Geezus, let it go man!!!! Let it GO!!!!!!!

[rowing]

It never ends with this guy. Looks like he found a gullible TV pinwheel to blow the narrative.

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

There is so much gaseous hyperbole wafting here, nobody should light a match.

[Steven M-M]

In BBC today there is a piece on how World Athletics is struggling to deal with how or if to regulate a clear ~4% performance enhancer, Nike Vaporfly. http://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/51292147

[Stewie Griffin Should Cox]

I suppose we will see how many turn up at the first World Cup with foils.

They won’t just be adopted at the Olympics as a first use for any team.

[lt.wolf]

They are popping up at various places. People don’t seem to mind them and they do seem to add some value in training

One issue that is happening is that people are having trouble with the install, one athlete actually had a foil float away. The company is replacing the foil.


You also have to think about how the third party application can effect caring for the blade. C2 and Croker do an outstanding job servicing blades at regattas I am not sure if they will service blades with the foils applied. Will the adding of the foil void any warranty by the companies?

How soon will it be before the boat companies come up with their own adaptations of the foil?

[Steven M-M]

This is the most thoughtful discussion I've seen of the RF. The rower Matt Brigham with his coach Matt Paul. I appreciate how analytical and open to experimentation Paul is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrreK4vwPps

[lt.wolf]

Aram is gonna get pinged again for using video that is not his.

Ouch ! Mahe getting made an example of in this video after rowing 30k in an eight and attempting to row the single race after. But hey you gotta ride that train while it’s hot.

[Steven M-M]

I mostly ignored the Aram comments but paid attention to what Matt Paul had to say. Bingham wasn't using the RF at Henley and I don't think he did exceptionally well at the Brit trials. (Perhaps Fats and Kit D can give some details.) My take away was that Paul was trying to improve Bingham's front end connection and reduce his shoulder tension.

I also noted that Paul uses Joules to monitor race performance. Does anyone have any advice on how to do this? I use the Empower Oarlock so I know how to measure it. I just don't know how to use Joules to monitor sprint and head race "pace."

[rowing]

I think the foils are going to fall victim to the coronavirus cancelled Olympics.

We'll never know if they would have made a difference!!!!!

Gee, it really was all a conspiracy against the foils.

[sandor]

I mostly ignored the Aram comments but paid attention to what Matt Paul had to say. Bingham wasn't using the RF at Henley and I don't think he did exceptionally well at the Brit trials. (Perhaps Fats and Kit D can give some details.) My take away was that Paul was trying to improve Bingham's front end connection and reduce his shoulder tension.

I also noted that Paul uses Joules to monitor race performance. Does anyone have any advice on how to do this? I use the Empower Oarlock so I know how to measure it. I just don't know how to use Joules to monitor sprint and head race "pace."

Work (measured in joules) is force multiplied by distance
If you train to maintain the same work (ie increasing stroke rates incrementally increase force while keeping stroke length) then you can know where to target work (joules) per stroke.
Sprint vs head race you train to take more strokes (do more increments of work) each minute (ie decrease the recovery time between each bit of work).

[Steven M-M]

Thanks, Sandor. I should be back on the water soon and will experiment. As I understand it, Joules should be more constant as the rate goes up whereas Watts will vary with stroke rate. Perhaps understanding Joules could help me find sustainable race pressures for different distances. Through experience I know my race stroke rates.

[Stewie Griffin Should Cox]

I mostly ignored the Aram comments but paid attention to what Matt Paul had to say. Bingham wasn't using the RF at Henley and I don't think he did exceptionally well at the Brit trials. (Perhaps Fats and Kit D can give some details.) My take away was that Paul was trying to improve Bingham's front end connection and reduce his shoulder tension.

I also noted that Paul uses Joules to monitor race performance. Does anyone have any advice on how to do this? I use the Empower Oarlock so I know how to measure it. I just don't know how to use Joules to monitor sprint and head race "pace."

Lots of focus on a race where Foils were not used.

We will see who uses them during the World Cup.

Ive blocked Aram on You Tube. I kept getting recommendations and honestly i found most of his technical analysis complete tosh.

Ill add, I am glad my international coaching days were not in the age of strain gauges and watching mid race joules and blah blah. There are still those athletes whojust know how to "get it done" and row outside of their typical performance envelope to do it.

[KitD]

I mostly ignored the Aram comments but paid attention to what Matt Paul had to say. Bingham wasn't using the RF at Henley and I don't think he did exceptionally well at the Brit trials. (Perhaps Fats and Kit D can give some details.) My take away was that Paul was trying to improve Bingham's front end connection and reduce his shoulder tension.

Brigham did pretty well at the November trials. He was the next in line after the bunch of current internationals. I suspect he's being watched by the coaches. Whether blade appendages work for or against him in that regard will be interesting

[JD]

I have no idea if these are any good. I do recall that some were skeptical about hatchets back in 1982 (yes, I am that old) and they made a huge difference. Can another jump in efficiency of that kind be made? 5% or so increase in speed is a huge amount of drag to overcome. I'd like to hear from Dick and Pete. When they bring out Smoothie 2 Over-the-Top Fat Lip Non-vortex blades, I'll know.

[KiwiCanuck]

I have no idea if these are any good. I do recall that some were skeptical about hatchets back in 1982 (yes, I am that old) and they made a huge difference. Can another jump in efficiency of that kind be made? 5% or so increase in speed is a huge amount of drag to overcome. I'd like to hear from Dick and Pete. When they bring out Smoothie 2 Over-the-Top Fat Lip Non-vortex blades, I'll know.

Erm.... it was 1992... 1991 worlds, Macon blades, 1992 Oly, "big blades".
One of the prominent Canadian coaches back then remarked that the big advantage to big blades was in the first 500 m because there was less "slip" at the start of the race because of the bigger surface area. More moving the boat and less pulling the blade through the water. After that, mostly people were dealing with the same engine as they had before, so once the boat was up to speed the advantage diminished.
I don't know enough about the foil attachments and I'm not aware of anyone having done a lot of CFD on the complex movement of blades in water with and without these attachments

[Stelph]

Thanks, Sandor. I should be back on the water soon and will experiment. As I understand it, Joules should be more constant as the rate goes up whereas Watts will vary with stroke rate. Perhaps understanding Joules could help me find sustainable race pressures for different distances. Through experience I know my race stroke rates.

If you are interested in training with Joules then id recommend poking around on the rowperfect site as its very easy to get the software to show Joules, so they have often talked about training with them

https://www.rowperfect.co.uk/teach-rowe ... p-in-rate/


They also had an interesting idea how to use Joules to target and train for a 2k time, something Juri Jaansen apparently did using the RP
https://www.rowperfect.co.uk/rowperfect ... ce-splits/