Monday I went for a swing row in the scull in the morning and sat port side 2 seat in the 4+ in the afternoon. A good day but again average. Tuesday found me again sitting 2 seat in the 4+ but with a different bow seat. This however was an awful set (balance) day. It improved by the end but was definitely below par. Wednesday I sat 3 Seat in the eight and we went for an hour steady state and were filmed. From the filming I found my flaws that I have when it comes to sweep rowing, which basically comes down to dipping at the catch, or front of the stroke. In the afternoon practice I sat bow seat in the 4+ and we practiced starts. The one thing that is completely different from Penn AC and OU rowing is the pace. At Penn AC the pace is so much faster. In the 4+ we started out at 40+ spm (strokes per minute) and we settled out at a 34-36spm. It is faster but still does not feel rushed which is a great feeling and phenomenon.
On Thursday we split up into 2 eights and a 4+ and raced against the juniors in 6x500m pieces; 2 representing each of the start, body and finish of the race. I sat 3 seat in the eight that we were told was considered the "B" boat. We won all six pieces by at least half a boat length! The starting pieces we raced out of the start at a 42-44spm and settled to 37, with times of 1:23 and 1:19! The body pieces were done with a substitution to the boat at four seat. It is interesting to see the switch happen between two boats side by side. It saves time and the Girls at OU are going to have to learn this in the fall. The body pieces were done at a base pace of 36ish spm and put up a time of about 1:36 for each. The finish piece resemble the start in reverse though. We put up a time of 1:33 and 1:30 in those. It was a good day of racing.
Friday was 4 seat in the eight in the AM and this is the practice that the tech tips come from for this week. In the evening I was again in the single.
On Saturday we did 2 by approx. 2K race pieces because the coarse was closed for the Philadelphia Triathlon. I was in the scull. my first time was 7:24, nothing great but I had to wind a coarse through stopped master's rowers and had a bit of trouble with my point. The second was much better, clear and straight coarse, with a time of 6:45. That is the good news. The bad news is that I am unsure where I will sit for the upcoming Independence day regatta. I was told my eight rowing is very "raw". Of course this should be no surprise since I spend so much time in a scull and prior to this summer had not touched a sweep oar in basically over a year. But, I feel I hold my own in an eight while I think on the race pieces earlier in the week. But, I was told that I look good in the scull, so take that for what it is.
Tech Tips: (sweep)It is very important to keep even oar handle pressure from your point of weight to unweight. This would be the handle path from about half "hands away" to right be for the lift to the catch. The best way to practice this it to do pause at varying points in the sequence on the recovery. It is also very important to get to the "body prep" position TOGETHER and to remain sitting tall and bending through the hips. Another way to help keep this tall position row with your head/chin up. Try to see the person in front of you on your same side over the shoulder of the person directly in front of you.
(scull): It is best when developing your sculling technique to build your stroke from the finish because it sets the balance for the entire recovery. It needs to be quick and clean from the finish and fluid all the way to the catch. Balance is easy to get in a scull at hands away, and body prep. The goal is to keep that balance as you approach the catch. To work on this rowing on the square (or as close to square as possible) and pauses in the recovery.
it's like you speak another language sometimes presh :)
ReplyDeleteps: you are awesome.
What was the pace at OU? You said that the pace at penn ac is faster.
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