Observe rower(s)

The observing of the rowing motion is done using fourteen key observation points. Nine points run from the hands to the feet of a rower. In addition, there are five observation points that provide additional information:

1. Hands/handle – important to see the stroke rhythm, release and catch.
2. Wrists – is the position of the wrists correct?
3. Arms – show how the blade is placed and through the bending when the arms are deployed.
4. Head – shows if it is upright.
5. Shoulders – show if they are low.
6. Trunk – shows when trunk rotation is initiated.
7. Spine – shows whether the spine properly fixed.
8. Seat – shows sliding speed and direct catch.
9. Legs – show slide speed and leg drive.
10. Blade – shows the water handling.
11. Oars (crew) – show the similarity through parallelism.
12. Puddles (crew) – show the individual power contribution.
13. oarlocks (boat) – show the oarlock pressure and balance.
14. Stern (boat) – shows the quality of catch and leg drive.

To make good use of these observation points, it is important to use them in a structured way. Start at the stroke and end at the bow. Check for each rower in succession:

1. the injury-prone points: wrists, shoulders and spine;
2. the order of movement in the draw: legs, trunk and arms;
3. the sequence of movement in the recovery: trunk + arms and legs;
4. the water handling at finish and recovery: blade and hands;
5. the water handling at catch: blade, hands and legs;

Then check the crew:

1. first the similarity, rhythm and contrast of the crew: oars, hands, blades, seats and legs;
2. then the balance of the crew: blades, oarlocks and hands;
3. finally the fluency of the boat: stern.

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	Knowing the rowing stroke
	Choose misstake