Technique Tips From Peter Haining

Technique Tips From Peter Haining
Peter Haining. Triple World LM1x Champion
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A) POWER PHASE
- Rowing is the art of using ones weight to move the boat
- Movements must be performed as eaily and naturally as possible
- Shove the boat, don’t shove water

1. Feet Connection
- Fix the blade firmly at the catch
- The water is gripped at the catch with the feet. Gripping is different to pulling
- The upper body is not used
- Stretch is felt in the Lats (Lattisimus Dorsi)
- The hands are left out where the catchwas taken
- The athlete feels they could stand off the footstretcher
2. Leg Drive
- Accelerate through the drive
- The power of the stroke comes from the legs and back
- Emphasize coordination of the leg drive and hanging back action of the upper body
- The shoulders and arms are loose and relaxed
- The drive feels loose and aggressive rather than hard
- Squeeze the legs slowly and open the back quickly through the sweet spot
- The athletes weight continues to hang between the handle and feet
- In the early stages of skill development it is more important that the legs are applied in the correct way rather than the hardest way
3. Arm Draw
- A very late arm break. The pull is made with the lats and biceps
- Sit over the handle
- Sit level in the boat
- Shoulders are level
- Do not emphasize the outside shoulder
- Posture is maintained. i.e sat up, firm abdominals and lower back
- Keep both forearms flat
- As the boat type gets faster the role the arms can have in accelerating the boat decreases

B) RECOVERY PHASE
- The recovery is when the boat travels the fastest
- Athletes must be aware of their weight and sensitive of the movement and speed of the boat so they don’t slow it down
1. Finish
- Sit level in the boat
- Fast, low hands away
- Definite strike of the hands away
- Hands move at the speed of the boat
- Feather out of the water with the inside fingers only
2. Prepare
- Move quickly, at the same speed of the boat, to the poise position
- The poise position is the key to balance, rhythm and a good catch
- In the poised position the athlete should feel every movement of the boat through his feet and hands
- Separate and organize the body movements
- The crew uses the poise position and a reference point
3. Slide
- Float up the slide
- Sliding forward must be a relaxed but controlled movement
- Continue to reach and stretch out during the recovery so that the body weight stays in front of the seat, and increases on the feet steadily
- Nearly all beginners and far to many experienced oarsmen rush the recovery
- Feel the boat and move with it
- The athlete sits relaxed as the boat moves forward underneath his seat
- The shoes come to the athlete, not the athlete to the shoes
- The upper body stays in a strong position, and doesn’t need to lurch into the catch
B3/A1) Catch
- The body position is the same as it was at the poised position, with the shoulders rotated but not dropped round to the strokeside/bowside
- It needs to be relaxed, not a violent action
- It is a question of timing rather than brute strength
- Square early and roll the spoon down into the water
- Hands move up and forwards and are high at the catch
- The seat keeps moving in, and then out. The hands are timed to this
- Sit up
- The blade should not start moving sternward in the air, when it should have been in the water
- Feel for pressure before starting to work against the water
- Grip the water
- The catch is a quick, big, deliberate, loose, accurate and bow-ward movement