 |
<<The
rowing stroke from the side. The stroke should
look like a bicycle chain viewed from the side. The drive
should be as horizontal as possible. When the rower gets
to the end of the drive a circle should be made as the
hands push down on the oar handle to pull the oar out of
the water. Once the blade has been extracted from the
water the hands move away from the body and the arms
straighten. On the recovery as the rower travels up the
slide the hands raise gradually so that the blade comes
down to the water line. As the rower reaches the top
of the slide at the end of the recovery a small raise of
the hands from the shoulders allows the blade to drop into
the water so that the drive can start once more. |
 |
<<
Catch if the hands are too low. If the hands
are too low just before the catch the stroke length is
shortened. The blade will start to travel toward the stern
of the boat as the drive is begun. In the diagram opposite
the portion "missed stroke" demonstrates that an
opportunity that has been missed for power application. If
the length of the missed stroke is for example 5cm each
stroke in an average 2000m race of 210 strokes an oarsman
will have sacrificed 1050 cm of stroke length because of
his or her bad technique. A more correct version of the
catch is shown below. |
 |
<<
Correct path of blade as it enters the water.
In order to place the blade in the water correctly the
catch must be taken on the final part of the recovery. As
the rower nears the end of the recovery the hands are
lifted but still travel towards the stern of the boat. By
taking the catch on the recovery the rower changes
direction on the slide and starts the drive just as the
blade reaches it's correct depth in the water. Compared to
the diagram above the rower has "connected" his
or her power with the maximum amount of stroke length. |
