Rowing Tips
The 4 Basic Positions of Rowing:
- Catch
- Drive
- Release
- Recovery
Catch
This is our start position. We are looking for our arms to be extended with our hands relaxed on the handle (not a death grip). Our knees need to be under our arms (not bowed out to the side), with our heels down to provide us a strong connection to the machine. Lastly, our shoulders need to be protracted so our hips can be behind our shoulders. You should feel like a tight compressed spring.
Drive
PUSH DON’T PULL. This is where we generate most of the power output. We NEED to push through our legs. Once the knee is about to extend, this is when we have the hip swing. The opening of the hips is a continuation of the momentum that was originally created through the legs. Now, as the hip swings open, that’s when you snap the arms and immediately push them away. Which takes us to the...
Release
This is nothing more than a transition that comes after the drive and takes you into the recovery process.
Recovery
This is a mirror image of the drive, BUT in reverse order. The goal is to set yourself back into the perfect catch position. The arms are already in the process of extending which is step 1. As the arms fully extend, we want to close the hips which will load our posterior chain. This is the time to start bending the knees and glide back to the catch position, nice and relaxed. The last part is a big one as we see many athletes bend the knees first which is very inefficient.