1. British Rowing Technique

2. Left hand above and in front of right hand

5. A Few Points
My main aim is to keep the instantaneous velocity close to the mean velocity
No exaggerated movements
Minimise acceleration/deceleration
Hands circle at finish - hands don’t stop and restart
Don’t accelerate hands away - should go from the body at the same speed they come into the body
Left hand above and slightly in front of right - keep loose, don’t grip sculls
Hands, body, slide - arms fully extended
Weight transferred to feet as body swings over
Final catch position achieved by half slide
Boat runs under you - don’t pull on stretcher, float forward with slide at constant speed
Square early - squaring and catch should be separate. Roll square don’t snatch
Don’t sit at backstops

8. Key Points – Catch
The catch should be the last part of the recovery
– not the first part of the drive
The catch should be initiated before the sculler
reaches frontstops
Small loop of the handle
Don’t allow slide to stop and then reach more
Angle opens up under your armpit, not from the back
No shoulder movement as sculls swing upwards

11. Use glutes to open back

20. My coaching approach Plan your sessions
A beginning, a middle and an end
What are your primary aims
technique
work – mileage
Where do you start – catch, finish or do you just react to athletes errors?
Try to teach new technical aspects where there may be a lot of hanging around in warmish weather
I usually use September to December before it gets too cold
Use a video for feedback and get a second opinion
Can the fault be caused by poor conditioning?
Flexibility
Strength
Can the fault be caused by poor rigging?
Feet too high?
Pitch?
Ask someone!
Give feedback
Give praise where due

21. My coaching approach
Make sure that the athletes understand what you want them to do before boating
Show videos
Show on the ergo
Explain any new exercises/terms you are likely to introduce
People learn in different ways
Verbal
Visual
Kinaesthetic
Only attempt to teach one new skill at a time
It is extremely unusual for people to able to concentrate on two or more things at once
Teach new skills on a stable platform and in a slowly moving boat and break the skills down using exercises
Slowly increase boat speed as the athlete starts to pick up the new skill
Teaching new skills is a slow process don’t try and rush it
Make sure that the skill is grooved in before moving on
Ensure that exercises are not just tricks but relate to the skill

22. Exercises Can be used to isolate particular skills
They must be performed correctly
It has to give the desired benefit – e.g. in my opinion there is little point doing square blades to improve catches if the balance is bad.
When I teach catches I go through the following stages:
Catch slaps (in pairs)
Roll ups (in pairs)
Rowing in pairs with light catches (8+)
Rowing in fours
Rowing in 6’s
Rowing in 6’s with varying pressures and rates
Rowing as an eight – then vary pressures and rates
Once they have mastered the action I will use exercises at the beginning of each outing which improve the timing and efficiency at the catch. e.g.
Roll ups
Russian catches
Pause at half slide
High rating light etc.

23. Example Exercises Catch slaps (catches) Roll ups (catches)
Early squaring (catches)
Double catches (catches)
Russian catches (catches)
Tap downs (finishes)
Square blades (catches/finishes/blade heights)
Pausing (catches, recovery, finishes)
Light catches, firm finish (catches, drive, finishes)
Firm catch, light finish (catches, finishes)
Low rating (control)
Inside/outside/alternate hand only (blade control, balance)
Long lean back (finish)
Straight arm rowing (catches, drive sequencing)
Feet out (catch, finish, control)
Eyes closed (timing, concentration)
Single strokes (catches, drive, finishes)
Air shots (control)
Wide hands
Piano playing
High rating light

24. The End