Improve the Stroke - Sweep Position at the Catch   (+ Common Problems)

Please look at the examples below and review your positions or that of your crew. Anthony Edwards, five times Olympic athlete, demonstrates the common issues.
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​A great drill to practise is moving into and out of the catch with the blades flat on calm water whilst maintaining the correct body, arm and leg positions. Understanding the right positions and holding them under pressure is very important.

Better performance and a balanced boat will be the result.

Correct Position:

Here we demonstrate the correct position at the catch in a sweep boat.
The secret is to keep the core and body position strong and in the boat's centre, rotating around the torso and not leaning towards the rigger. Please note the slight bend in the rigger side arm to maintain the correct posture.

​For more info, please see:​

• Sweep handle exercises
• Rotation - its role in Power, Technique and Injury, Great video by Lyall - also applies to sculling
• Balancing the Sweep Boat - Rollup Exercise
• Outside hand off for a better connection - an excellent drill

Inside knee:

​​Here Eddy demonstrates the athlete leaning a little towards the rigger, but the main issue is the inside knee pushed away from the rigger.

This leads to instability and balance issues in the boat. However, it is easily corrected by encouraging the athlete to leave the inside knee vertical during the recovery.

Leaning towards rigger:

Here, the position of the knees and lower body is ok, but leaning the head towards the rigger will create balance issues in the boat as weight transfers towards the rigger. This also encourages the rigger side shoulder to drop.

It will not improve length as the same outcome with better balance if the athlete rotates their torso instead. Please keep the head upright and in the boat's centre into the catch.

In a stern coxed boat, the coxswain can watch for this issue.

Knees together:

Here, the body is in the centre of the boat. But the position of the knees prevents the athlete from compressing well into the catch. The result is less length at the catch and more tension in the boat.

Let the outside knee move a little away from the rigger in the catch for better length and a more stable position.

​Outside knee loose:
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Here the body and inside knee position are good. However, the outside knee is too far from the boat's centreline.

The boat will be better balanced if the knee is brought in, and the will be stroke more powerful.

​Inside knee loose:

Here the outside knee is in the correct position, but the inside knee is leaning too much towards the rigger. This can result in less power being available during the drive phase as the power of the inside leg will be compromised.

Please remember that the best way to think about power in sweep rowing is inside leg and outside arm.

​Inside arm locked:

​While the body and leg posture is good in this position, the inside (rigger side) arm is locked straight. This forces the upper body into an uncomfortable position and makes it very difficult for the athlete to execute a relaxed and powerful catch.

The inside arm should be somewhat bent with the outside arm at full reach. This enables a relatively neutral position for the torso for maximum power.