rowing mistakes

General – Badly looking back

Mistake: In a boat without a coxswain, the rower or bow must look back to steer. The rower looks back too often and/or does not continue rowing when looking. 
Observe: Head: look at the head to see if it is turning over.
Handle: look at the handle(s) and see that they are moved differently than in a stroke without looking back.
Cause: Wrongly taught.
Conse-
quence:
Boat loses speed when looking back around. Too much attention goes to looking back
Remedy
boat:
Teach the rower that he should not look back to see if something is coming, but should make a mental map of the rowing area in front of his boat. He should know where other water users are, where obstacles are, and how the rowing water runs. By looking periodically, he updates this mental map. Have the rower begin to look back in the first part of the stroke (head turns to the side). Then in the second part of the stroke, the torso is turned also. Practice this by looking back each stroke, alternating between looking over the right and left shoulder. It is important not only to look back, but to actually observe. This can also be practiced with all rowers in a rowboat. They all look back (in turn).
Feed-
back:
The rower has a mental map of the rowing area in front of his boat. The handle(s) continue to move when looking back. The head is turned in the first part of the stroke.

General – No core stability (and balance)
General – Incorrect placed footplate
© 2016 - 2023 Jeroen Brinkman