by Tom Siddall, Harvard Heavyweight Assistant Coach, USRowing Para High-Performance Coach & Boston Training Center Coordinator Setting catch angles depends on the boat and the athlete. For example, I have used different angles for this year’s PR3 National Team four compared to Harvard eights, which were also different from eights at Tufts and the U19 National Team/ODP system. At a minimum, I target a 54° catch angle. Often, people don’t realize how far the oar has to go to achieve that angle relative to the pin—it may require moving the rigger. As a quick shout out, I owe a lot of my know ..read more

Recently, this device was featured in row2k’s Rowing Hack: Handle Height Bells. Here’s a bit more info on this home-made, hand-height guide and instructions on how to make your own. First, the guide can help rowers in two ways: Keep level hand heights on the recovery Practice raising hands into the catch Level hand height Position the rower at the catch. Shins vertical, good body angle, arms extended, and hands at the desired height.  Place the guide so the hanging bells are in front of the rower’s knuckles. The bells can be raised or lowered using the round cord lock. While rowin ..read more

by John Thornell, Grok Rowing Founder, Stonington Crew Girls Head Coach, Stonington Community Rowing, Inc. Director of Rowing If you have used the erg suspension strap, you’ll appreciate this clever idea. The strap’s bracket is designed to fit in the Concept 2 erg handle’s u-bolt. But it can be a little snug with the chain connector swivel sharing the same space. If you have a spare erg handle lying around the boathouse, it can make things a lot easier! Even the older wooden handles work well. Just leave the handle that’s connected to the chain in the erg’s handle hook or resting against the ..read more

by Robert Kendrick, cyclist and rower Many of us grow up swinging bats or racquets or clubs. We go to the gym and lift barbells and dumbbells. We open cabinets and doors. Give us a handle, we want to pull.  Unlearning this habit is the first, best step on the erg for a novice rower. Unfortunately, many who go to the gym or buy an erg for home are on their own with technique. This can create some frustrations with fitness, or worse, lead to muscle injuries. I found that out after buying a Concept 2 rowing machine in early 2020. I've been a bicycle road racer since 1980, and I'd used the e ..read more

by John Thornell, Grok Rowing Founder, Stonington Crew Girls Head Coach An earlier blog post presented a simple method to position rowers at desired catch and finish angles: string! This is particularly useful in singles where it’s challenging for scullers to see pre-set angle markings on the gunwales or stern deck—markings that they should align their oars with. (To learn more about setting these angles, please visit the Catch and Finish Angles, Why and How to Set Them blog post). In team boats, there’s another simple way to position rowers. Sitting at the finish, rowers can simply reference ..read more

by Joe DeLeo, Head Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Portuguese Rowing Federation, owner of LEO Training, and co-founder of Science of Rowing If you’ve read our earlier posts about isometrics Can Isomeric Training Improve Rowing Technique? and Isometrics Help Rowers Apply Strength, Improve Performance, you might be wondering how to implement these exercises to get the rowing-specific strength and skill benefits that isometric training offers? In this post, Joe DeLeo, Head Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Portuguese Rowing Federation, owner of LEO Training, and co-fo ..read more

by John Thornell, Grok Rowing Founder, Stonington Crew Girls Head Coach Online coaching has become increasingly popular during the pandemic. Today, rowers are receiving much more than a training program by email. They're also getting valuable technical coaching through video conferencing.  This was the case for 59-year-old Donald Cramb, who decided to improve his fitness through indoor rowing in September of last year.  "After a couple of months thrashing around on the machine, I got to the point where I was no longer enjoying it," says Cramb. He felt that his technique was lacking ..read more

by John Thornell, Grok Rowing Founder, Stonington Crew Girls Head Coach Since I published the Can Isomeric Training Improve Rowing Technique? post, I had the good fortune of connecting with Joe DeLeo, the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Portuguese Rowing Federation. Joe is also the owner of LEO Training, a resource for strength & conditioning and injury rehabilitation for the sport of rowing, and co-founder of Science of Rowing, a monthly publication that mobilizes academic journals to provide coaches and rowers with practical applications. When I told Joe I was search ..read more

by Kevin MacDermott, Head Coach Trinity College Men’s Rowing, Associate Director Craftsbury Sculling I don’t know the exact origins of this particular version of the suspension demo (maybe a question for an upcoming Dr. Rowing article), but I was first introduced to it circa 1995 by Chuck Hamilton, a former teacher, and coach at Northfield Mt. Hermon School.  I also remember watching the legendary coaches Norman Graf and Larry Gluckman using this simple, effective exercise with many athletes through the years.   In my junior year of high school, I recall Chuck guiding a gro ..read more

Using an isometric exercise, I have seen novice rowers search for and find the muscles needed to "hang" on the erg handle. Light bulbs went off as their brains and bodies made the necessary connection. Similarly, experienced rowers have fine-tuned their technique to suspend their bodyweight off the handle effectively. This made me wonder about using isometrics beyond the original intent of strength training. Could isometrics help athletes develop motor skills and improve their rowing technique? Unfortunately, I couldn't find much information online. I bought a textbook on motor behavior. Nada ..read more