The Rowing Stroke
Although many non rowers don't realise, rowing and sculling are highly techincal sports. The stroke is broken down into four main categories, the catch, drive, finish and recovery, each following into each other to create an effective stroke. In rowing (sweep oar) each individual holds one blade/oar, rotating their body round outside the boat, whereas sculling requires the athletes to use two shorter blades, one in each hand, this discipline not requiring the body to rotate.
Boats in sculling are singles (1x), doubles (2x) and quads (4x), in rowing there are pairs (2-), coxed fours (4+), coxless fours (4-) and the blue ribbon events, the eights (8+). Eights and coxed fours require a coxwain (cox for short) to steer the boat, and shout commands to the rest of the crew, in these boats they are the most important person. Typically coxes are small, weighing a minimum of 55kg (50kg for women), the most welcome member to any club they are looked after by crews and dont have to pay race entries!!!
Boats are made of various parts as shown below, each part having an important purpose.
The Catch
The catch is the part of the stroke where the spoon of the oar enters the water. This is done by raising the hands on the way to the front stops position (where the shins are vertical), before pressing with the legs to propell the boat, ideally the spoon will be completely in the water as the wheels on the seat change direction. This is a quick clean movement and stops when the spoon is just covered in the water, the colour should always be seen and not go to deep.
An effective catch should have both backsplash and frontsplash, the backsplash show that the oar (and therefore the rower) is still moving forward as the blade starts to enter the water, the frontsplash occurs as pressure is applied in the opposite direction, the air pocket created by entering the water then closes, as the water splashes agains the front of the spoon it creates frontsplash, together making a 'V'. Backsplash without frontsplash indicates going in the water too early, no splash shows you are travelling at the same speed at water, therefore missing part of the stroke, and frontsplash without backsplash inicates travelling faster than the water, again missing the stroke.
The Drive
The drive is the main propulsive part of the stroke, it is from the catch to the finish/extraction. The athlete firstly squeezes with the legs till they are flat, then rocks the body backwards till about 5-10 degrees past vertical towards the bow, followed by a light arm movement just bringing it into the body, not pulling hard with the arms (rowing is all in the legs!).
During these body movments the spoon of the blade is maintained at the same height in the water, therefore the athletes hand heights must also remain at the same height, finishing near the ribs.
The Finish
The finish, or extraction is the process of taking the oar out of the water. This is simply done by tapping the hands down in a vertical motion (in rowing only the outside hand should apply this pressure). When out of the water the athlete can then feather the blade, reducing air resistance, whilst quickly moving the hands away from the body.
A clean finish occurs when the blade is not feathered until out of the water and the blade was not too deep before extraction. The force applied during the drive should leave an air pocket behind the spoon of the blade in the water, this causes the puddle you see and allows for the blade to be extracted easier, without dragging any water upwards.
The Recovery
Named appropriatly as you dont need much energy, you just relax, catch your breath, and wait till the next stroke. Once the hands have gone away quickly and low, the body follows at about the same speed. The body rock is done from the hips, and the back remains straight, this movement requires flexible hamstrings. After rocking over a few degrees, it is now time to travel up the slide, allowing the legs to flex the momentum of the boat sends the body towards the frontstops position. The legs should not be used to pull up the slide, in theory it is most effective for the body not to move at all, and the boat moves underneath, compressing the legs, just imagine the force of 8 big rowers travelling quickly up the slide, its a lot of force in the wrong direction. To avoid a sudden change of direction at the catch, a braking force should be applied to slow the bodies movement.
During all of this the hands are maintained at the same low height throughout, with the whole crew doing the same, moving at the same speed. As the hands pass over the knees rowers should start to square the blade, preparing it for the catch. In sweep oar rowing during the recovery the athlete needs to rotate around their rigger to maximilise legnth keeping both arms locked out straight, afterall, the longer the stroke is, the less strokes you have to take in a race.