Timing is Everything In Rowing - Learn Proper Drive Phase Technique to Maximize Your Rowing Stroke

[@frankzehelein]

Thank your for this and your other great videos! They really helped me to understand the different phases and what to look for in each phase. I have a question on the upper body opening. Around the 8:50 minute mark you go into the details to first go with the legs, then upper body (and then arms). If I slow down the video it seems like you start with the upper body rather soon in the flow and smoothly go through the upper body motion until the end. Is this how to do it most efficiently or rather wait with opening the body a tiny bit longer?

[@roweracademy]

Thank you for taking the time to leave the comment and ask the question! Rowing is a very nuanced sport, and you are clearly picking up on that fact. As you initially press the legs, the core should be solid (you should feel strong and stable in the low back, glutes, hips, and abs) and the arms relaxed. That inital stable push need only be fractions of a second before you have created enough acceleration (and speed on the flywheel/fan), that you can then add the back. The STRONGEST portion of the rowing stroke is when the legs and back are working together. And the most DYNAMIC/EFFECTIVE point to utilize the back is literally a few split seconds after the initial stable press. Wait too long to open the back, you miss effectiveness and row robotically. Open the back too early, and it feels heavy and slow across the entire drive (not too mention more tiring). Not too get too far down the rabbit hole, but fan resistance effects the best time to open the back. The higher fan setting, the longer (in fractions of a second) it takes the legs to get the machine to speed before the right time to open the back. The lower the fan setting, the shorter (again, fractions of a second) before its the right time to open the back. All this is to say, EXPERIMENT in your rowing a bit. Play around with how quickly you decide to open the back on your rowing strokes. Wait shorter, wait longer, then find the sweet spot. The sweet spot feels natural and dynamic (not too heavy, not too light, very Goldilocks and the 3 Bears). As for the smoothness of the stroke... thank you for that compliment. In rowing, or any sport, moving smoothly (which essentially makes it look easy) is the key to fast and efficient strokes. Rowing takes place in water. Water is the definition of "fluid." And the rowing machine does its best to mimic that non water feel. So, we want to move with the environment we are in, and ensure our movements are fluid. Strong, absolutely. Aggressive, absolutely. But also fluid. More videos coming soon in which we will dive even deeper into drive mechanics and application. So stay tuned! Thanks again for a great question. Onward, Luke

[@frankzehelein]

@@roweracademy wow - thank your for this super detailed answer! Very helpful and really appreciated! 👍

[@dembo1981]

@@roweracademy i think this has to be actually in the video, there is still much space for improvement of how to pass the information to the audience. the video could be shorter and more structured. just like this comment, which is much better explaining than the video itself. thank you for putting your time into helping us

[@JorgeAlnino-k9e]

I was going to ask the same question but there it is. Your back is at 12 very early. So it's not legs, body, arms strictly. Why? I really liked the explanation: use your biggest muscles in order to gain advantage of inertia. In addition I think it will be useful the explanation of setting properly the flywheel in order to get a "good" connection. Thanks for explaining the why!

[@roweracademy]

@@JorgeAlnino-k9e Thank you for taking the time to comment. I am cranking out content as quickly as possible and will be discussing the flywheel, resistance, drag factor in coming videos. In the meantime, I really appreciate you watching the content and engaging with it. I hope your rowing journey is going well, and please stay tuned for more content in the near future! Onward. - Luke

[@tobim.5490]

Thank you very much! Can you please show an example of how the force curve on the Concept 2 should optimally look? In some illustrations you can see that it should not start on the bottom line, but a little further up on the vertical axis. But somehow I can't get it right

[@roweracademy]

Thank you for your question/suggestion. A force curve discussion is definitely in the queue of videos. In the meantime, may I ask what damper setting (number) and/or drag factor do you set your machine fan to when you row? Depending on fan setting, it can be easier/harder to get more instantaneous power on the legs. BUT, also depending on fan setting you may/may not want to see the force curve starting high up. If using a lower fan setting (1 being the extreme), the machine is much lighter and easier to get the legs going faster. The result is a higher entry point for the force curve on the graph. Conversely, if the machine is set to a higher fan setting (level 10), the machine is much heavier and it takes longer to get the leg speed/power up, so the curve is more likely to start near zero. Regardless of fan setting and quickness of legs off the initial press, you really want to make sure you have a smooth bell curve. So, there can be situations in which focusing too much on initial power can create a higher entry point for power, but also a quicker tail off of power on the back end (i.e. you have front loaded your stroke. Let me know your fan setting and let's continue the conversation! Onward - Luke

[@tobim.5490]

@@roweracademy Thank you very much for the detailed answer. I am currently in basic winter training and have set the fan to level 3. Basically, I'm currently trying to concentrate on technique and a low basic heart rate. I am 192cm tall and weigh 90kg. I only started rowing on the water in the summer and probably still have a lot of work to do on my technique. However, I have my roots in professional canoe racing, which I stopped 5 years ago after 30 years. Rowing is a new challenge for me and it's important for me to acquire a good technique. I am very happy that I can learn so much on your channel...at least for my ergometer training. Cheers Tobi

[@roweracademy]

@@tobim.5490 You definitely have a leg up, since you are coming from canoe racing. With your background, you understand how water moves and how to move a shell across it. And the rowing machine is based off an attempt to mimic the water. So, bringing your knowledge from canoe onto the rowing machine will help you maximize efficiency and speed. A level 3 setting on the fan is pretty standard (although drag factor allows a little more specificity within the fan setting). Level three should allow a good mix of resistance on the chain during the drive and freedom of the fan to spin on the recovery. Please keep me posted on your rowing journey and stay tuned for more content. Welcome to the rowing world! Onward - Luke

[@tobim.5490]

@@roweracademy Thanks Luke, yes the feeling for the water is there. Nevertheless, you have to rethink a lot when rowing, because in canoe racing the legs are only used for balance and in the upper body the force on the paddle is primarily generated by rotation from the torso in combination with the latissimus, shoulders, triceps and chest. In rowing, around 80% comes from the legs, the chest and triceps are only used for stabilisation and the latissimus is mainly used in the final phase of the stroke. I am therefore very interested in improving my power transfer and I think that the power curve is a good indicator. I would therefore be interested to know what you think the optimum curve should look like.

[@raminr2784]

Great video, thank you

[@roweracademy]

I am glad you found the video helpful. Thanks for watching. I appreciate it, and I really appreciate you taking the time to comment. - Luke

[@petersaffrie4986]

Lean and squeeze. Great!

[@roweracademy]

I'm happy to see you like the wording! Thanks for tuning in and for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it, and hope everything is going well in your rowing journey. - Luke

[@Kristallreiner77]

Hi . thank you for the Details :) that is amazig

[@roweracademy]

Glad to know you found the video helpful. Thank you for subscribing! There are more videos, on all sorts of different technical rowing topics coming soon. - Luke

[@Scissorman]

Great, thanks

[@roweracademy]

You're welcome, @scissorman. More tutorials and other content coming soon.

[@grahamberrie2462]

Press and open, love it

[@roweracademy]

Graham, I'm happy you are finding useful cues in the videos. More content coming soon. Thank you for watching. Onward, Luke

[@五郎槙島]

finally good vid on rower

[@roweracademy]

I'm happy to hear you found the video useful. I'm working on releasing more content at a pretty regular interval, so please stay tuned for more nuanced discussions about the rowing stroke. - Luke

[@Wael.h]

Thanks, i was rowing the wrong way pulling with my hands across all the range of motion 😅

[@roweracademy]

With a more relaxed hang across the drive, you should see an improvement in speed AND durability in longer pieces/sets. Happy to know the video was useful. Stay tuned for more content. And thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate it. - Luke