Oars - Every rower should know this
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The connection between the oar handle and the rowers hand is arguably the most important. But how many people know how to set up and maintain their oars?
In this video, Ken Davey and Howard Croker run through what every rower should know about their oars and how to get the most out of them on race day. |
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Video Transcript
there are a few things that every athlete should understand about how to look after their gear particularly their oars
it's very important that they all know how to look after their oars how to make them keep them clean and how to make adjustments to the oars when they need to particularly if they're changing boats and the boats have got different spans and they're using different oars it's really important that the athletes understand what's required in order to give them the best chance of a good performance so let's run through a few items that every athlete should know and understand first thing we'd like to talk about is how to measure the oars and make sure that you adjust them correctly to suit firstly it's important that the athletes understand what the measurements should be and it's part of this process is educating the athletes on which boat should have what particular length oars and then how to adjust them the simplest answer if we're adjusting croker oars or similar is to undo the screws on the back of the shaft to loosen the handle then measure the length of the oar the way you measure the length of the oar is by putting the tape on the bottom of the blade and then having the tape run a straight line up the shaft and measure the length then once you know what the length is and what you need it to be then move the handle in or out a little bit as necessary and measure it again to check that you've got the right length and then tighten the screws up on the back of the shaft some oars will have markings on the the stub handle so that they're easy for you to adjust because they're marked at what length they should be but it's always worth checking it as in my experience sometimes stubs get changed into different ores and can create problems so always check with the tape measure next thing to do is to make sure you that the inboard is correct ie from the blade side of the yellow button through to the end of the handle first undo the screws apply a little bit of downward pressure when you're undoing the screws helps to separate the clamshell then measure what the length is and work out how much you need to move it then move the button the appropriate number of clicks which in this particular case a half centimeter each and then measure it again to make sure you've got it right
and then simply tighten up the screws again very important to make sure the screws are tight and that the clamshell the yellow bit is is fitting snugly into one of the click spots on the shaft that way you'll make sure that it doesn't come undone when you're racing which can cause all sorts of issues here we're looking at a set of concept oars and these are sweep oars but the adjustment mechanism is the same on both sculling and sweep the adjustment is the same principle get the length right and then adjust the button to get the inboard right but in this case you can see you have to undo a screw that holds the handle tight and then adjust the length of the oar by using the screw in the end of the handle you can see here as Ciona winds it down you can see that it winds down to the length that we're looking for in this case 370. so simply screw the handle to the length that you want it to be if the markings have disappeared then you need to resort to using a tape measure to measure the length of course and then just simply tighten the screw to make sure that it doesn't loosen whilst you're racing
so that deals with the length of the oar a be it sweep or sculling oar it's the same mechanism then need to measure the inboard so again athletes need to know what the inboard should be and so then they measure the inboard work out how many clicks the collar needs to move undo the screw to loosen it and then simply move it however many clicks necessary you'll find that usually the collar will have markings on it as to length as well so that you can work out if you need to move one centimeter you may find that's two clicks or whatever the or adjustment measure is then simply tighten the screw up again so that you've got no chance of the button moving when you're rowing if the button moves then it makes it all virtually unrowable so make sure that everything's tight i suggest before you hit the water just check everything again to make sure so here we have some numbers suggesting what the minimum maximum oar levels are likely to be for most athletes so if you measure the oar and it's outside of these limits then i'd suggest have a good think about it or ask your coach to get the right answer and now we have howard croker explaining how to clean your oars the importance of cleaning your oars particularly the handles and you'll get better performance as a result hi i'm howard croker i can't help but one of the things i mostly harp upon is cleaning your oar handles one for health reasons from from athlete to athlete using the same oar or just plain grip on the oar make sure you always clean your handle before every race so every friday if you're racing saturday you make sure your crew cleans their oar handle on a friday night or on the saturday morning at the race if you have to most importantly i use sugar soap or tsp in america sugar soap is just a for what you're washing walls down in kitchens and that before you paint it just takes body grease off i just put a bit on the shaft of the oar wet the oar handle
and it is a soap but there's no caustic in it
like so a little bit more don't need much and then I use a brass wire brush a brass wire brush a steel brush is too harsh and we just scrub it's a good idea to let each athlete clean their own oar handle they do a proper job then
you scrub it up this handle is not particularly dirty but it has been used in a bit of body grease body grease and sunburn cream creates havoc on oar handles and then a garden hose or a bit of rinse off
ready for racing
cleaning oar handles oar and sculling handles if they're wet and they're slippery they need cleaning once a week they should be cleaned at least for health reasons and also the grip on the oar your handle must be sticky when it's wet it's no good having slippery handles when you're racing or even training for that matter so all I use is tsp or or sugar soap sugar soap is very safe to use and you can do a really good job the other thing we use in the factory is multi-purpose thinners but we don't recommend that but it can be used with safety all we do is use a pot scourer and just rub
as hard as you can
these this sculling oar handle is extra exceptionally dirty and i won't get it all out but it's better than none
okay and then all we need to do is wash it off
if it's exceptionally humid and sweaty hands could be a good need to be doing once a day if you're racing
and i want to hear my hands wet i want to hear that sticking sound that that's the sound we want to hear then you know your handles will be clean okay thank you
so please get a good understanding of what your measurements should be when you're rowing for the oar lengths and the inboards and make sure that the athletes understand how to adjust them to suit their own needs and also make sure you keep those handles cleaned for better performance
it's very important that they all know how to look after their oars how to make them keep them clean and how to make adjustments to the oars when they need to particularly if they're changing boats and the boats have got different spans and they're using different oars it's really important that the athletes understand what's required in order to give them the best chance of a good performance so let's run through a few items that every athlete should know and understand first thing we'd like to talk about is how to measure the oars and make sure that you adjust them correctly to suit firstly it's important that the athletes understand what the measurements should be and it's part of this process is educating the athletes on which boat should have what particular length oars and then how to adjust them the simplest answer if we're adjusting croker oars or similar is to undo the screws on the back of the shaft to loosen the handle then measure the length of the oar the way you measure the length of the oar is by putting the tape on the bottom of the blade and then having the tape run a straight line up the shaft and measure the length then once you know what the length is and what you need it to be then move the handle in or out a little bit as necessary and measure it again to check that you've got the right length and then tighten the screws up on the back of the shaft some oars will have markings on the the stub handle so that they're easy for you to adjust because they're marked at what length they should be but it's always worth checking it as in my experience sometimes stubs get changed into different ores and can create problems so always check with the tape measure next thing to do is to make sure you that the inboard is correct ie from the blade side of the yellow button through to the end of the handle first undo the screws apply a little bit of downward pressure when you're undoing the screws helps to separate the clamshell then measure what the length is and work out how much you need to move it then move the button the appropriate number of clicks which in this particular case a half centimeter each and then measure it again to make sure you've got it right
and then simply tighten up the screws again very important to make sure the screws are tight and that the clamshell the yellow bit is is fitting snugly into one of the click spots on the shaft that way you'll make sure that it doesn't come undone when you're racing which can cause all sorts of issues here we're looking at a set of concept oars and these are sweep oars but the adjustment mechanism is the same on both sculling and sweep the adjustment is the same principle get the length right and then adjust the button to get the inboard right but in this case you can see you have to undo a screw that holds the handle tight and then adjust the length of the oar by using the screw in the end of the handle you can see here as Ciona winds it down you can see that it winds down to the length that we're looking for in this case 370. so simply screw the handle to the length that you want it to be if the markings have disappeared then you need to resort to using a tape measure to measure the length of course and then just simply tighten the screw to make sure that it doesn't loosen whilst you're racing
so that deals with the length of the oar a be it sweep or sculling oar it's the same mechanism then need to measure the inboard so again athletes need to know what the inboard should be and so then they measure the inboard work out how many clicks the collar needs to move undo the screw to loosen it and then simply move it however many clicks necessary you'll find that usually the collar will have markings on it as to length as well so that you can work out if you need to move one centimeter you may find that's two clicks or whatever the or adjustment measure is then simply tighten the screw up again so that you've got no chance of the button moving when you're rowing if the button moves then it makes it all virtually unrowable so make sure that everything's tight i suggest before you hit the water just check everything again to make sure so here we have some numbers suggesting what the minimum maximum oar levels are likely to be for most athletes so if you measure the oar and it's outside of these limits then i'd suggest have a good think about it or ask your coach to get the right answer and now we have howard croker explaining how to clean your oars the importance of cleaning your oars particularly the handles and you'll get better performance as a result hi i'm howard croker i can't help but one of the things i mostly harp upon is cleaning your oar handles one for health reasons from from athlete to athlete using the same oar or just plain grip on the oar make sure you always clean your handle before every race so every friday if you're racing saturday you make sure your crew cleans their oar handle on a friday night or on the saturday morning at the race if you have to most importantly i use sugar soap or tsp in america sugar soap is just a for what you're washing walls down in kitchens and that before you paint it just takes body grease off i just put a bit on the shaft of the oar wet the oar handle
and it is a soap but there's no caustic in it
like so a little bit more don't need much and then I use a brass wire brush a brass wire brush a steel brush is too harsh and we just scrub it's a good idea to let each athlete clean their own oar handle they do a proper job then
you scrub it up this handle is not particularly dirty but it has been used in a bit of body grease body grease and sunburn cream creates havoc on oar handles and then a garden hose or a bit of rinse off
ready for racing
cleaning oar handles oar and sculling handles if they're wet and they're slippery they need cleaning once a week they should be cleaned at least for health reasons and also the grip on the oar your handle must be sticky when it's wet it's no good having slippery handles when you're racing or even training for that matter so all I use is tsp or or sugar soap sugar soap is very safe to use and you can do a really good job the other thing we use in the factory is multi-purpose thinners but we don't recommend that but it can be used with safety all we do is use a pot scourer and just rub
as hard as you can
these this sculling oar handle is extra exceptionally dirty and i won't get it all out but it's better than none
okay and then all we need to do is wash it off
if it's exceptionally humid and sweaty hands could be a good need to be doing once a day if you're racing
and i want to hear my hands wet i want to hear that sticking sound that that's the sound we want to hear then you know your handles will be clean okay thank you
so please get a good understanding of what your measurements should be when you're rowing for the oar lengths and the inboards and make sure that the athletes understand how to adjust them to suit their own needs and also make sure you keep those handles cleaned for better performance