Why are you doing that? Are you even doing it right?
All too often we do a drill, like chopping or pausing, because we were told to do so and not given much more information. As a rower or a coach we do specific drills or exercises because your coach made you do them or it was read somewhere. STOP THAT!
A drill is a tool. It’s specifically crafted for a narrow purpose and has a definitive outcome. When the incorrect tool is used to do the job, like hammering in a screw, the outcome is chaotic, unpredictable, and may not meet your expectations. Even worse is using an exercise with no guidance or purpose. This makes me think of a 2 year old banging on the cement floor with one of her daddy’s new tools…time is used but nothing gets done.
The solution for this is fairly easy…all you need to do is think about what you’re doing and ask yourself, or your coach, a couple questions.
- What are you looking to change? Ask what the current issue or habit looks or feels like. Also go into the effects of this issue or habit. “When you lower the hands to give the blade enough room to square you are also effecting the balance and causing the boat to wobble or fall over towards the catch.”
- What is the focus of the exercise? Ask what you should be focusing on. Go into how to execute the focus properly. “Pause every other stroke at half slide. This is a collection point for all the bodies in the boat. You’re looking to come to the pause and patiently move out of the pause with precise synchronicity to one another.”
- What is the expected outcome? Ask how it should look, feel, or sound when done correctly. Go into as many of the senses as possible. “When doing a catch in place, it should feel like the blade locks into the water. You will also hear a thwack or thunk sound as the water closes around the blade. The splash will be a ‘V’ shape when the movement into the catch causes a bow side splash and the lock into the drive causes a stern side splash.”
Rob Iuliano 