Rowing Squares

[alanbrandenburg]

This is on-the-water drill that I have been working on for the past couple of years. It really looks like it should be the simplest of things to do. Instead of the usual procedure of extracting the oar perpendicular (one of the squares) at the end of the stroke, feathering the oar horizontal, moving the hands away from the body, pulling the body up to the catch position, and then resquaring the oars for the catch of the stroke, you just keep the oar square to the water for the entire stroke. Hell, it should be like rowing a semi-v fishing boat on Lake of the Woods. The main difference being that the oars on that boat have a fixed pin (bolts right thru the oar) and the semi-v can't be tipped. Yet, I can not seem to do it past two strokes in my single. In fairly calm water, it should be possible to do it for the entire workout.

Rowing singles are only stable when they are moving or the oars are feathered and can be used as a outriggers should bad shit happen. Rowing squares while making you work on the most important parts of the stroke (putting the oars in and then out of the water) takes you out of the comfort zone.

I have recently read that the best way to do this is like pulling a bandaid off--do it fast and don't think about.

I'll post my results of this method.

[Laura]

Yeah, rowing on the square sucks. You can make it a little easier by getting up to speed while feathering and then switching to squares. Also, if the water's rough, you might as well forget about it. We used to begin every workout by rowing on the square. It's really good for making you pay attention to the little things that can get your boat off set. It's also really good for making you pissed at life, the universe, and everything.