moving the "gather" at the release

[Steven M-M]

Mango -- How do you balance the "extra velocity" during the recovery with the much greater "extra drag"?

[caustic]

Caustic,
I think others have been calling that the ferryman's finish. I really don't see it that often among the top scullers. Strikes me as just another legitimate style Granted my eye is not the best so maybe I need to look at some slow motion video. Can you do this and also have the "gather" (pause) at the release? I assume not.

Mango,
That is what I thought you meant but wasn't sure. What my previous two coaches tell me is that it lets the boat run with minimal disturbance. They both emphasized the importance of this. They both were Berkeley graduates with 13 (or maybe 15), world championship appearances and several medals (junior, u23, & senior) between them. It does require very clean releases.
My current coach coaches a more neutral style, but lets me pause if I am doing it in my single. He says it is a good way, but I think doesn't feels it is worth the effort to get a large group of masters with different backgrounds to all row together that way. Another highschool coach I know says there are so many other things to work on that get you speed more easily.

Correct, it's the same thing as the ferryman's finish. And you're also right, there is no pause at the finish. There should be, IMHO, no pause at teh finish. Why stop moving when your body is far ahead of the seat? It's tiring on the core muscles, and serves no purpose for moving the boat at all. During the stroke, there should always be some part of the body moving at every step in the process.

[Arch]

For sure. I get the pause. I even like it and coach it.

What I am asking is, could you get the best of both worlds by moving the pause further up the recover, to say body over or hands away? By getting the extra velocity out of the hull with the hands and/or body movement, then letting the boat glide at a different point in the recovery.

Once the propulsive part of the stroke is over, any acceleration of the hull is just a symptom of the redistribution of the parts of the system. The system as a whole can't be accelerating, as has been pointed out. The only thing that has any effect on the velocity of the system is fluid drag, primarily from water and secondarily though not negligibly from air. Since fluid drag increases exponentially with the speed of the hull, accelerating the hull anywhere during the recovery damagingly increases the only thing that affects the movement of the system as a whole. Little accelerations or "squirts" after the release do not in any way represent better speed for the whole system and they should be avoided to the extent that it is possible, compatibly with being ready for the next catch at the rate you need to row to compete.

[Steven M-M]

Arch -- Clear summary of some confusing stuff--thanks. As I translate this into "how to row," the ideal recovery doesn't involve a pause at the release or fast hands away but a smooth and steady movement from finish to catch, with the speed based on stroke rate. The common focus on fast hands away has more to do with making sure that all that time spent at low stroke rate doesn't translate into being too slow out of the bow at race rate.

[mightyquinn]

Whether you agree with him or not, Gord Hamilton bears reading. You may not become a convert, but he'll make you rethink much of what you think you know about technique. From his "Sculling in a Nutshell" on hands away:

"Keeping your trunk still and bracing your trunk and legs use the energy of the drive and simply change the direction of the oar handles as though you were, in the words of Allen Rosenberg, releasing a frisbee, allowing the handles to swing away without effort. Do not rest at the release. Rest with your hands away."

"Use your elbows to send the handles away from you, and to keep pressure on the pins. Just as the forearms hinge down from stable elbows at the release , the hands/arms swing away after the release while keeping pressure into the blade. They now hinge outward as we begin our “reach”.
( Any unstable movement of the elbows, any movement which removes your frame from the boat as felt in the elbows will have the same effect as having your riggers loose. Think of yourself as a piece of the equipment!)
The arms swing out easily, following the energy of the drive. Your grip on the handles is as though you are holding a sparrow which you do not want to fly away yet still want to avoid harming. Keep your sternum up and make sure that your knees are not “locked” after you have “released the Frisbee” and before you have rotated your pelvis."