Stop wasting your energy on the recovery of the rowing stroke!
Rowing is about timing, not control. So it should never be about controlling or slowing the slide as you return to the front end of your rowing stroke. Control represents muscular action, tension, and tightness, which are all at odds with freedom of movement.
In this video, Olympian and Coach, Luke Walton, dives into the technical aspects of the “recovery” phase of the rowing stroke. This video highlights the importance for favoring energy conservation, freedom of movement, and timing versus slowing, control and muscular action.
Your focus on the recovery should revolve around minimizing muscular control to allow for the relaxation and energy conservation crucial to maintaining rhythm and energy for the drive phase. Where rowers get into trouble in their rowing stroke is controlling or slowing the slide, which makes it difficult to arrive into the front end with good timing, fully compressed, and ready to take the next stroke.
Rowing is like a light switch. You switch it “On” during the drive and “Off” during the recovery.
There should be a certain freedom to the recovery in your rowing stroke. There is a float to the recovery. There is a “recovery” to the recovery. It is okay to have freedom on the recovery. It is called the recovery for a reason, and not the "work your way back to the front end." All your effort should be made through the drive phase of the rowing stroke. Only on the drive do you have any effect over propelling the machine or the boat. Only on the drive can affect splits and watts. The recovery is the chance to recover between strokes.
Your goal should be to use as little muscular action and energy on the recovery as you return to the front end and arrive for the next stroke. So, During your rowing strokes, favor freedom and timing over muscular control and activation, and you will reap the benefits in energy, efficiency and speed.
#rower #rowing #rowingmachine
