Sunday, April 20, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Fun Quote
My 8th graders are reading The Call of the Wild, by Jack London.
Here's a quote to think about.
"There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of live, and beyond which life cannot
rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive,
and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive. This ecstasy, this
forgetfulness of living, comes to the artist, caught up and out of himself in a
sheet of flame; it comes to the soldier, war-mad on a stricken field and refusing
quarter; and it came to Buck, leading the pack, sounding the old wolf cry, straining
after the food that was alive and that fled swiftly before him through the
moonlight. He was sounding the deeps of his nature, and of the parts of his nature
that were deeper than he, going back into the womb of Time. He was mastered by the
sheer surging of life, the tidal wave of being, the perfect joy of each separate
muscle, joint, and sinew and that it was everything that was not death, that it was
aglow and rampant, expressing itself in movement, flying exultantly under the stars
and over the face of dead matter that did not move."
Here's a quote to think about.
"There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of live, and beyond which life cannot
rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive,
and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive. This ecstasy, this
forgetfulness of living, comes to the artist, caught up and out of himself in a
sheet of flame; it comes to the soldier, war-mad on a stricken field and refusing
quarter; and it came to Buck, leading the pack, sounding the old wolf cry, straining
after the food that was alive and that fled swiftly before him through the
moonlight. He was sounding the deeps of his nature, and of the parts of his nature
that were deeper than he, going back into the womb of Time. He was mastered by the
sheer surging of life, the tidal wave of being, the perfect joy of each separate
muscle, joint, and sinew and that it was everything that was not death, that it was
aglow and rampant, expressing itself in movement, flying exultantly under the stars
and over the face of dead matter that did not move."
Saturday, February 2, 2008
2k Race Plan
Please take a few minutes to share a 2k race plan that either worked very well or not very well at all.
My personal favorite is what I did today. 10-15 hard strokes, then nail goal split until 1000m. At 500m in, there should be absolutely no problems. It should actually be more difficult to slow down to your goal split than anything else. 500m-1000m is still fairly easy. Coming into the half way point I like to be very close to my target split. As long as I know I'm in the ball game at the half way point, I know I'll be fine. Around 1200m in, I start to let the rate creep up a bit as I try to drop the split by a second. 1500m the rate is still climbing and I take another move to drop the split. Sprinting all depends on what is left. If I did the rest of the race correctly, there won't be much of a sprint. A sprint usually indicates too much energy left over and not enough time to use it. Don't worry about the sprint. My wife says if your last 500m is any part of your race plan that you might as well start over. Plan the body of your race and the last 500 will take care of itself.
Any other suggestions or non-suggestions?
My personal favorite is what I did today. 10-15 hard strokes, then nail goal split until 1000m. At 500m in, there should be absolutely no problems. It should actually be more difficult to slow down to your goal split than anything else. 500m-1000m is still fairly easy. Coming into the half way point I like to be very close to my target split. As long as I know I'm in the ball game at the half way point, I know I'll be fine. Around 1200m in, I start to let the rate creep up a bit as I try to drop the split by a second. 1500m the rate is still climbing and I take another move to drop the split. Sprinting all depends on what is left. If I did the rest of the race correctly, there won't be much of a sprint. A sprint usually indicates too much energy left over and not enough time to use it. Don't worry about the sprint. My wife says if your last 500m is any part of your race plan that you might as well start over. Plan the body of your race and the last 500 will take care of itself.
Any other suggestions or non-suggestions?
Monday, October 22, 2007
Men's Light 4+ 10-13
This is only a short clip in which we mostly see Chris and Brian. Chris, make certain that the hands move away from the body quickly. You'll see a bit of a delay. Brian, watch the dip. You can see your outside shoulder drop down and your hands come down towards the gunwhale, just when you should be raising them to place the blade. Zach, make certain that your blade is in the water before you start the drive. Adam, I don't see much, but what I see looks pretty good.
Saturday 10-13 Row up Mon
First of all, please blame Anthea for the video quality. Second, watch how much water we are getting. Every stroke needs to be a full stroke. Imagine how many strokes you took that day. If you miss only an inch of water per stroke, how much water is that? We need to be lifting the hands into the catch, almost at 3/4 slide. I'm sure you've all heard of "backing it in." That is exactly what you should be doing. There should almost be a slight backing where the weight of a full blade of water builds up before you start the drive. It should feel heavier than you are probably used to. We must reduce the amount of missed water and that will become a focus going into these next two weeks of practice and regattas.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
10/8/07 Tanks - Set
10/8/07
Tanks
Set
We have spent that first several weeks of the fall season getting used to rowing with each other. The main focus has been connection. This has been a major change from what most rowers were initially taught. At this point, although there is still work to be done, I feel confident that everyone on the team understands what I am looking for are trying to figure out how to actually do it. I don’t expect these changes to be made in a few weeks. I do expect that you continue to work on them and make them part of the mental checklist that every rower should have going through their head all throughout any practice or race. I have a fairly good idea of what my strengths and weaknesses are and I am constantly evaluating myself every time I hit the water. All of you should as well.
That being said, the next issue that I want to discuss is set. I believe that it is entirely possible to have a very set boat that doesn’t go anywhere. It is also possible to have a boat that drags oars every stroke, but is still moving very fast. I personally would prefer to have the fast boat than the pretty boat, but I know that not all agree. If a boat is offset and oars are dragging, that feedback is immediate; far more immediate than figuring out your boat speed. Every year, I hear far more complaints about set than about speed. Although I would like to change that mindset, there are a few points that I would like to make about set.
Set (boat at even-keel in water) is the result of many different factors. The majority of the factors that decide set are established during the drive. A shell is most stable when the oars are in the water, so that should make sense. Although handle levels on the recovery are part of that, all the recovery can do is maintain set. That means that it had to be established during the drive. All oars must enter the water at the same time, at the same depth. Pressure must be applied together and evenly. Acceleration must occur together. If any rower is jumping on the catch while others are accelerating through the release, your boat will not be set. Handles must remain horizontal, coming directly towards the ribs. Once connection is lost, the outside hand (with the outside elbow even) is used to slightly tap down on the handle and extract the blade on the square. You should be getting enough clearance at this point to row on the square if necessary. This should be the lowest that your hands get; if you are having trouble squaring up early without hitting the water, fix it here. Just get more clearance. With the weight of the outside hand on the handle, the inside hand only is used to feather. This can be done with the fingers and thumb alone, leaving the inside wrist flat. During the recovery, aside from the weight of your outside hand, all of your body weight remains on the seat and not on the handle. The handle levels should not change as you get squared. As you hit ¾ slide and your heels are lifting up, your hands should start to rise as you begin to drop the blade into the water. Your blade should hit the water before you have hit full slide. This will result in “backing the blade in.” The weight of a full blade of water will well up on the face of the blade and you will never miss water.
To summarize, the handle makes a rectangle. Beginning at the catch, the handle remains parallel to the water as it is drawn in towards the ribs. Before hitting the body and as connection is lost, the outside hand taps down on the handle and the blade is extracted on the square. The inside hand feather as the outside hand sends the handle away, on a new horizontal line. Once square and at ¾ slide, the outside hand removes its weight from the handle, allowing the blade to enter the water.
Tanks
Set
We have spent that first several weeks of the fall season getting used to rowing with each other. The main focus has been connection. This has been a major change from what most rowers were initially taught. At this point, although there is still work to be done, I feel confident that everyone on the team understands what I am looking for are trying to figure out how to actually do it. I don’t expect these changes to be made in a few weeks. I do expect that you continue to work on them and make them part of the mental checklist that every rower should have going through their head all throughout any practice or race. I have a fairly good idea of what my strengths and weaknesses are and I am constantly evaluating myself every time I hit the water. All of you should as well.
That being said, the next issue that I want to discuss is set. I believe that it is entirely possible to have a very set boat that doesn’t go anywhere. It is also possible to have a boat that drags oars every stroke, but is still moving very fast. I personally would prefer to have the fast boat than the pretty boat, but I know that not all agree. If a boat is offset and oars are dragging, that feedback is immediate; far more immediate than figuring out your boat speed. Every year, I hear far more complaints about set than about speed. Although I would like to change that mindset, there are a few points that I would like to make about set.
Set (boat at even-keel in water) is the result of many different factors. The majority of the factors that decide set are established during the drive. A shell is most stable when the oars are in the water, so that should make sense. Although handle levels on the recovery are part of that, all the recovery can do is maintain set. That means that it had to be established during the drive. All oars must enter the water at the same time, at the same depth. Pressure must be applied together and evenly. Acceleration must occur together. If any rower is jumping on the catch while others are accelerating through the release, your boat will not be set. Handles must remain horizontal, coming directly towards the ribs. Once connection is lost, the outside hand (with the outside elbow even) is used to slightly tap down on the handle and extract the blade on the square. You should be getting enough clearance at this point to row on the square if necessary. This should be the lowest that your hands get; if you are having trouble squaring up early without hitting the water, fix it here. Just get more clearance. With the weight of the outside hand on the handle, the inside hand only is used to feather. This can be done with the fingers and thumb alone, leaving the inside wrist flat. During the recovery, aside from the weight of your outside hand, all of your body weight remains on the seat and not on the handle. The handle levels should not change as you get squared. As you hit ¾ slide and your heels are lifting up, your hands should start to rise as you begin to drop the blade into the water. Your blade should hit the water before you have hit full slide. This will result in “backing the blade in.” The weight of a full blade of water will well up on the face of the blade and you will never miss water.
To summarize, the handle makes a rectangle. Beginning at the catch, the handle remains parallel to the water as it is drawn in towards the ribs. Before hitting the body and as connection is lost, the outside hand taps down on the handle and the blade is extracted on the square. The inside hand feather as the outside hand sends the handle away, on a new horizontal line. Once square and at ¾ slide, the outside hand removes its weight from the handle, allowing the blade to enter the water.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)