Chronic issues on the water with boats and technique.

Hi Rowers and Coaches,

Yesterday as I was communicating with a couple rowers over the internet it occurred to me that I ought to write about chronic problems that I encounter and hear about of technique and rigging issues, here goes:

This is not good enough of a hang either :-)

Scullers and sweep rowers seem to be chronically rigged too far into the stern, which forces an insanely uncomfortable lay back.  This leads to washing out of the blades at the finish and contributes to a sore lower back.  The biceps are overdeveloped and the latesimus dorsalis underdeveloped. The finish posture leads to a bunched up recovery where arms away is combined with a forward body angle similar to the hunchback of Notre Dame, and a skyward tug of the knees which is solely the result of contracting the hip flexor, totally leaving out the far more important hamstrings.  The movement of the seat arrives too early to the end of the track which stops the knees and allows a lurch of the upper body which leads to a drop of the handle height, a late squaring and skying of the blade.  In a women's  eight, the shoes are usually set too low making over-compressing of the knees likely and perpetuating the lurch at the catch.  The leg drive tends to be shortened through the steeper angle at which the legs are at extension because of the low foot board position and over-sized shoes.  Men in sweep and in sculling are rigged too low, while women are rigged too high.  In sweep rowing, the inboard handle is either too short, or the span too wide.  The sculls and sweep oars are held in fists instead of fingers creating blisters in the palm of the hand.  Shoulders during the drive look like they are attached to the rower's earlobes.  That catch occurs when the boat sits deep in the stern instead of when the hull comes out on its own buoyancy. During the drive the notion of hanging of the leg drive is fuzzy.  Hanging does not mean contracting muscles above the hip joint while pushing with the legs.  Heels come off the foot board at the finish creating and perpetuating the lack of support in the lower back and the lack of use of the hamstrings to lever the swing of the upper body against the last quarter of the leg drive, which is the most powerful angle, but also the shortest distance the seat travels, creating a drop of the knees indicates the loss of connection between leg drive and upper body swing.  Catches are performed with an early opening of the back, clearly showing that the knees/legs are not the primary driving force of the rowing stroke.  Arms are used in similar manner as a squirrel holds an acorn, which slows down the extension of the legs and uses up the draw too early in the stroke which then prevents a supported finish position.  Foot boards are usually too flat instead of too steep.  Larger junior teams spend more time lining the boats up than worrying about training at target heart rate and building torque.  Junior teams tend to train too little at the aerobic zone, and too often at and above the anaerobic threshold.  Such training leads to injury, mental and physical plateau, an angry coach, because the team is not improving, a dislike of returning to the boathouse, low self esteem.  Coxswain are the most underrated assets in a boathouse.  If the coach new how to coach, the coxswain would make the coach's life a living dream.  Coxswains feel boat and hear what the team is saying without the coach hearing it.  The coach is to a crew what a five star general is to an army, therefore the coxswain is a four star general. 
Ok, got to quit I have a couple stroke analysis to do.
You can find me on www.xenorowingcoach.com and @rowingadviser on twitter.  You can row with me at www.row2go.com.
Happy February and know that I am certain that you can go 20 seconds faster on a 2K if you have never been coached by me or have made it to the national team.

Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.

A better erg score can save parents thousands of dollars in tuition cost..

Are a parent of a high school student who loves to row?  You may be in luck or not...

You are in luck, if your child has a good erg score.  A good erg score, a.k.a. fast 2K on a Concept2 rowing machine, makes rowing coaches foam at the mouth.  If your child is a girl with a good score, you could get thousands of $ off tuition through a rowing scholarship.  For the boys it is a little different.  Men's crew at the University level does not receive funding from the athletic department because of title IX.  However,  a good erg score for a male rower can get him into a great rowing university.  The better the 2K the more likely a H.S. student is to be recruited for a university crew program.

If your child's erg score is not good enough yet... you are in luck, because I can help you.  If your son or daughter is determined to put in the rowing meters, I can help lower the erg score by twenty seconds depending on how much time is left before applying to a university.

Through superior internet speed, helping rowers worldwide, has become the main part of my coaching business.  I receive rowing clips on a daily basis.  These excerpts are between 45 and 60 seconds long, taken at 90 degrees, full side view.  I complete a slow motion stroke analysis by carefully explaining and graphically illustrate the strong and weak points of a rowers technique.  I then explain which technical drills need to be done to improve power application.  Each analysis comes complete with a one month training program. 

Your child's rowing stroke improves dramatically without pain. 

With today's tuition cost averaging $28,000 per year it is an absolute must to utilize a professional stroke analysis, by one of the most successful rower and coach in history.

Learn more at www.xenorowingcoach.com

Sincerely,
Xeno Müller
Olympic gold and silver medalist, Olympic record holder.

Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.

What, my rest is already over?

I coached a junior today.  We did rowing specific resistance work. Without getting into the detail of the workload, a new blog topic came to me:  Why stress over rest when the pieces are hard enough.

Five days before the Olympics

Once I quit my competitive career and began to coach privately, I started hearing from rowers' hellish stories of interval training with little to no time to rest between pieces.  The first few times I heard of these brutal beatings I exclaimed by saying how sorry I was about being subject to such senseless abuse and that it must be hard.  Then after hearing such tales over and over, I started growing a thicker skin and simply responded, by saying: "This type of training leads to nothing else but physiological plateau, mental burnout, technical stagnation, and injury; your coach should be beaten (figuratively speaking) and drug behind the coaching launch (also figuratively speaking) for the amount of pain he or she puts you through."

Hard pieces are meant to teach the athlete to move the boat as efficiently as possible through the water no matter what level of pain is felt.  Therefore giving a break between pieces that is "too" short sabotages the ability to find maximum efficient speed.  Some coaches will argue that the shorter break brings more stress to the rower or crew and makes finding maximum speed in the boat even harder.  Yes.., but what does the rower or crew get out of it when they are barely conscience of their movements... the experience of living with pain and keeping the body moving.  Well that does not make you win races...

I follow the 100%+ method.  No matter how hard or long the pieces are, the rest time is of same length if not more depending on physical distress.  My goal as athlete was always to execute my pieces with the best possible technique and greatest aggression.  I made sure that I kept full control over the boat and that the blades were set in the water as the hands moved to the stern.  It was crucial for me to feel the draw of my hamstrings as I moved the foot board back to my seat.  Thanks to the appropriate rest between pieces, I was able to deliver a sound accelerating stroke, a single scull gliding on the water like a skate on ice with puddles quickly passing the stern.

Xeno
I coach rowers worldwide on www.xenorowingcoach.com and make it easy for others to use their rowing machine at www.row2go.com.

Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.

Mens eights final Sydney 2000 olympic regatta.mpeg

Harry Mahon, one of two coaches of the GBR 8+, was my coach. This eight is a beautiful demonstration of how much technique matters. No eight has yet achieved such perfection. Harry Mahon is awesome, rest in peace Harry.

Xeno Muller

Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.

Lange Training Film 2 XOlympic gold medalist and bronze medalist

I found a gem of technical analysis. Thomas Lange was my idol, although the goal was not to row like him, his toughness is what I wanted to emulate. Great athlete he is.
Xeno Muller

Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.