How to get more power during the drive
|
In this video, Ken shows with diagrams overlaying video how crucial the way you open the body is to the amount of power which you can generate.
He uses slow motion and annotation to demonstrate what a novice rower usually does to their detriment and uses three examples from experienced rowers getting it right. |
|
Video Transcript
very important when you're engaging at the catch to make sure firstly the blades in the water are well connected with a bit of a bend in the ore and then as soon as it's connected what you should try to do if you can is open up your body against the leg drive here you can see this athlete has a good bend in your to catch well connected and you can see the the legs have not moved very much the shins have not moved very much from vertical by the time the blade's connected if you look inside the red box here you can focus on the way that the body uncurls from the hips when the leg drives underway you can see the power that's being applied to the blade by the body working against the legs but it's not lifting of the shoulders it's uncurling the body from the base very important if you're just lifting with the shoulders then you're not going to get the same effect see here how the the knees are still up and if you watch the lower part of the back you can see it's gradually starting to uncurl and then as the legs are almost down the upper part of the body starts to move as well and the body pretty much finishes at the same time as the legs as far as the drive phase goes
again the body opening up against the legs and then finishing off as the legs are almost flat the body's still moving as you can see here in the red box it's about driving the hips against the leg drive to get real power here we have the same athlete a few years later and you can see the same technique a little more advanced perhaps with more opening up against the leg drive
essentially the body is vertical and the legs are still not quite finished here we have two athletes side by side the one on the far side is less experienced than the one on the near side and you can see the one on the far side in the red circle there you can see their leg drive continues for quite a long way before the body starts to open up see here the legs are almost down and the body is still on an angle so the leg drive has done a lot of its work without the body pushing against it
see here the body the legs are almost flat and the body is just opening up past vertical
if in contrast you look at the athlete on the near side in the same area that lower back you can see that the body starts to open up a lot earlier against the leg drive so the shins the knees are still quite high and the angle on the body has already started to move and you can see essentially here the body is going to finish about the same time as the leg drive
in this particular piece of footage you can see that we much prefer athletes to row like the right athlete in the foreground rather than in the background much more power during the drive phase
here we have the same athlete that was in the foreground a year or so later and you can see here that she's enhanced the technique so that she now has more body drive against the legs so once she's connected then the body and the legs really work well together remember it's from the lower part of the of the back not the upper back and the aim is to get connected get well connected with the bend in your and then drive with the body and the legs together so that essentially the body and the legs all finish together at the finish of the stroke very powerful way to make sure that you get maximum power in the drive phase of the stroke
again the body opening up against the legs and then finishing off as the legs are almost flat the body's still moving as you can see here in the red box it's about driving the hips against the leg drive to get real power here we have the same athlete a few years later and you can see the same technique a little more advanced perhaps with more opening up against the leg drive
essentially the body is vertical and the legs are still not quite finished here we have two athletes side by side the one on the far side is less experienced than the one on the near side and you can see the one on the far side in the red circle there you can see their leg drive continues for quite a long way before the body starts to open up see here the legs are almost down and the body is still on an angle so the leg drive has done a lot of its work without the body pushing against it
see here the body the legs are almost flat and the body is just opening up past vertical
if in contrast you look at the athlete on the near side in the same area that lower back you can see that the body starts to open up a lot earlier against the leg drive so the shins the knees are still quite high and the angle on the body has already started to move and you can see essentially here the body is going to finish about the same time as the leg drive
in this particular piece of footage you can see that we much prefer athletes to row like the right athlete in the foreground rather than in the background much more power during the drive phase
here we have the same athlete that was in the foreground a year or so later and you can see here that she's enhanced the technique so that she now has more body drive against the legs so once she's connected then the body and the legs really work well together remember it's from the lower part of the of the back not the upper back and the aim is to get connected get well connected with the bend in your and then drive with the body and the legs together so that essentially the body and the legs all finish together at the finish of the stroke very powerful way to make sure that you get maximum power in the drive phase of the stroke