RowingChat Rebecca Caroe

Ever since the 2007 movie, we've started bucket lists for everything. Now it's time for you to plan your rowing event bucket list.
Timestamps
00:30 Things we are going to do in rowing before "kicking the bucket".
The Faster Masters Rowing self-guided training plan to help get you fit, faster and the confidence you're doing the right thing in your training. How to train as we age - masters rowers are not the same as youth rowers.
If you train three times a week minimum, this program may suit you.
Get a free trial download masters rowing program
https://fastermastersrowing.com/rowing-program/
03:30 if you already have a program and. want to read the articles we write on topics of interest to masters rowers, buy the monthly Masters Rowing Magazine.
04:00 Famous rowing waters
Bucket list rowing is about doing things that are special and have value to you.
Andrew Turner suggested this episode.
Row on famous waters - places which are renowned in the sport of rowing.
Row on Olympic courses - Sydney, Munich, Paris, London. The Assault on Lake Casitas by Brad Alan Lewis tells one story of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
06:15 Famous rowing events
The well known Henley Royal Regatta and Head of the Charles are well-known. These can be hard to get entries in because HRR does not have masters events.
Row on the same course in different events like Henley Masters Regatta - a 1k event in July.
The London Veteran Eights Head of the River Race is on the Boat Race course and run in March each year.
Australia's Head of the Yarra is the premier event in the Southern Hemisphere in Melbourne each November.
The Amsterdam Heineken Regatta is uniquely over several different race distances.
Touring Rowing races include the Tour de Lac Leman (around Lake Geneva) and is over 100km long. Also consider the Canal du Midi in France touring event.
11:00 Famousrowing coaches
What about getting a session with a famous rowing coach? Some join camps which you can join.
Best Rowing Books
https://fastermastersrowing.com/best-rowing-books-2020/
Troy Howell, Volker Nolte, Marlene Royle, Jim Dietz, Al Morrow - all well known coaches who work with masters.
13:00 What bucket list trip would you enjoy?
Ireland with the Tribesman Head and a driving holiday afterwards.
Meet rowers from a famous club in your own country - Capital Rowing Center in Washington DC.


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Mis-timing the catch causes the boat to slow down. You can go faster for no extra effort.
Timestamps
These three things are super-easy to correct and take no extra fitness and effort. So important for masters to enjoy our rowing and so "speed for free" is great for us.
01:45 Putting the oar in the water at the wrong moment.
Roll forward to full compression - there's a micro second when the seat is stationary. This is the moment when you want the oars already under the water.
Too early - means you miss the opportunity to use all your leg drive.
Too late - means you aren't at full slide; you waste leg drive because you're pushing air not water, and the bows are not at their highest.
03:50 The boat tilts longitudinally during the stroke
At the bows' high point you are generally at full slide and closest to the stern of the boat. This is when you want to place the oars into the water.
04:50 The cure starts at the finish
Get the set-up correct - refer to our earlier episode about Speed Murdering Mistake #2 The Finish.
- Be prepared early for the catch.
- Oars need to be square before you change direction on the slide,.
- Have as few body movements as possible while sliding.
- Instability compromises catch timing
- Loose legs on the recovery creates poise and control during the sliding and means you are doing less
- Sequence off the back (finish) arms - body - legs bend last.
08:30 Ensure you correctly understand the recovery
You should not roll fully forwards before squaring. This movement needs to be earlier in the recovery.
09:15 What to do differently
1 - Look at your knees. They are at their highest at full slide and full compression.
2 - Listen for a moment of silence when the seat wheels stop moving. That's when the seat changes direction - that gives you an auditory timing point to place your catch
3 - Be active with your placement. Make a definite, active movement to place the oars under the water. Try pushing your handles away from you as a drill to practice this using your thumbs at 90 degrees along the oar handles to emphasise the pushing movement.

Following last week's deep dive into blades on the surface .... this week we take a look at Rushing Off The Back. What, how, causes, cures.
Timestamps

01:00 these issues are straightforward to resolve. As a coach I can see the solution and until you realise the solution is there, you're ignorant.
01:30 Rushing off the back
The transition from the oar extraction through to when you roll up the slide is our focus area.
- When people rush it looks like a hustle, a race to get the oars out of the water and push the handle away.
- The stroke lacks ratio (the contrast between power and recovery phases).
- You lose time for a rest.
- The boat doesn't run on if you rush. This is speed for free. By cutting the finish short the boat won't run on.
- Problems preparing for the catch. Your preparation is left later in the recovery when the boat is more tippy.
- Compromises the ability to get weight on your feet.
05:00 Cures for rushing
- Finish the rowing stroke power phase in the correct finish position. Pressure on your feet; elbow position at the correct height and alignment to the oar shaft; thumbs on lower ribs; shoulders behind your hips leaning into bow.
- The correct finish position sets you up to move onto the recovery correctly without rushing.
- Separate the arm movement from the body movement after taking the oar out of the water. Get the arms straight first and then rock the body forwards. One follows from the other, not simultaneously.
- Soften your knees to bend them slightly and your body weight coming forwards starts the slide movement and enables weight to come onto your feet.
08:30 Things to look out for
- Look down and see if your elbows are partly bent as you rock the body forwards
- Do your thumbs touch your lower ribs?
- Are you finishing with handles horizontal or are they drawing down into your lap?
Get some video so the finish and your body are in the frame.
09:30 Boat speed through the stroke cycle
The fastest point of boat speed is after the finish. This may sound counter-intuitive - the second surge of speed comes after the oars are extracted and as you transfer your body weight. Rebecca calls this speed for free.
Do 10 strokes normal, 10 strokes separating arms from body to spot the difference.

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We start a mini series on things which kill boat speed. And how to fix them.
Part One: Dragging oars along the water surface

Resource Pontoon Floats are a cheap aide to building confident bladework

3 Value Bombs
1. Watch a crew - are blades parallel, is the space between athletes' heads moving at the same time?
2. Gain boat speed by learning how to move with the boat hull on the recovery.
3 Knowing what you will do if you have a lurch/wobble gives you confidence

Timestamps
00:30 We love boat speed, the feel of the boat moving well. Technical aspects which coaches see over and over and are fixable.
02:30 Dragging oars along the water surface.
Why do people do this? Is this using the water as a balancing aide.
Dragging the oars creates friction and slows the boat down.
03:50 Losing boat feel is a consequence of oar drag.
The boat pitches fore and aft in the water as we row. The trim is not constant.
Moving with the boat on the recovery, you can feel the boat surge as the bows lift out of the water.
Skilled rowers go a lot faster because they adapt and adjust body movements to align with how the boat is moving. When blades drag on the water it's harder to feel the surge.
06:30 The causes Confidence, Tension, Fear of the unknown.
Fear - if you worry that the boat becomes more tippy because your oars are high above the water, here's the cure. Pontoon floats give stability and help to build confidence.
Buy Pontoon Floats here
Your ability to recovery from a wobbly stroke is part of the cure for blades dragging.
Watch the Square Blades Challenge - 3 lessons to advance your skill
https://fastermastersrowing.com/square-blades-challenge-lesson-1/
08:30 if you're skilled enyggh to go in a single scull - when your oars are out of the water - once your arms are straight, your oars are perpendicular to the side of the boat - this is the point of maximum stability, sometimes called the safe position. What could happen during the recovery and where do your lurches happen?
If your oars are feathered, the maximum tip/lurch is until one oar touches the water surface. This is like a stabilising pontoon float. You won't flip or capsize.
If your blades are square when you get a lurch - just take that stroke immediately. Never mind how far up the slide you are. Then get the finish stable and focus on the next recovery.
11:00 Know what the worst that can happen is and know that you have a solution.
12:00 for wobbles at the finish, ensure you keep elbows high and finish in the correct hand position. Get weight in the hand too.
Use double bounce exercise, the stationary stability drill, pause drills to practice this.
13:00 Get the sequence correct off the finish.
Do your handles stay at the same height after feathering as they were in the drive phase?
If you flex your wrists to feather you may not be pushing the handle down. Get some video to find out what you do.
How to progressively gain confidence keeping the oars off the water surface on the recovery.

Summary of the cures for blades dragging on the water surface
1. Weight in the hand ensures the extraction lifts the spoons above the water surface
2. Finish sequence helps create stability
3. Get good blade height above the water so if the boat set is variable, you still don't touch the surface.

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Resource
Rowing Blisters And Skin Injuries ebook
https://fastermastersrowing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2022-Rowing-Blisters-And-Skin-Injuries-Prevention-Cure-And-Management.pdf

3 Value Bombs
1) wearing gloves is a good way to prevent rowing blisters.
2) cover band aids and plasters with electrical tape when rowing
3) applying band aids 40 minutes before you go rowing makes it stick better to your skin.

Timestamps
01:00 Prevent rowing blisters
Hand cream may be insufficient to keep your hands soft and supple enough to prevent blisters forming.
By wearing rowing gloves - padded palm and finger protection. The Crew Stop gloves are specialist - light and flexible gloves.
04:00 Treating rowing blisters
1 - your blister is filled with fluid.
Tape your hands. But band aids and plasters are not good when you row - they roll up and stick to the oar handle.
2 - raw skin exposed.
3 - skin around the edges is inflamed.
4 - raw skin is cracked.
Bind the edges of the crack together with tensioned band aids. A butterfly cut made with micropore plaster.
5 - Trim the hard old skin around the blister wound
6 - Healed blister but a raised callous on your hand. Don't allow blisters to form under the callous - they hurt because they're deep in your epidermis.

rec.sport.rowing discussions about blisters
https://groups.google.com/g/rec.sport.rowing/search?q=blister

Methylated spirits are NOT a good solution - avoid at all costs as it kills living skin tissue.

13:00 Good hand hygiene when rowing


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Adjusting your stroke to match your partner. What to do to adapt and adjust so you align with a taller or shorter partner in the rowing boat.

Timestamps
01:00 In the program this month - peak 1k racing in May - August. Drills to maintain power in the stroke. Video how to get to the start calm and ready to race - Christine Wilson's rate progression warm up. Coachability as an athlete skill and attribute. How to write your race plan.
04:00 Rowing with a taller or shorter partner
Key to this is to worry less about height but instead focus on the arc of the blade through the water.
When you fix up in the boat, adjust your footstretcher so your blades are parallel with your partner's at the catch and finish. Measure distance behind the face of the work / face of the gate. (58-62 cm is a normal range for sweep). To learn more about how to do this measurement watch our webinar Rigging for Masters
https://fastermastersrowing.com/rigging/
Adjust so your oar shafts are exactly parallel at the finish.
06:00 A taller stroke
The oars will converge during the power phase and the recovery phase if you each row to the full extent of your reach and height. The short person cannot make the same arc as the taller person, especially if their oars are the same length and the gate/oarlock span is the same.
When the blade arc is out of alignment, you need to make compromises to get in parallel.
Get power aligned by being in the water together at the catch. So to get catch angles aligned means you will need to make compromises in how you row.
07:00 Compromises in the stroke
For the shorter person - get good body rock forwards at the finish and maintain this through the recovery up to the catch where your shins are vertical.
For the taller person - work out how far forward you should roll. Use a drinking straw and tape it to the side of the boat, pointing upwards. So it brushes the shaft of your oar when you are at the correct catch angle to match the shorter person.
08:30 Rebecca's preference is to align with her partner at the catch rather than the finish. Blade alignments are made at the catch and the compromise is at the finish, she extracts her oars earlier.
By getting the angle arc right you are more likely to optimise the boat speed and power alignment.
Get more length by sitting up tall and letting your arms go wide, over the sides of the boat at the catch.
11:00 Branded merchandise - Waterproof socks for sale
https://www.revolutionrowing.com/collections/rowing-clothing-rowing-gifts/products/waterproof-rowing-socks-by-faster-masters-rowing


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