Feet out-- its all about the state of mind????

[sicknote]

Long time observer, first time poster here...

Is there any 'trick' to erging with unstrapped feet??

Have been doing it for a long while, but perhaps a handful of times during a 6k a foot will 'wonder' upwards. My coach says its all about mentally transferring my weight to my feet which is something i don't seam to be able to get the hang of.

Is there any physical methodology to this that would help?

Thanks

[GettingFaster]

Do you row with a lot of layback? That lends itself to feet coming up more at the finish. Also, try to make sure you are keeping the handle moving at the finish.

[celluloid heroes]

ferryman's finish

[lt.wolf]

Just think about your feet staying connected to the erg straps , if that doe snot help just think about sitting a bit taller at the finish , might help.

[caustic]

A lot of folks on the erg get into a habit of keeping the back very straight and rotating at the hips a lot - more than what you would do in the boat. Erging or rowing feet-out forces you to learn how to keep your center of gravity at your hips through the finish, so that you don't transfer that weight bow-ward and dive the bow down on the finish.

When you erg feet out, think about moving your head sternward during that last inch or two of pull with your arms - lead with the chin. It'll help. In addition, don't think about pushing the elbows back, but instead think about doing a strong "tuck" of the handle into your ribcage.

[Steven M-M]

Sicknote – A common flaw in rowing/erging—and this may happen when you’re tired—is, in trying to get more finish length, you raise the knees a little and slide the seat towards the stern/fan. This will take weight off the feet to counter-balance the layback. In a small boat this will dump your weight into the bow and dampen the run. This 'flaw' might actually reduce your erg splits. On the erg you may have to choose: do you want to do everything you can to reinforce good rowing technique or do you want to get the fastest times possible.

[Hace]

hi,

I've been coaching our junior rowers to warm up on the erg with feet out. It's taken them a few sessions of practice to get the hang of it, but as they learn it I suggest they pay attention to the sequence of the stroke: legs, then back then arms. If too much of your body is moving, you'll launch yourself off the back end. If your body is stable, then you can effectively transfer your arm strength to finish the stroke. As an added point of learning how to do this, think about keeping pressure under your feet, especially on the recovery. One way to consider this is to imagine that during the drive, you're pushing the boat forwards: during the recovery, let the boat push you!

cheers


Gijs (approximately pronounced 'Hace')

[132K]

Over the last 5 years I have become a bit of a feet out zealot, it forces you to maintain constant and uniform pressure on the foot plate - and does not allow the 'float' of the body mass at the finish (early hip rotation, early lift of the knees) or a pronounced layback (as both will leave you on your head).

The best solution for comfort at the release/finish is to maintain firm and noticeable pressure on the balls of the feet as you reach the finish, this is a more efficient posture that coaches you to transfer arm/back power via stable core and body control (the previously mentioned 'lead with the chin' also is very helpful).

In general, feet out rowing reinforces proper body position in the 2nd half of the stroke, my novice crews will frequently post the best SS splits with their feet out in the boat - but only after they learn to use the pressure to keep their stability on the feet, the boat will bounce much less and the entire draw becomes more horizontal. That's my 2c.