R&R Technique - suspension

Photo: Peter Spurrier

Suspension

Robin Williams explains how you can maximise your bodyweight for a powerful finish

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n the last issue I mentioned stroke sequencing and the analogy of the stroke cycle being like a 400m running track – lose contact with the other runners and the only way to get back in time is to cut a corner (shorten the stroke in rowing terms) or break rhythm (rush).

Neither is a good solution!

So. if you start the stroke together you can finish it together – and this month is about using bodyweight to help connect,

How much arm reach and rock over do you actually need, and why do it at all?

Well, the very minimum trunk movement is to sit up and avoid slumping because this leaves you liable to injury and isn’t very efficient mechanically, but the ‘gold medal’ version has your arms out long in front, sitting tall but not rigid, and rocked over down in the pelvis not just arching through your trunk. ‘Long arms’ draw your

T he ‘gold medal’ version has your arms out long in front, sitting tall but not rigid build power, and make an accelerated finish. You can suspend off the catch or the finish and you can sequence from either end too, but let’s look at sequencing from the finish as a way of setting up the connection at the front.

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Rowing & Regatta | September 2010

shoulders forward and draw the trunk over – this is all needed when you engage force at the front.

Four reasons to reach out and rock over: • Better for posture and injury prevention

Robin Williams The former Lead Coach for GB Lightweights, Robin coached the lightweight men’s four to gold at the 2007 World Championships and fifth at the 2008 Olympic Games. From 1995-2005, Robin was Chief Coach at CUBC, achieving seven wins out of 10 in the Boat Race against Oxford. After learning to row at Monmouth School and then representing the University of London Boat Club, he gained his first GB vest in 1981 when he was selected for the Worlds.

• Mechanically it makes a better lever out of your back • Hull reaches peak speed at the hands away / body over point • Early preparation gives you time and makes the front end simpler.

It can be helpful to think of the recovery as two parts: first half is your job (to move hands away, trunk over, knees just unlocked) the second half is for the boat – i.e. it runs you up to your feet; you don’t slide yourself. This means you’ll be in time with the hull not overtaking it on the slide. The actual front end is all about

coaching TechniCAL Use suspension from catch to finish – it will help create strong acceleration.

Remember to press down with your feet, hold your back firm and hang off the handle. Your weight should then be off the seat and on the spoon

timing because you need to be at full compression, full reach and blade in the water all at the same time without extra micro-adjustments going on.

The trouble is people like to feel work and don’t like the feeling of ‘slack’ at the front so, typically, will add a bit of reach or dip at the front to deal with this. So you need to know what you’re going to do the instant the blade is in to avoid it.

There are various ways to approach this technically but the biggest leap is mental.

Logically there can’t be a stroke until the blade is in the water, so the entry has to precede the catch and a half-covered or over-covered blade won’t connect well.

So stay relaxed in the hands while covering the blade. This seems to be counter-intuitive to many of us and a common mistake is to pre-tense but treat the entry movement as the last part of the recovery, and keep the arms and shoulders loose while the blade enters.

Some trust is needed!

TIP A good drill for this is of course roll-ups. The trick is to go from 100% relaxed entry movement to 100% confident connection / suspension movement as you pass through the front end. The feet are what you use to change direction so it can help to think of the recovery / drive change over as letting weight off the handle in the hands and stepping weight on to the spoon from the feet. The moment to do this is just as the spoon finds its own buoyant depth. The foot movement is sometimes described as a ‘pulse’ of pressure – i.e. quick but not clumsy.

TIP Get someone to hold the handle of the ergo at the cage and practise hanging off it, feeling your muscles engage and connect.

Now in the boat, back down for two to three strokes then easy; go to backstops; slide forward and make an entry. The reverse pressure in the spoon should draw you upwards off the seat. (Don’t over-reach or you may find it torn from your hands!)

The idea is to press the feet and just hang off your back and the arms.

Once you can suspend like this, the hull clearly will try to move away so you need to do something else. If you introduce

still be suspended. The goal is to arrive at the actual finish still supported between the handle and the stretcher.

Another good drill is to sit at backstops and suspend using arms only. Quite hard but it shows how relatively weak they are.

Then try suspending trunk and arms, legs still flat. Then go back to the front end and remind yourself how much easier it is to suspend at the front and when there’s some catch angle available.

So the key elements here are: •E arly preparation in the recovery.

•M ake the entry the last bit of the recovery and stay loose as you enter.

T here are various ways to approach this technically but the biggest leap is mental your back as you feel your legs losing advantage you can maintain the lightness on the seat while also adding acceleration to the hull. Keep going even further and when the legs are three-quarters down and your back has gone through vertical (shoulders overtaken hips) you can draw on the shoulders and break the arms and

• Use the feet to engage. The catch is a small movement from the feet – everything else is pretty still but well connected.

•U se your sequence of leg, trunk, shoulders, arms to maintain suspension from catch to finish.

• Enjoy an accelerating finish and a light boat!

Now then, suspension. If your feet have fixed the spoon against the water and made it an anchorage point, the handle will also be still, relatively, since it’s the other end of the oar. If you press down into your feet while holding your back firm and hanging off the handle, your weight will be off the seat and on the spoon – suspension!

September 2010 | Rowing & Regatta

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