Broken Oars Technique Clinic: An Alien’s Guide To Rowing Well, Part One

For your delight and delectation, the Northern One of Broken Oars Podcast offers a from the ground-up look at the basics and essentials of moving a boat well.

 

Given that every rower who as ever rowed knows exactly how to row a boat and it isn't what everyone else is doing but them, this represents Broken Oars creating a hostage to fortune ...

 

... but given that hostage is Northern, he is therefore expendable, as many Northerners have found out to their cost in things like two World Wars and the 1970's scramble for North Sea Oil.

 

Rowing is not a matter of life and death in that regard. No, it's far more important than that.

 

So, here we talk about basic and complex concepts, breaking them down and looking at things we can do to improve every part of our stroke profile so that when we put it all together we create the beautiful, flowing motion that is good rowing. Think of it as an alien's guide to rowing well - if aliens who can travel across the galaxy using gravity propulsion engines that warp the laws of space and time ever decided that what they really wanted to do was to get in a boat and pull hard on an oar.

 

In this episode we talk about:

1) Moving a boat - how an oar actually works.

 

2) Getting a Grip - learning to feel the difference between holding the water and weight on the face and ripping or slipping it.

 

3) The Best Kind of Stroke (and this is where the arguments start, but I've got physics and rowing on my side).

 

4) Creating the Unbroken Sequence: understanding how each part of the stroke profile informs the next and the whole.

 

5) Sitting at Backstops: why sorting this out starts sorting everything else out.

 

6) Posture: Kev was right - sit up, head up, airways clear, push the small of your back towards your belly button and ... relax!

 

7) Hands: relaxing the death grip and learning to play the piano.

 

8) The Importance of the Centre Line: learning to control your sack of potatoes.

 

9) Balance: can help in life; is essential in a boat.

 

10) Why Lateral Pressure is your Friend.

 

11) Controlling the Slide: Stop crashing frontstops and slamming backstops, ffs.

 

12) Why the Knees are Important - and not just if you want to do the Charleston well.

 

13) Compression: or why the 'length is good = more length is better' idea is absolute bollocks.

 

14) Shoulders: why everything is dictated by your shoulders.

 

In Part Two: if i haven't been lynched by angry coaches, rowers and broken oars listeners, we'll be talking about the catch, the drive, and GETTING YOUR BLOODY BLADE OFF THE WATER BY SORTING OUT ALL OF THE ABOVE!

 

So, if aliens ever come to earth, and they by some strange chance watch or listen to this, they'll be able to take us on in a winner-takes-all 2000 metre race for earth. And if you prefer to watch, we're now on Youtube:

 

https://youtu.be/SXuu0Y_BXmo

 

Get Some.

 

Stern Four? Bow Four? Listen to this. All of this ... ? This is what you're not doing.