This illustration, of which many a practical instance will be recalled
by any rowing man of experience, serves to show the importance of
keeping the mind attentive, as far as possible, at all times when
rowing, and still more so while elementary rowing is being learnt, and
also of having, if possible, a mentor to watch the endeavours of the
student, and to inform him of any error of movement which he may
perpetrate, before his mind and muscles become confirmed in an erroneous
line of action.
The reader will therefore see from the above that it is important for
any one who seeks to acquire really scientific oarsmanship, not only to
pay all the mental attention that he can to the movements which he is
executing, but also to secure the presence of some experienced adviser
who will watch the execution of each stroke, and will point out at the
time what movements have been correctly and what have been incorrectly
performed.
Having shown the importance of careful study and tuition in the details
of scientific oarsmanship, we now enter into those details themselves,
but still confine ourselves to what is known as 'fixed' seat rowing,
taking them separately, and dealing first with the stroke itself, as
distinct from the 'recovery' between the strokes.
While carrying out the stroke upon general principles, the oarsman, in
order to produce a maximum effect with a relatively minimum expenditure
of strength, has to study the following details:
1. To keep the back rigid, and to swing from the hips.
2. To maintain his shoulders braced when the oar grasps the water.
3. To use the legs and feet in the best manner and at the exact instant
required.
4. To hold his oar properly.
5. To govern the depth of the blade with accuracy, including the first
dip of the blade into the water to the moment when the blade quits it.
6. To row the stroke home to his chest, bending his arms neither too
soon nor too late.
7. To do so with the correct muscles.
8. To drop the hands and elevate the oar from the water in the right
manner and at the right moment.
Then again, when the stroke is completed and the recovery commences, the
details to be further observed are:
9. To avoid 'hang' or delay of action either with hands or body.
10. To manipulate the feather with accuracy and at the proper instant.
11. To govern the height of the blade during the recovery.
12. To use the legs and feet correctly and at the right moments of
recovery.
13. To keep the button of the oar home to the thowl.
14. To regulate the proportionate speeds of recovery of arms and of
body, relatively to each other.
15. To return the feathered oar to the square position at the right time
and in the correct manner.
16. To raise the hands at the right moment, and so to lower the blade
into the water at the correct instant.
17. To recommence the action of the new stroke at the right instant.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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