Looking ahead in the single

[Henry Law]

One of the things that I do least well in the single is looking over my
shoulder.

I have a mirror on the peak of my baseball cap but I look upon it as a
safety device rather than a navigation aid. It allows me to spot things
I might run into (like other racing boats, or the service barge which
emerged overnight a few weeks ago: dirty great black thing moored quite
close to one of our tricky bend-and-bridge combinations). It's no use
for working out where to point the boat.

When I try to look ahead the balance of the boat is hopelessly upset, my
rhythm ditto, and I can't see reliably anyway. Is there some knack to
this? I watch good scullers doing it and it seems, like everything else
they do, effortless.

(In your reply please have regard for the fact that my 61-year-old
vertebrae and disks are not as supple and flexible as they once were).

--

Henry Law Manchester, England

[Paul Flory]

Try using the mirror to aim your bowball where you want to go. When
it's lined up, find a point behind the boat that lines up with your
stern and maintain that alignment for 5-20 strokes (depending on how
twisty your route is). Repeat.

[sully]

I feel your pain! I notice that I've lost flexibility in my "looking
around" but the good news is that I'm freaking slow as s*** anyway so
taking an extra hiccup doesn't cost me. But practice increases
flexibility and there is a technique to it.

1. Steering is done thru triangulation off the stern. Looking to
bow is to:
a. Reset course to steer to a new triangle
b. avoid obstacles and a check on steering.

2. triangulation is a point on the water level of a straight course
behind you, with a second point further back and higher creating a
virtual triangle between your eyes, the horizon point, and the higher
point behind. As you drift off course, the lower part of the
triangle will follow you, the upper/further part will drift the
opposite, line them up.

3. To look behind you you have:
a. The catch. Tuck your chin to your clavicle at catch and
unfocus your eyes, paying attention to what you see in the bowward
corner. Don't try to focus at the 180 degree behind, but look over
your shoulder with sort of a soft focus and concentration on that part
of your vision field.
b. repeat on other side. You've just been able to spot possible
objects you can hit without interrupting the rhythm of your stroke.
c. frequency depends on body of water and how many objects to
expect.
d. The finish. as you are finishing the stroke, rotate slightly
at the trunk and swing the shoulders one way so you can get a good
look at your bow. Keep your hands moving, and if you're in a team
boat, your next stroke can be a tad short. You've gotten a good look
to bow to allow you to make a course correction or get a better look
at an object you spotted but couldn't identify with the catch/chin
tuck. In a single, it's a hitch in the stroke rate, do the whole
stroke.

This is a great question, because for all the years I've been teaching
beginners, I've never had to tell anybody to look behind them to see
where they're going. This wednesday night I had to do this for the
first time. This is why I love teaching beginners, you learn SOOO
much!

[davie...@gmail.com]

As others have said, it is more effective to do your steering based on where your stern is pointing. Learn the waypoints on your stretch and where your stern needs to point to get from one to the next. Then, you just need to do a brief check over your shoulder every 10-15 strokes for safety (or use your mirror).

BTW, if going to race on an unfamiliar stretch, Google Earth is an invaluable tool in learning the waypoints on the new stretch, and it is perfectly possible to find your steering points from features on the bank visible from the air. You can measure the distance between your waypoints in meters, and convert that (adjusting for head/tail wind or stream) to number of strokes. I found this approach very handy when I spent a few years steering a 4- at various heads and regattas.

[Paul Flory]

I neglected to say that the mirror does not eliminate the need to turn
around and look occasionally. Sometimes things sneak into your blind
spot. My coach recommends looking during the drive, when the blades
stabilize the boat.

Someone here recommended the HeadsUp! mirror years ago and it has been
really helpful for me:
http://www.cycleaware.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2&zenid=toi919il0d1k3ngdu610sl2fm2
Having the mirror close to the eye gives a wider angle of view, and
turning your head enables you to sweep a still wider area. Its small
size blocks less of the view astern and is less mesmerizing (staring
into the mirror can distract you from rowing well). But it does
require eyewear (or at least frames) and the frames must have flat
temple pieces for it to clip onto.

Generally I don't use waypoints except in a rough way. Even on a
narrow waterway, your lateral position can affect your steering
point. But if I know exactly where I will be (say one side of a
particular bridge arch) and if the next course buoys are far away/
difficult to see in the mirror, it can be extremely helpful to stand
on said bridge and line up the buoys with a more visible landmark on
the shore to use as an aiming point for the bow.

I do use lateral marking points ("when I pull alongside this tree, I
need to start my turn, assuming I'm on line").

It's a REALLY good idea to prerow a headrace course you will be racing
on to get a general sense of where you want to be. Even a course you
have raced before: as a refresher, plus things may have changed. We
often go a day early and paddle the course.

Of course after all of this preparation you may have rain or fog and
not be able to see much of where you are going.........

[zeke_hoskin]

On May 10, 2:30 pm, Henry Law <n...@lawshouse.org> wrote:

Mirrors are for running into things. If you can't look ahead, you are
a danger to yourself and others. (At least, outside of marked-out
courses where you can depend on other people to keep your path free
from obstacles.)

BUT:
we are a very short time away from VR goggles and a forward-looking
video cams that should be able to deliver a completely useful forward
view without messing with your stroke. We'd have it now if enough
people wanted it enough to pay for it. It will pass from unobtainable
to an oddity to common to ubiquitous to required in under a decade.

[Brian Chapman]

Henry,

You are no worse off than the young cox sitting in front of a six foot stroke in an eight. Their blind spot is as great and there is not much they can do about it. I try to stop at the start of straights and have a good look ahead, if there is nothing in sight I rely on my positional sense and a glance over my shoulder every four or so strokes. We were designed to spot predators on the savannah so periferal vision usually gives early warning of boats on the wrong side of the river. I still manage to hit the occasional bush but not too hard.

Brian

[Paul Flory]

There are two good reasons not to use a mirror:
(1) you can't adapt to it (some people just can't)
(2) you're racing on courses which don't require a lot of turns, e.g.
2K, 1K, or open water

For head racing, I use a mirror and row the Short Course. I can use
all the help I can get, so the 15-30sec it saves me over 5K vs rowing
the Looong Course is worth it. It's also very handy to track people I
am passing, shave close to buoys, etc.

Anybody who has really used a mirror knows that the problem is not
seeing straight ahead, the problem is covering the blind spot on the
opposite side from the mirror, This can be done by turning your
head. You do still need to look around occasionally to that side,
just much less often.

As for fancy goggles, they will still be subject to the angle of view
of the camera lens. If it's very wide angle, objects will be very
small. If less wide angle, blind spots. Might be better to put the
lens on the back of the head so it swivels with the head - which makes
it very similar to a mirror!!

[James HS]

I row on the tideway where the change in tide level (6 metres) and the
number of other users makes looking round an essential art - trees,
buoys and other users, as well as flotsam being the biggest hazards!

I used to look at backstops but found that this was the least
effective. i now try looking at frontstops and during the drive.

For navigating I use a look forward every 3 strokes or so and then
position the stern, for avoiding obstacles that are less expected I
use the same look round but a slightly different attention - as I am
scanning the water rather than registering the bank/bridge.

Personally I prefer to work without a mirror as I fear getting used to
something that I would forget to have with me or break during an
outing that I rely on for safety - and prefer to work hard at building
a visual picture with head turns. I also do a boat turn before I am
about to do a piece to look at the whole course that I am going to be
covering, so that I can predict what is coming.

I try to teach scullers I am assessing for steering that they need to
have a 6th sense about being in the wrong place - the hairs on the
back of the had need to stand up! part of what I am assessing is
their awareness of their position in the river.

I also teach my club to be a shouty club - to call out to fellow
rowers when they have stopped in good time to allow a correction to
their course - unfortunately other clubs remain silent and so you do
have to rely on your ability to detect, and predict where they may
take their rests!

I drive along in the car, and when I stop I do flexibility tests for
turning round :)

James

[sully]

On May 13, 11:53 pm, James HS <jholmessie...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On May 14, 2:42 am, Paul Flory <johnflo...@gmail.com> wrote:
>

snip

>
> I also teach my club to be a shouty club - to call out to fellow
> rowers when they have stopped in good time to allow a correction to
> their course - unfortunately other clubs remain silent and so you do
> have to rely on your ability to detect, and predict where they may
> take their rests!

This is a very good point that I've
totally missed in my teaching. Last
winter had a brand new sculler out doing patterns
and a jr nat'l teamer came running up his
stern as he turned. The fault was the more
experienced sculler, but the novice offered no
shout or word to help out.

fault: me.

what's dumb is that I teach coxn's to constantly
communicate w/ each other.

[Anthony]

I entirely agree on the desirability of a warning shout where needed. However I also think it's considerate not to stop directly in the path of another boat and then expect them to avoid you. And just because you are stopped, you are not, or should not be, relieved of the responsibility of avoiding a collision by moving your own boat. Most waterways afford places where you can get out of the way of others, and it would be nice if more people took advantage of them, rather than stopping at whatever point the exercise they are engaged on has finished.

[A. Dumas]

On 13/05/2012 21:40, Brian Chapman wrote:
> I still manage to hit the occasional bush but not too hard.

Yeah, gotta respect the remaining bushes.

[sully]

No argument, it's frustrating when whole
teams will stop on middle of course while
the coach chats.

But this wasn't the case, this was the end of a course
where the small boats were to turn around. Novice
stopped a wee bit too soon, the experienced kid
should have been looking, the novice kid should have
been taught to speak up.

In pattern rowing, we row through a mark, paddle a couple
then hold and turn moving quickly across.

[James HS]

Sully,

You are way too hard on yourself - you can't think of everything and
he sure will now appreciate the benefit of shouting.

Some things need to be learned from the university of hard knocks :)

And I speak as my club's CWSA (club water safety advisor) where I have
long learned that some people will learn that a surface is hot when
you tell them - others need to touch it, and others need to touch it a
few times! - the trick is to make sure that they can get these
experiences without any of them being fatal! :)

James

[Paul Flory]

On May 15, 1:44 pm, sully <sulsn...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> No argument,  it's frustrating when whole
> teams will stop on middle of course while
> the coach chats.

Welcome to the Charles, where in the spring some college coaches have
the impression they OWN the river and will stop several 8+'s for
extended lectures on the intricacies of rowing, while blocking a good
part of the river.

When I come up behind them, whether in a 1x or a coaching launch, I
simply say to the coach as sweetly as I can "Don't want to get in your
way. Are you going to start a piece?" An implicit warning that if
they don't get moving, I (or me and my 8+'s) will get ahead of them
and screw up whatever they're planning to do. It almost always wakes
them up.

There are a number of quiet crannies along the shore that I tuck my
crews into when I want to talk to them. Or I look for a gap in the
stream of traffic.

[sully]

I agree, though I wish that the collision in question would
have been a bit gentler, caused major damage...

This happened more than a year ago, however,
I've had a large number of new students since then and
haven't told one of them to speak up if they're being
run down. I'm not a very good student at Hard
Knock U. !!!! :^)

[edgar]

<davie...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:23078470.721.1336722946915.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@vbvx4...

Yes, Ok at heads and regattas, but if you are just on the water at other
times you will find that people anchor just where you are going hard between
your waypoints and my experience is that they will watch you coming straight
towards them without calling out any kind of warning that you are standing
into danger.
It is always other people on the water that cause the problems :-)

[edgar]

"sully" <suls...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:257f489a-b785-42de...@l5g2000pbo.googlegroups.com.
<snip>..

3. To look behind you you have:
a. The catch. Tuck your chin to your clavicle at catch and
unfocus your eyes, paying attention to what you see in the bowward
corner. Don't try to focus at the 180 degree behind, but look over
your shoulder with sort of a soft focus and concentration on that part
of your vision field.
b. repeat on other side. You've just been able to spot possible
objects you can hit without interrupting the rhythm of your stroke.
c. frequency depends on body of water and how many objects to
expect.
d. The finish. as you are finishing the stroke, rotate slightly
at the trunk and swing the shoulders one way so you can get a good
look at your bow. Keep your hands moving, and if you're in a team
boat, your next stroke can be a tad short. You've gotten a good look
to bow to allow you to make a course correction or get a better look
at an object you spotted but couldn't identify with the catch/chin
tuck. In a single, it's a hitch in the stroke rate, do the whole
stroke.

It is item b. that bothers me.
I have no problem glancing over my left shoulder to see what is ahead but
have great difficulty glancing over my right shoulder.
It just does not work for me although I must admit I am not as flexible as I
once was.
However this has not been a problem because while adhering to the starboard
side of a channel the left shoulder is the one that gives you the best
picture of your relation to the channel bank and you can still see far
enough ahead to be sure you are not going to hit anything.
I am lefthanded anyway and I see no need to be ambidextrous in this respect.

[Henry Law]

On 16/05/12 15:40, edgar wrote:
> As others have said, it is more effective to do your steering based on where
> your stern is pointing. Learn the waypoints on your stretch and where your
> stern needs to point to get from one to the next.

Mmm, yes: it's the waypoints on other people's stretches, where I'm
racing maybe, that are the problem.

Thank you for all the interesting, informative and sometimes amusing
replies. I'll try out Sully's tips.

[Alexander]

"Henry Law" <ne...@lawshouse.org> wrote in message
news:3_idnbggQa5pSy7S...@giganews.com...

But beware of his triangulation tip no 2, which is back to front.

"As you drift off course, the lower part of the
triangle will follow you, the upper/further part will drift the
opposite, line them up."

Should read:

"As you drift off course, the upper/further part of the
triangle will follow you, the lower part will drift the opposite, line them
up."

Did nobody else notice that, or am I a pedant?

Alexander Lindsay

[Henry Law]

On 16/05/12 17:53, Alexander wrote:
> Did nobody else notice that, or am I a pedant?

I got his drift.

[sully]

On May 16, 7:32 am, "edgar" <ejcove@.remove.online.no> wrote:
> "sully" <sulsn...@yahoo.com> wrote in message

I've lost a lot of flexibility as well. But I also don't train
diligently or race my single, it's just nice to get on the water, so
I have no need to keep my single moving well while I'm looking.
I'll interrupt my pace, and take frequent good looks. It's like
rowing, I know HOW to be long in a single, I just can't get there
anymore... :^)

[A. Dumas]

On 16/05/2012 18:53, Alexander wrote:
> Did nobody else notice that, or am I a pedant?

Or?

[sully]

On May 16, 9:53 am, "Alexander" <atlind...@btinternet.com> wrote:
> "Henry Law" <n...@lawshouse.org> wrote in message

oops. Not pedantic at all, thanks for the correction!

Indeed, when I teach ppl and I'm explaining this
technique, I have to try it out and move my head
and feet to demonstrate, I can't make it work
in my mind!!!!

I just now went outside of my office to test
it down the hallway.

thanks

Henry, what HE said!!

:^)

[davie...@gmail.com]

In fact, I wrote the part you are quoting, and also followed it up with tips on using Google Earth for unfamiliar stretches. Try it, it works!

[sully]

Another tip to take or leave:

When I send beginners out on the main course
after they've learned how to scull a little, back
up, hold water properly, dock, etc, I have them
row for 12-20 times on the main course for no
more than an hour.

Our course has turns and straight stretches,
and some stretches that might be straight
if you ended up rowing parts of the course
shading toward the wrong side.

I ask the new scullers to turn the many
turns into "corners", even if the turn is
only slight. I try to get them to try
to make their boat go for straight stretches,
then make a definite course adjustment to
a new straight line and hold that line,
rather than long bends.

Yes, if you're competing, a gradual curve
might be a tighter line and less water to
cover on a bendy course, but the goal is
to learn to steer and make the boat go
straight.

I also coach them to stop their boat if
they end up in the middle of the course,
turn it sharply to row back to the correct
side, rather than vector all over the place.
I believe this enforces better steering
discipline. It's normal to drift off course
when you're learning.

I do the "straight course" thing with
experienced small boats as well, in the
Fall. we have channell markers every
500-1000 meters that mark the ship
channel. I'll have elite scullers make
straight lines between the channel markers
and try to aim their boat so their port
blade misses the pole or bouy by no more
than a couple yards. This is not something
I pay attention to constantly, it's just good
to focus on once a year when you step
back to fundamentals.

What I observe in many many experienced
scullers is far less ability to maintain a really
good course than you would expect of them.
There's a lot of drift, a lot of response and corrections
made rather than a solid straight line.

[Paul Flory]

On May 17, 12:52 pm, sully <sulsn...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I ask the new scullers to turn the many
> turns into "corners",  even if the turn is
> only slight.   I try to get them to try
> to make their boat go for straight stretches,
> then make a definite course adjustment to
> a new straight line and hold that line,
> rather than long bends.
>
> Yes, if you're competing, a gradual curve
> might be a tighter line and less water to
> cover on a bendy course, but the goal is
> to learn to steer and make the boat go
> straight.

Exactly. The boat goes faster in a straight line without trying to
side-slip, and the sculler goes faster because s/he isn't constantly
shading power to one side or the other. Ideally when competing you
try to convert the course into a series of straights separated by
sharp turns. A good example on the Head of the Charles course is at
the Weeks Footbridge, where you try to make a sharp 90 degree turn
from a straight course up the Powerhouse to a straight line to the
middle arch of the Larz Anderson Bridge.

Unfortunately this isn't always possible. Long variable-radius
curves, for example the Magazine Beach turn and the Eliot turn (180
degrees leading to the Eliot Bridge), can't be converted into single
sharp turns. A coach suggested taking a firm turning stroke followed
by say two straight strokes, and repeat. The number of straight
strokes can be varied according to the radius of the turn. At least
in this way you avoid reducing power to turn gently on every stroke
and maybe don't lose as much speed??

Sometimes you have to modify because other boats are on the course.
One pitfall is to steer off them. For one thing, they may be taking
the Looong Course (it happens!!). Plus if you are passing them you
will come up right on their stern and may find it harder to get by. I
try to steer according to my ideal line and mentally "overlay" the
other boats on my route. If I am passing them, they should yield (if
they don't yield, I have to modify, but at least I'm close to my
line). If I have to yield to someone passing me, I try to time it so I
move over, call them through, they go by, and then I get back on my
line as soon as I can.

All of this can be used during training rows too.

[Henry Law]

On 17/05/12 09:53, davie...@gmail.com wrote:
> In fact, I wrote the part you are quoting, and also followed it up with tips on using Google Earth for unfamiliar stretches. Try it, it works!

Oh bum; I am sorry. In a busy thread it does get easy to trim the wrong
thing. I must experiment with G Earth.

[James HS]

On May 17, 9:49 pm, Henry Law <n...@lawshouse.org> wrote:

ha ha - having given my "advice" I raced at the Twickenham Regatta at
the weekend which has a horrible bend at the end ...... well not if
you are going straight it doesn't and ended up crossing the crossing
line joined to our oppo :) (They won of course and no damage done) but
it is always easy to talk about steering and not always easy to do it!

James

[use...@rjpacker.org.uk]

At events like Twickenham the umpire will generally try and keep his/her launch in the centre of the course. If you find you and your opponent both on the same side of the umpire's launch then probably one of you is well off course, so use that as a very big clue that you might want to take a look round.

[davie...@gmail.com]

Ah yes, the bend at Richmond (*nervous twitch*) ...

There are some regatta courses which defy all preparation, mirrors, Google Earth, whatever. Where steersfolk have to just shut their eyes and hope for the best. Richmond/Twickenham is one of those.

[Paul Flory]

On May 21, 9:27 am, davies....@gmail.com wrote:
> Ah yes, the bend at Richmond (*nervous twitch*) ...
>
> There are some regatta courses which defy all preparation, mirrors, Google Earth, whatever. Where steersfolk have to just shut their eyes and hope for the best. Richmond/Twickenham is one of those.

We train in a narrow creek here and run a 10K head race through it
every fall for 1x's and 2x's. If you hit it just right you can go
through there nearly full tilt in a 2x. The turn into the pond can be
quite challenging. But you DO have to have your eyes open, mirrors
help, prayer won't (or at least not enough). Closing your eyes will
put you into the embrace of a fallen tree rather quickly.
You can see it at Google Earth by flying to "Selden Creek, Lyme, CT".

[thomas....@googlemail.com]

The geeky/technological answer is to use and iPhone/android phone along with a ContourGPS and live preview

http://contour.com/software/mobile/overview

It doesn't have the best frame rate but it would allow you to see boats/trees in front of you I'd bet