Aggressiveness of the Catch and Leg Drive

[mightyquinn]

W -- No disagreement from me, 'then' is too long. At least for me some sort of nano-pause/breath between the time when the blades begin to enter and the load is applied makes for a more effective catch; more of a not rushing than an actual pause. Hard to find the words....

This is why I find teaching catch the most difficult, because you "Sort of" do exactly what you are teaching people not to do... :^)

In a single at low rates you can be a bit softer, pick up the water at a pry during entry, but not apply balls on blinding power until the blade is fully immersed, there's minimal check and most effective drive length. That doesn't translate to a quad racing at 36!

Hard to find the words, how about a picture or 2? Full reach, blades out: https://scullingfool.smugmug.com/Charle ... /i-mZfPgQJ; Blades in:https://scullingfool.smugmug.com/Charle ... /i-GVPr3gT. Boat travels about a foot between the two shots; almost no apparent change in body angle; arms hinge from the shoulders and drop the blades in, with very slight splash; seat appears to travel about an inch toward the bow. If I'm not mistaken, this is James McGaffigan, who knows how to move a single pretty well.

[Steven M-M]

One thing that has always impressed me about good athletes (not me) is that they somehow create more time; they can be quick and precise while at the same time relaxed, even lazy. To me, Caustic, anything in sport that looks desperate is rarely effective

[Steven M-M]

MQ -- Yes, great pictures; for me they show the moment just before the loading of the blades, the nano-pause. Thanks.

[sul]

The catch is a vertical motion, yes, but it is accompanied by the last inches of leg compression into the stern while the blade drops quickly.

Sul, check out the 3 minute mark of this video (and it shows up in lots of other parts of the video too):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XG4yxuXUVg

Does that illustrate what you're talking about?

A coach I had often referred to that motion as "the banana peel slip."

I have trouble demonstrating it on that particular vid, though I use the same spot, but I found this from John Greenly which I think is very useful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewVwZhOVeEk

[Steven M-M]

OK forget the nano-pause idea. The more I think about it and the more I look at the S brothers vids, I see continuous movement at low and high SR. In MQ's 2 picture sequence if the seat moved ever so slightly into the bow between just before and 1/2 way covered blades, then there is some rowing in and some pressure on the partially covered blade.

[caustic]

One thing that has always impressed me about good athletes (not me) is that they somehow create more time; they can be quick and precise while at the same time relaxed, even lazy. To me, Caustic, anything in sport that looks desperate is rarely effective

Sure, if they LOOK desperate, that's a bad sign. But the intent is to translate to the rower the critical importance of ensuring technical precision is maintained, regardless of the outside circumstances. A rower who gets flustered because a boat is 4 feet of their stern is one who will not have the presence of mind to ensure that their rowing is precise enough when learning and training, and that will translate into negative effects on race day.

Sure, on race day, everything *looks* easy. But it doesn't *feel* easy. The purpose of that exercise was to impress upon the rowers the absolute strict and uncompromising necessity of having excellent technique. Doesn't matter if you're a big strong rower or a small weak one, it's about simulating the absolutely worst case condition where the only solution is to be as near to perfect as possible. A poor athlete will give up once they experience pain. A decent athlete will find a pain level then can tolerate and maintain, and a great athlete will push through that pain as it increases, all without compromising their rowing. Teaching them how to survive in a world of pain is part of coaching. Teaching them that they CAN, and that they will not die, is part of what that exercise does.

Part of coaching is not just in teaching technique, or getting athletes tired physically. It's about conditioning them mentally to handle the requirements of winning, and to understand what it takes, mentally, to be faster than everyone else. Anyone can sit down at an erg and pull a 10K every day for 6 months, or get into a single and row every day for 6 months. But a great athlete understand that HOW they address these workouts mentally is going to determine whether or not they make progress and improve, vs. just sticking around.

[beagle]

OK forget the nano-pause idea. The more I think about it and the more I look at the S brothers vids, I see continuous movement at low and high SR. In MQ's 2 picture sequence if the seat moved ever so slightly into the bow between just before and 1/2 way covered blades, then there is some rowing in and some pressure on the partially covered blade.

center of the blade being in the water (not full coverage) is enough to provide propulsive force, which overcomes drag and starts the boat-rower system moving forward and full coverage provides full propulsive force

[lt.wolf]

That is McGaffigan, he is not bad. We go toe to toe you could say.

[JD]

OK forget the nano-pause idea. The more I think about it and the more I look at the S brothers vids, I see continuous movement at low and high SR. In MQ's 2 picture sequence if the seat moved ever so slightly into the bow between just before and 1/2 way covered blades, then there is some rowing in and some pressure on the partially covered blade.

From the blade perspective, we don't want to row it, but we do slightly from the handle perspective because otherwise, with the pins moving forward over the water at maybe 3 mps and the blades even faster, the blades would completely back in causing check. We need to hook, swing, drop, grab, attach...there just isn't a word for it in any language. It explains why the catches are so darn hard. Pounding it, like one is being chased by Jaws, might get you close to a good catch but it usually just covers up mistakes. We run out of time with the approaching races and that just has to suffice. Funny how some claim rowing isn't a skill sport when it takes forever to get good at it.