit! Keep your legs down through the finish and move the arms away from the body more smoothly, don't start the recovery before "preparing" the back or your recovery will be rushed and the catch will be slower since you'll have to extend the shoulders forward and arch the back at the catch and this is a no-no!

You should probably relax your shoulders (you use the arms a lot in the first part of the drive and it shows, but this only hampers the leg drive and makes your head go up and down -this is evident in the last 200m)

All in all not a bad time!
I rowed a 2k 6:33.4 just this morning and with a better technique I think you could shoot for 6:30!

[c2jonw]

The bouncing knee definitly stands out and an insole on the short leg might smooth it out. I also noted you seem to drop your hands quite a bit during the recovery (though not as much as the guy to your right). My 2 cents......C2JonW