March & April WORKOUTS

This is also a note to all coxswains, please start the warm up after the bridge. Lets shove off the dock, pick it up by pairs, do a couple rotations through the bridge, and once on the other side, drop down to the pick drill (but don’t way enough to do so). This will be for all practices.

Warm Up: Pick drill by four, starting with stern four. Then move onto bow four.

All the positions will be:

· Arms only

· Arms and body

· ¼ slide

· ½ slide

· Full slide. Full slide will be at an 18 on the square.

Drill: We’ll spend most of the practice getting comfortable in the boat, and actually repeating the pick drill throughout. However, when we move onto doing it for the drill, we’ll be doing it with rotating pairs at each position. So starting with stern four full slide strokes, take about 10 and the cox will call us down to arms only. We’ll be at arms only for about ten strokes when the cox will drop out stern pair, add in three and four. Ten strokes later, drop out five and six, add in bow pair. We’ll eventually work back to stern four, and when we do, we’ll extend to the next position.

I want to us to keep moving and focus a bit more on our transitions right from the start of the season.

For those who have not seen it - we will watch the Safety Video at 6:55 AM

Warm up: It will be a slightly longer warm up and coxswains make sure we start the warm up after we pass through the Penn bridge. The warm up will be the pick drill by four - stern four followed by bow four.

Also, for switching ends, way 'nough and start from dead water, rather than switching by four.

After both ends complete the pick drill, we'll take it back to stern four and do the pick drill rotating pairs at each position before moving onto the next. So everyone gets arms only before we move to arms and body. We'll move onto the next position once we hit bow four.

Drill: we'll focus a bit on separation with a couple pause drills. By four we will do 15-20 regular strokes at an 18 and then add in a pause at arms only, then rotate back to regular strokes. We will do that two times through the boat before moving onto a pause at arms and body.

For the drills, we want to make sure we are breaking down the stroke on the recovery, to avoid blending of the positions and rushing the recovery. If we don't take the time to let arms lead the body, and swing the body before we break the knees, our back end is occurring too quickly, but we need to extend those motions to make sure we get the proper body support. And when we get the body swing, we need to make sure we get our hands extended past our knees before we come up with the legs. Then, of course, take our time up to full slide

Sunday 4/7          Coaches Dorene & Jennifer

For those who have not seen it - we will watch the Safety Video at 6:55 AM

Warm up: We’re going to do the pick drill, with continuous rotation of the pairs – starting with stern four, arms only, and only moving to the next position once bow four has done arms only. The last two practice we did the pick drill stern four, then bow four, followed by continuous rolling of the pick drill – that’s how we’re going to do the warm up and that will be from now on (unless otherwise noted). The reasons for this:  A. I don’t want anyone sitting out too long. B. I want us to be cleaner and smoother on our transitions – at any position. C. I want us to get in the habit of doing it this way because in another practice or two, we’ll be warming up by 6, rotating pairs.  

After we complete the pick drill, we’ll move onto full slide strokes at an 18, by 6, rotating pairs every 15 – 20 strokes.  

 Drills: We’re going to continue to focus a bit more on separation and timing out of the back end with a pause at arms and body over. I want the emphasis to be on the group coming through the finish together – arms and body, and swinging through the release together – arms and body. We wants this to be a controlled and fluid movement that isn’t aggressive or forced, but relaxed and quick. After we hit the pause at arms and body over, make sure we are also coming out of the pause together, meaning, make sure we have lots of control with our legs up to full slide.  

For this drill, we’ll start by four, eventually adding in by 6. We’ll do 10-15 pause strokes, then back to regular strokes for 10-15 and rotate pairs during the regular strokes. Regular strokes at a 20. 

 Drill 2/ Workout: We’ll do the pause strokes for a few rotations – basically towards the channel. Once we spin and start heading back, we’ll pick it up on a steady state at a 20 by 4 and eventually by 6. During the steady state we’ll be adding in the second drill, which will be cut the cake every stroke. For those who don’t know cut the cake, we will do a normal full slide stroke, followed by an air stroke to arms and body over, then back into a normal full slide stroke. If necessary, we’ll have a rower with cut the cake experience demo the stroke on the dock so people can see it in action. 

Like the pause drill, the drill will allow us to focus on the timing through the finish and the release. With these strokes, we don’t have to worry about tapping down or getting our blade caught – we can swing out cleaning with the hands and body, and swing back through the finish. This should give us some additional freedom to make sure we’re staying in time with one another. Also, make sure we are swinging with support in the body. Don’t just swing and lay on top of our legs. 

Lets do one or two rotations of cut the cake by 4 before we add in by six. Then we’ll stay by 6 at the 20, with the occasional cut the cake from the channel until we’re back to the dock.  

Note: for people who are unfamiliar with the cut the cake, I’ve provided a link to a YouTube video of a crew doing it.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3A3uRfNfnI. 

Double Note: Don’t go that slow with the arms and body when doing it. I want the drill to be at normal release speed of a 20 rating 

Triple Note: We’ll do this on the square, but if the coaches feel the need to go on the feather – ok.

 Sunday 4/14        Coaches  Bob & Ginger      

The USRowing Safety Video will run at 6:50 AM 

Warm up: We’re going to do the pick drill, with continuous rotation of the pairs by four. After we complete the pick drill, we’ll move onto full slide strokes for a steady state at an 18, by 6, rotating pairs every 15 – 20 strokes. 

Drill: During the steady state we’ll be adding in cut the cake every stroke. Like last week, we will do a normal full slide stroke, followed by an air stroke to arms and body over, then back into a normal full slide stroke. When we do cut the cake, we want to make the release of the hands and body as fluid and streamlined as possible. We don’t have to worry about tapping down the blade, we’ve already done that and our blade is out of the water, and can cleanly get the hands and body out of the backend.

We want to make sure our hands do not drop down between the gunnels towards our toes, otherwise the blade will sky away from the water and cause the boat to become unset.

We want to make sure our hands do not rise to quickly out of the finish, otherwise the blade will skip across the water and cause some frustration.

These movements are highlighted in this sketch.

We will do one or two rotations of cut the cake by 4 before we add in by six. Then we’ll stay by 6 at the 18, with cut the cake from until we hit channel (we may go into it depending on time).

Workout: We’re going to get the heart rate up and build some endurance, hopefully break into a sweat. We will do 2 minutes on/ 2 minutes off. The two minutes on will be at full pressure at given rating between a 20 and 26 (maybe). Off strokes will be at an 18, 70% pressure. We will do these by 6 and rotate pairs every 15 strokes so we can get a breather but also so no one is out too long.

For each 2 minute on segment, we’ll build over three strokes before the 2 minutes on start. This means we will build up to pressure and rating with about 12 seconds before we finish the 2 minutes off. I want us to be on rating and at pressure by the time the 2 minutes start. This is the responsibility of the coxswains to make sure they are calling the build strokes appropriately.

We will do this through the Penn Bridge and take in on the paddle for a nice long cool down.

Note: The off strokes are not paddle strokes. They are base building strokes for endurance, so it’s important to not take the pressure off completely when at the 18. Our break is when we’re setting the boat.

 Sunday 4/21        Coaches  Bob & Ginger            

The USRowing Safety Video will run at 6:50 AM 

Warm up: We’re going to do the pick drill, with continuous rotation of the pairs by six – this is important to note since we’re been only doing it by four, so making sure we are smooth and set with our oars on the transitions is important. After we complete the pick drill, we’ll move onto full slide strokes/ cut the cake at an 18, by 6, rotating pairs every 15 – 20 strokes. This will be a slightly longer warm up, to get a few additional cut the cake strokes in and build from what we’ve been doing the past two weeks. For cut the cake, ever stroke, and we’ll do about 15 normal strokes, 15 cut the cake, back to normal and rotate pairs.

Drill: We’re going to work our way into the feather with a couple pauses, rather than just go on the feather. The pauses will also build on what we’ve been doing with cut the cake on coming out cleanly and streamlined hands. The first series will be a double pause stroke with a pause at the tap down and then at half slide, on the square.  What we are going to emphasize is pulling in high through the finish and moving the hands down and away together when we tap, and making sure that when we tap the handle out of the finish, we don’t throw the handle into our laps and then bring the hands away. If we do, we don’t give ourselves the opportunity to bring the hands away cleanly without our hands rubbing across the gunwales or across our legs. It also prevents us from using our hands to appropriately set the boat.

Then, out of the first pause, we’ll move controlled and level with the hands and body to half slide. As we do, again, pay attention to the level of the hands – making sure we don’t drop them towards our feet or raise them too quickly into the air. If we lower our hands too much, the blade will sky and allow the boat to drop on that side. If we raise too quickly, our blade will drag across the water. Both have impact on the set of the boat.

Both these pauses will be down on the square, by 6. 15 strokes normal, 15 strokes with pauses, back to normal and rotate pairs.

After we do this once or twice through boat, we will then move onto doing it on the feather. When we move to the feather, both pauses are on the square. Only in between the pause and the tap down and the pause at half slide, do we feather. I want us to focus on coming out of the finish on the square, and getting our blades square early so we can catch on the square. If we don’t go in squared or come out squared, that opens the opportunity for getting the blade caught at the finish, knifing to the bottom of the river, and potentially catching a crab, and who wants that?

Again, feather in between the two pauses and we’ll do these by 6 - 15 strokes normal, 15 strokes with pauses, back to normal and rotate pairs.

Note: The tap down is a controlled down and away motion that happens at once. It’s a rounded out motion as opposed to a square that brings the handle into the lap, then away. No THEN, but AND. In the picture, follow the purple arrows and green dots. The red is no-no.

Note 2: It will also be important to make sure that when we feather, we do not change our handle heights. When we are two inches above the water on the square, when we feather we don’t change the hands and the blade is now 6 inches above the water. This is important because people like to use those extra inches to carry their hands higher on the recovery, but when they square the blade back up, the blade squares into the water. That’s not good.

Workout: 2 – 3 ten minute pieces, by 6 at a 22, 24 and 24. These pieces will be at pressure, meaning full. We’ll rotate by pairs every 15 strokes so no one is out for very long. If we are moving well by 6, we may try taking it by 8 in the last few minutes of each piece. After each piece, we’ll paddle it out for 60 seconds, break for 3 minutes, and start up again.

The USRowing Safety Video will run at 6:50 AM in the erg rm

Warm up: We’re going to do the pick drill, with continuous rotation of the pairs by six, then take it into full slide at an 18 by six.

Drill: We will continue a bit with the pause drills we did last week – pauses at the tap down and at half slide. However, differently from last week, we will do only one pause per stroke. The strokes will be on the feather, but at each pause position we will be on the square.

The first series through will be 10 continuous strokes on the feather, 10 pause at the tap down (squared), back to continuous and rotate pairs, After we’re back the original six, we’ll extend the pause to half slide and be squared at the pause. This half slide pause is to emphasize an early square up and not waiting until full slide to get the blade squared.

We want to make sure that when feathering we come out of the water before we feather, and get the blade in squared as we catch. If we don’t, we can get ourselves caught at the backend by feathering in the water, or at the frontend we will knife the blade into the water.

In addition, as we bring our hands out of the first pause, stay up with the outside elbow. Don’t let it flap against the body as we release the hands. We also don’t want to drop our hands towards our feet or raise them too quickly into the air. If we lower our hands too much, the blade will sky and allow the boat to drop on that side. If we raise too quickly, our blade will drag across the water. Both have impact on the set of the boat.

We want a down and away motion, and once away, hands stay level, especially when we square the blade. Refer to last week’s diagram for description.

Workout: A few 5 minute pieces. The first two minutes of each piece will be by six and the remaining three will be by eight. Ratings will range between 22 and 26. After each piece, we’ll drop down to six and paddle, rotating pairs every 10 strokes. We’ll stake on the paddle for a few minutes and build right into the next week.

May WORKOUTS

Sunday 5/5       Coaches Bob & Dorene

Warm up: standard pick drill by 6, then stay by 6 and we will take it to a 20. 

Drill. We have been working on the release out of the finish, but now we will move onto control of the oar with the outside arm only. With the outside arm only, inside hand behind our body, the amount of control the arm has will be exaggerated. However, this should emphasize the amount we need to move that Arm to catch to get the blade in, and to finish to get the blade out - very little. With outside arm only, no one needs to throw the blade in the water, and no one needs to throw the finish into their labs. Just controlled and streamlined movements. 

We will do about 10-15 normal strokes, 10-15 outside arm only, back to normal and rotate. To also continue what we did the past two weeks, we may also add in a couple pauses. These would be done on outside arm only. 

We will also be looking for wide outside elbows on outside arm only. 

Workout: 3 min on. 1 min off. On these, the on strokes will be by 8 at a given rating. The off strokes will be about 50% pressure by 6. Ratings will be determined by how well the boat is moving during the previous 3 min. If 24 feels good, we will move onto 26. If 24 is no good, we will retry. 

On the minute off, obviously not everyone will sit out, so co swains will need to make sure they drop different pairs each min off. 

The USRowing Safety Video will run at 6:50 AM in the erg rm 

Warm up: standard pick drill by 6, then stay by 6 and we will take it to a 20. We’re also going to extend the warm up and move into outside arm only rowing based on last week’s drill. We will do about 10-15 normal strokes, 10-15 outside arm only, back to normal and rotate.

Drill: We’re going to work on finding connection and pressure with the legs at the catch and through the drive. What we want, is to be tall (supportive in our lower back, abs, chest, lats and shoulders in the front end), to make sure that when we catch water and drive, the handle moves at the exact same time as our legs engage the drive. This means the body is forward, shoulders in front of the hips and the muscles in the body flex or firm up – notable the lats – and this flexing through the body allows us to find connection between our legs and the handle. 

Take a look at the Louisville rowers.  Though they are already on the drive, you can see the support in their bodies as they stay forward, a bit of warp on the blade indicates the pressure and connection through the water, and their legs, are taking the load.

If we do not have connection, say we slouch at the front end as if we’re at work, we’ll have a two part drive. This means that our legs and handle are not connected, and as a result, the legs go down flat and the handle hangs out at the catch until the body gets whiplashed into the finish. This is not good and can cause lower back pain.

The Slouch: To be avoided

So the drill will be two fold, get pressure and get connection – we need pressure to get connection. We will be doing builders at a 22 at pressure, starting with stern pair and every 20 strokes we will add a new pair in, up to 8 and after 20 strokes we will weigh enough and start with 5 and 6. With only a pair rowing, the boat will be heavy so we need to make sure we find that connection and use the legs. The more pressure we apply with the legs, the heavier the boat will feel to get moving, and once we get moving and start adding in pairs, the boat will feel lighter and we’ll have to work harder on the drive to maintain that same level of connection.

Note: if we have connection in the lats, the lats engage and compresses the body in such a way that the chest should come up a small amount, while the shoulders come down a small amount. Many of us like to pull on the handle through our arms and shoulders, which is why many people hear “relax your shoulders.” That’s tension. That’s not what we want. We can flex, and be firm, but still relaxed. We want to be like a paper clip or like clay, flexible, malleable, yet supportive and firm. The opposite of a rubber band.  

Workout: We’ll move onto a rating pyramid to experiment with the connection and pressure. We’ll start at a 20 and work our way up to a 28 (two times back to back at the 28) and back down. Rating changes every three minutes. 

 Sunday  5/19          Coaches Bob & Dorene

 MAYBE: The USRowing Safety Video will run at 6:50 AM in the erg rm

I think very few people know this, but last week I was happy that we got 4 out of 5 boats to the dock and launched by 7:35. This had not happened in a long time and is very hard to do with the number of people/boats we put on the water each Sunday. With that in mind, don’t get cocky. Everyone needs to be quick on the dock to make sure we get through our practice for the day with as many efficient strokes as possible. But still, good job.  - Bob

Warm up: Standard pick drill by six, and into steady state strokes at an 18. We’ll pull the boats together and weigh enough past the Barry.

Drill: Racing starts.

Racing starts are done at the beginning of sprint races in an effort to hit maximum boat speed as early on in a race as possible. When done properly, the strokes during the race start lift and pry the boat out of the water and easily accelerates from dead water to top speed. When done improperly, strokes during racing starts can be chaotic, with oars missing water and the boat crashing side to side.

To make sure we know how to do race starts properly, and understand the positioning of the body, we will do them by fours to start, breaking down the strokes in pairs, with light pressure.

The sequence will be starting from three-quarter slide and the first three strokes will have a shortened layback which will help accelerate the rating:

·         Three-quarters (blades flat on the water, coach or coxswain will say square it up. Heels are flat on the foot stretcher – almost at full slide, body up tall. This is a 60% pressure pry stroke to lift the boat from dead water)

·         Half (90 degree bend in the legs, a quick stroke that is about 75% pressure. Again, another pry stroke to build momentum in the boat. This is probably the hardest stroke to match between rowers, so follow the rhythm)

·         Three-quarters (90% pressure, another quick prying stroke)

·         Lengthen (Here we are nearly at full but the idea is to find our length in our stroke into full slide strokes)

·         Lengthen

·         High 10 (Since the starts are quick strokes, the rating will jump easily and these high ten are quick strong strokes at an elevated rating)

·         Settle into race pace (Settling does not mean we take pressure off, but we drop our rating and find a longer recovery. The pressure and speed of the boat we built in the start and high ten, we hold on these strokes. So, we may do a high at a 34 and settle to a 28 for the body of the piece, but the pressure stays the same. We do the settle in two, and settle together)

Note: There are many different types of racing starts out there, so don’t be concerned if you’ve done them one way and now this is different. There is no right or wrong, just coach’s preference. And if you can to half, half, three-quarters, lengthen, you can do the segment above as well.

We will start with three-quarters and half by stern four, then move onto bow four. Then once back to stern four, we’ll add on two strokes and go, first four. Then back to bow four. Once back to stern four, we’ll do first five and high five – so ten strokes total. Then onto bow four. Then eventually by 6 and eventually by 8. Over the course of these strokes, we’ll also increase pressure and rating.

An example of a racing start can be seen here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqFZRks9gOA. You want to pay attention to the pressure they apply on the first few strokes to lift the boat and then they accelerate even more when the boat speed is hit.

Workout: As we are doing the starts, the starts will become the piece work. For example, a start 5, high 10, settle for 30-40 strokes will be approximately 2 to 3 minutes. We will repeat until we are done for the day.

Sunday 5/26        Coaches  Bob & Ginger

June WORKOUTS

 Saturday 6/1      Coaches Bob & Jennifer