THE LESSONS OF 200 YEARS before and after the release in order to maintain continuity through the phases.”8407 Rudersport der DDR, 1975: “In creating a pattern of movement, a fluid, harmonious and smooth converted progression of motions is important, since every uneven movement of the body or extremities has an adverse influence on both the propulsion and the run.”8408 Ernst Herberger, GDR, 1977: “It must be expressly underlined that, in practice, each stroke must form one unity and all strokes must be blended fluently and harmoniously.”8409 Pause . . . or “Poise” However, there have been other opinions. Mike Spracklen: “It is always necessary to compose before any dynamic action (i.e., throwing a discus, lifting a weight, hitting a ball, or rowing a stroke). The question is: where is the best place to ‘poise’ prior to the action? Pause/Poise at the Finish Spracklen: “There are different schools of thought in rowing on where the poise should be, and currently it is popular that it be during the first half of the recovery. The attack on the stroke begins well before the slide has reached front stops. The seat accelerates forward from the poise position into the stroke and is thought to be the best way of achieving a fast catch. The poise can be at the backstops or it can be halfway forwards. movement “The disadvantages are [that] the is robust and energy consuming.”8410 Pause at the Finish has been represented by extreme variants of the Moscow Style and its descendent: Stop & Shop in the United States. Monk Terry, 1972 U.S. Olympic Stroke: “When you’re rowing high, there’s no real time to be sitting at the finish, so psychologically for me, even though you’re rowing at a 38 or a 40, it was the idea that you’re resting. “It was a contrast between that, which was psychological more than physical, and the idea that once you’re moving into the catch, you don’t stop. “That was the key. No hesitation at the catch.”8411 In practice, any real hesitation at the finish by Soviet, Ratzeburg, GDR or Harvard crews tended to virtually disappear at racing cadences. Pause/Poise at the Catch Spracklen: “The method taught by me is to poise during the last part of the movement towards the front stops. The inertia created by the draw at the finish is used to carry the hands away from the body, the trunk into the catch angle and the seat from backstops. The rower has time to relax, let the boat run under the seat, and to prepare for the next stroke. The poise just before blade entry is sufficient to achieve a very fast catch.”8412 8410 Spracklen, http://www.steve-oh.com/blog /wp-content/uploads/2007/10/rowing-technique- 8407 Ferris, p. 8 8408 Altenburg, p. 9 [the GDR rowing periodical] 8409 Herberger, p. 79 the-mike-spracklen-philosophy.pdf 8411 Terry, personal conversation, 2005 8412 Spracklen, op. cit. 2365
