row2k Features
The Start
July 26, 2016
Charlotte Hollings, Calm Waters Rowing

In a 1000 meter race, the start sequence can easily take up 1/4 of the distance so it really behooves any masters rower to have a strong start. While you can't win the race on the first stroke, you can lose it.

This sounds very basic, but take the time to get comfortable simply sitting at the catch with the blades squared and buried. If you're not comfortable, the tendency is to tighten up, lock the elbows and in the process, push down on the oar handles. Without realizing it, the blades are now no longer fully buried, you're less stable, you tighten up more, the starter says go and your first stroke is an air stroke. Not a good way to start a race.

So instead sit at the catch, relax the arms, and make sure the blades are buried without getting the shaft wet. I recommend getting in the habit of starting from the catch every time the boat is at a dead stop. Do that enough and it will become second nature, allowing you to be much more relaxed and comfortable on race day.

Once you're comfortable just sitting there, practice getting the boat moving on that first stroke. You won't get it up to full speed in one stroke, so don't try. The first stroke should be fairly long; sit at 3/4 slide or longer, and instead of kicking the legs when the gun goes off, squeeze them and accelerate through that first stroke. You might feel that you're starting a little slow but you'll be able to feel the blade secure in the water, allowing you to get your weight and power behind the oar.

The boat is going to be heavy, so get a good hold on the water and push your bow forward. As you finish that first stroke, concentrate on getting the blade out cleanly. The top edge of the blade should come out square and then, before the bottom edge is fully out, begin to feather the oar to begin the recovery. As the boat gets up to speed, you need to be quick as well as clean.

Now that the boat is moving, the focus shifts to getting it up to speed with a series of short, high rating strokes that gradually lengthen out to full slide. How many strokes comprise a start depends on how many strokes it takes to get the boat up to full speed.

"3/4 - ½ - ½ - 3/4 – Full" is a pretty standard start, but in my single, I add a couple more strokes, taking three strokes between the second ½ slide stroke and the full slide, gradually lengthening as I go. How many high strokes you take after that depends on what works best for you. How high the rate goes also depends on what works for you. Realize that higher isn't necessarily faster.

Now that we can easily measure the speed of the boat, anyone can experiment with creating an individualized race plan. 20 high, then settle into the base pace? 10 high, sub settle 10, then base? Find out what works best for you. The key is to get to your base rate at a planned point. If you stay high too long, you will fade and slow down instead of achieving a strong, sustainable base speed.

Rowing is unique in that we're not facing the direction we're going, which can make being behind a huge disadvantage. No other racing sport I know begins with a sprint, but in rowing, if you're not out front, you can't see the competition.

Know yourself. Do you race better if you're ahead at the start? Do you have the confidence to get behind and not tighten up? Are you better in the first half or second half of the race? Create a race plan that works to your strength. Try to stick with it and not let the competition rattle you but in the long run, the only way to get better at racing is to go out and do it!

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Comments

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SandyKillen
08/02/2016  10:07:08 AM
People are in the habit of starting from the finish position because when sitting there they putting slight downward pressure on the handle as get sit ready to lift the blade out of the water.. By doing so they are putting weight on the oar lock which helps stabilize the boat. Stabilizing the boat at the catch position can be achieved by doing the same, putting slight downward pressure on the handle therefore putting weight on that oar lock which helps stabilize the boat. In order to achieve Charloote's recommendation of "...make sure the blades buried without getting the shaft wet."; again slight downward pressure on the handle is necessary. This is somewhat similar to a tight rope walk up holding a balance beam putting downward pressure on their hands for stability. To quote Charlotte again "I recommend getting in the habit of starting from the catch every time the boat is at a dead stop. Do that enough and it will become second nature, allowing you to be much more relaxed and comfortable on race day." Keeping the Blades Wet, Sandy Killen


msd1107
07/27/2016  3:11:05 PM
1 people like this
This is theoretically incorrect. I approach it from a weight lifting analogy point of view. As a 75 year old light weight, I have done a 395 lb dead lift, which approximates 1/2 slide. If I step up on weight plates to approximate 3/4 slide, my dead lift decreases to around 340 lbs. No way am I going to give up 40 lbs force to start the race! We use a start sequence of 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, 7/8, and full to approximate a multi-speed transmission. One last wrinkle. On the first stroke, we use a very limited arm draw, since that is the weakest part of the drive. The gearing is very heavy on the first stroke, and the arm draw takes a long time, relatively. It is better to get up to the second stroke catch quickly where we have the strong legs to push us forward on the second stroke. We used this last weekend at Lake Merritt. In a boat with an age of 79 and in the LMM2x AA-J class, we were even with the rest of the younger field through the start until their youth and power took over.



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