Drills for pairs
e
almost no prior experience in a pair. I'm interested in drills that others
have found to be effective in polishing technique (especially at the catch
and during the first 1/2 of the drive), especially drills that have a low
"spill factor". I'd also appreciate any thoughts on rudders - to connect or
disconnect? that is the question. And of course, any hints on how best to
keep them going in a straight line would be welcome.
Thanks,
Edwin Kubal
erk...@is2.nyu.edu
Robin Collings
> disconnect? that is the question. And of course, any hints on how best to
> keep them going in a straight line would be welcome.
I think my record stands at lane 4 to lane 0 in the Nat Schools Regatta one
year. The other guy steered after that.
Rob.
Walter Martindale
spm makes athletes aware of all their movements, where they speed up and slow
down, whether or not they lunge, etc. If they can get the movements right at 6,
it's easier to put it together at 36. Remember that much of the balance thing is
a newtonian mechanics issue. For any force there will be an equal and opposite
reaction. If any movements of one athlete are out of harmony with the movements
of the other, the boat will tip towards the one who moved first. (gross
generalization).
To get finishes together, pausing at the FINISH just after feathering and before
pushing the hands away gets the athletes to finish together. this every third
stroke. Then pausing with the handles resting on the gunwales (yep, blades way
up in the air) causes the athletes to learn to get about 1/2 of the recovery
done together, but after they've finished together. (do it in that progression
- finish then gunwales) BE PATIENT. it takes about 1-2 hours for the athletes
to figure out how to row a pair together using these drills. It won't happen
automatically. They should practice these frequently so until they don't have
to practice them.
True, pausing at the FINISH is not (again NOT) good technique, however it helps
to isolate a spot that rowers need to coordinate their movements and timing, so
it's a good drill to do, as long as they do the "pause on the gunwale without
pausing at the finish" or "keep hands moving" normally. They need to be able to
finish together (equal forces driving, same time and same amount of extraction,
and same time swinging away) in order to be able to balance, and they need to be
able to balance to get their blades high enough off the water to square for the
catch without dragging their blades or dipping their hands (skying), so that
they can catch without hesitation.
Does any of this make sense? I've been using these drills for a while now with
some success on the domestic Canadian scene and in NZ at the club level.
Walter Martindale
Otago Southland Regional Rowing Coach
Invercargill, New Zealand
e wrote:
> I'm currently coaching a pair. Both of the rowers are experienced, but have
> almost no prior experience in a pair. I'm interested in drills that others
> have found to be effective in polishing technique (especially at the catch
> and during the first 1/2 of the drive), especially drills that have a low
> "spill factor". I'd also appreciate any thoughts on rudders - to connect or
> disconnect? that is the question. And of course, any hints on how best to
> keep them going in a straight line would be welcome.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Edwin Kubal
> erk...@is2.nyu.edu
MKami13243
preciseness of the finish. Once you get the right balance and send the rest of
the recovery and therefore the catch get easier to work on.
Rowing one person at a time also helps. If you have a wide enough piece of
water just go around in circles. Get the feeling and rhythm you want and then
get that together as a pair.
My 2 cents,
Matt
Adriaan Koster
as well as for crews I coach. However, I try not to do it too often or for
too long because, as mentioned, pausing after the finish is not very good
technique. In my experience, if you let rowers do any excersie (and
especially 'stop'-type excercises) too much, they will adapt their rowing to
it. The exercise then becomes a mere 'trick' (see how some crews rush
towards their 'stop' when doing hands-away or hands-and-body stops) instead
of a short interruption of the fluent rowing stroke. I also frequently
detect a residu of the stop lingering in the regular strokes following the
exercise, in case of 'stop one' this is not desirable.
As an alternative excercise I sometimes use 'stop 1.5', which consists of a
pause after the finish, but with the hands half away (about 20 cm from the
body). This avoids having the rowers stop their hand motion at the point
where it is most crucial that they DON'T stop their hands, but still allows
them to synchronise their motion and find balance.
On pair rowing in general: I think it is very, very difficult, especially
after you pass through the initial intuitive phase and start to think about
what you (and your partner) are doing (a bit like sex really). The only
solution I know is just making many, many miles over many, many years and
finding a solution for balance problems in the boat. For a coach I think it
is nearly impossible to really improve a pair with drills and such, because
it is so hard to see what is going on. Just look at the boat-type: when I
first saw a pair in my life I thought it was a prank boat, not meant for
serious rowing....
A3aan.
Michael Kneafsey
in the pair row, making the boat go in circles. Do this long enough for
someone on shore to "notice a boat in trouble". Have the person call
the fire dept where as they come out and launch all their rescue
equipment.
Other than a drill for the fire dept, non of the rest of us saw any
merit in this drill, so as they say, "Don't try this at home"
Mike
Philip W.G. Metcalfe
writes
>I'm currently coaching a pair. Both of the rowers are experienced, but have
>almost no prior experience in a pair. I'm interested in drills that others
>have found to be effective in polishing technique (especially at the catch
>and during the first 1/2 of the drive), especially drills that have a low
>"spill factor". I'd also appreciate any thoughts on rudders - to connect or
>disconnect? that is the question. And of course, any hints on how best to
>keep them going in a straight line would be welcome.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Edwin Kubal
>erk...@is2.nyu.edu
>
>
>"More than one master of oarsmanship has declared that good pair-rowing
>is the acme of watermanship. - In pair-oared rowing there is needed
>a fe-ne-sais-quoi sort of mutual concession of style. One man is stroke
>and the other bow, but there is in good pair-oarsmanship an indefinite
>and unconscious give-and-take action on the part of both men.
>
>Old Harry Clasper, when asked who steered, of himself and his son
>Jack, in a pair, said that 'both steered'.
>
>When two strange partners commence work, they should make up there
>minds not to row 'jealous.' If each begins buy trying to row the other
>round, they will disagree. They had better each try to see who can do
>the least work; sit the boat, paddle gently, studying to drop into
>there water together, to catch the water together, to finish together,
>to feather together (and cleanly), and to recover together. The less
>>work they try to do, while thus seeking to assimilate their motion to
>>each other, the quicker they will settle down.
>
>In the old days pair-oars rowed without rudders. The two oars guided
>the ship. Itwas best to let the stronger man steer. He could thus set
>his partner to do his best in a race, could ease an over or two, or
>could lay that much more extra, from stroke to stroke, according to the
>stern-post required balancing on the land mark that has been selected
>its point 'appui.- We have seen a (rudderless) pair leave awake up
Henley >reach, from island to point, on a glassy evening, as straight as
if a >suveyor's line had been stretched there."
W. B. Woodgate 1889 Boating Ch IX pair-oars
--
Philip W.G. Metcalfe
David K Walker
e wrote:
>
> I'm currently coaching a pair. Both of the rowers are experienced, but have
> almost no prior experience in a pair. I'm interested in drills that others
> have found to be effective in polishing technique (especially at the catch
> and during the first 1/2 of the drive), especially drills that have a low
> "spill factor". I'd also appreciate any thoughts on rudders - to connect or
> disconnect? that is the question. And of course, any hints on how best to
> keep them going in a straight line would be welcome.
I am facing the same new challenges, but from the first day they row the
boat in a straight line, because I trained them all winter on the ergs
to finish the stroke with their legs. Foot pressure maintained at the
finish is what makes a boat sit up straight and run true, whether it is
a sculling boat or a coxless pair.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Edwin Kubal
> erk...@is2.nyu.edu
Kirk
>disconnect? that is the question. And of course, any hints on how best to
>keep them going in a straight line would be welcome.
I'd have to go wih connect. Steering is probably the easiest part there is.
First, have stoke steer, stroke has the bes view of a point and during a race
really doesn't have to do much looking around to make sure they are going
straight. When stroking I would have bow take a gander every now and than to
make sure I wasn't going to hit anything, as well as double check the steering.
Make sure they understand to only move the toe slightly, and while the oars are
in the water, this helps keep the boat set.
If they can pick a point off the stern, from there it is just looking at the
trail they leave to see if they are drifting, as well as lining up two points
to see if they drift apart.
/////////////////////////
Remove "nospam" to e-mail
Philadelphia, PA
www.LPL.com/kirk.stensrud
wil...@my-deja.com
> I am facing the same new challenges, but from the first day they row
the
> boat in a straight line, because I trained them all winter on the ergs
> to finish the stroke with their legs. Foot pressure maintained at the
> finish is what makes a boat sit up straight and run true, whether it
is
> a sculling boat or a coxless pair.
Why does foot presure at the finish make the boat sit and run? and is
this a special rule for small boat classes?
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
T Parker
Steering from stroke...
You're assuming a buoyed multi-laned course? Well ok then steering from
stroke does have advantages, as you say. But...
Stroke is a busy person - he/she has to do the stroking too!
Stroke needs to work marginally harder - or at least more anaerobically
because she/he has a leverage disadvantage at the catch (and an advantage at
the finish).
(This also means that to go straight the rowers need slightly different
stroke profiles.)
From a safety point of view I think I would want the rower who can see
what's ahead doing the steering... at least in most circumstances!
As for learning to go straight for those relatively novice in pairs... I
think this is one of those things where everything affects everything else -
so as balance and timing improve, so will direction (your rowers did
remember to set the rudder straight to begin with?)
Watching the wake is probably the best advice.
Clearly, to go straight the settings on the boat have to be the same on both
sides - assuming you've checked the obvious... make sure the heights are the
same too. In my experience if there is a height difference the boat will
not go straight although I haven't analysed the reasons (too many
possibilities - different effective oar lengths, different timings,
different wetted surface areas on each side etc!)
Tim P
Kirk wrote in message <20000409233006...@ng-cu1.aol.com>...
Kirk
>Steering from stroke...
>You're assuming a buoyed multi-laned course?
Actually, I find steering from stroke easier on and off a buoyed course. You
have a clear shot of where you are coming from, and the trail you leave in the
water gives you a good idea if you're going straight or not. Bow doesn't have
any real advantages over stroke in diverting an emergency, and they can look
around at other boats. I haven't seen a pair yet where both rowers weren't
looking around
.>Stroke is a busy person - he/she has to do the stroking too!
Actually, if you think about it, Bow is evan busier, because bow has to make
sure that they are timed with stroke, and if they are looking around, it's
harder to do that.
JP
If both rowers are looking round during a race then there is a bit of a
disapline problem going on. I steer my pair from bow and my stroke stares
straight at the rudder post and doesn't look round once. Your head is quite
heavy and large and so moving it more often than needed can really upset
balance especially in "novice" crews.
John
Loughborough
"Kirk" <kjste...@aol.comnospam> wrote in message
news:20000410201540...@ng-fy1.aol.com...
David K Walker
>
> > I am facing the same new challenges, but from the first day they row
> the
> > boat in a straight line, because I trained them all winter on the ergs
> > to finish the stroke with their legs. Foot pressure maintained at the
> > finish is what makes a boat sit up straight and run true, whether it
> is
> > a sculling boat or a coxless pair.
>
> Why does foot presure at the finish make the boat sit and run? and is
> this a special rule for small boat classes?
>
to the boat, any and all of the horizontal force that moves the boat is
felt in the foot soles. Any slackening of this force near the finish
will in general occur at different points of time for the two rowers in
the pair, causing the boat to swerve (poor steering). By taking the
entire stroke with the legs in a way that maintains constant weight
(downwards force) on the seat, constant force is applied through the
feet throughout the stroke in fixed proportion to the rower's body mass.
This keeps correctly rigged blades in the water right up to the finish,
which makes the boat run in a straight line with constant acceleration
during the stroke. (Blades that are rigged oversquare will still wash
out.)
This applies to any boat class, but the effect on steering is most
apparent in 2-, 2x and 1x. One reason why you learn more about rowing
in small boats.
Cheers, David
Kirk
>
>If both rowers are looking round during a race then there is a bit of a
>disapline problem going on. I steer my pair from bow and my stroke stares
>straight at the rudder post and doesn't look round once.
That would be ideal, but it i haven't seen it happen yet. but yes, when i
stroke and toe, I look around a bit, and let bow do whatever they want. It's
just as easy to see and stear from stroke. Once you get the hang of it you
don't need to look around as much.
>Your head is quite
>heavy and large and so moving it more often than needed can really upset
>balance especially in "novice" crews.
That is true, but if you think about it, a novice crew won't be out much
without a coach, so he can do most of the checking, while the crew keeps still
and learns to set up the boat.
I think the most important part is going straight, and I think it's easier for
stroke to do that. I've won a few races because our steering was better.