THE SPORT OF ROWING Russian Valery Kleshnev: “Increasing the force faster at the catch is very important for achieving efficient rowing tech- nique.”8632 “Faster leg drive helps to apply force and power quicker.”8633 American Paul Smith: “Well, one must get to it as quickly as we can. Otherwise, the opportunity will simply be lost to use the large muscles of the legs. Once the blade has entered the water, either we catch up and propel the system, or the handle would trav- el through its path without help. The earlier we build force, the better.”8634 Yaz Farooq, criticizing New Zealand single sculler Emma Twigg: “She’s looking just a little labored. You can see she’s pull- ing up with her shoulders before her legs start driving. Ideally, you want your legs to be doing more of the load, more of the work at the beginning of the stroke. To me, this looks like the beginning of the signs of fa- tigue.”8635 Australian-born British coach Paul Thompson: “The most effective drive in- volves the application of legs, body and arms in a well-timed sequence that makes the boat smoothly accelerate from the catch to the finish. To develop the drive accelera- tion, the body sequence should be applied from biggest muscle groups to the smallest. Therefore the drive sequence is: legs, body then arms.”8636 This issue of concurrent versus sequen- tial leg/back motion is one of the most emo- tional in all of rowing today, perhaps be- cause legs-first sequentiality seems so im- minently sensible to its Modern Orthodox adherents. Thor Nilsen includes sequentiality in his PowerPoint presentation Orthodox to 8632 Kleshnev, February 2004 8633 Ibid, July 2002 8634 P. Smith, personal correspondence, 2008 8635 Universal Sports, op. cit. 8636 Thompson, p. 38 IMS: “I think that it’s common sense. I mean for me it’s quite natural. It is a natural three-step method [legs, back, arms]. The legs are the biggest muscles. You should use them, and the catch is the key point of the stroke. “What is the source? Experience. I guess it’s something I picked up along the way, something my brain created, but for me it’s the natural way.”8637 Volker Nolte is remarkably passionate on the subject: “Thor Nilsen’s presentation of the rowing stroke [at the 2005 Canadian Coaches’ Conference – see the illustration on the previous page] shows an overlap, but it has to be sequential. It has to be! “If you look at a shot-putter, he will at first totally stretch the leg, and then bring in the trunk and then the arm. Very simple thing it is, too, because the shot is way too heavy. The shot-putter does not start the arm in the second when he starts the legs. He wants to get the whole system up to a certain speed, and then the next phase comes.”8638 This analysis of putting the shot is total- ly incorrect. First, it is fundamentally flawed from a biomechanical standpoint. As a reminder, “according to the principle of Summation of Joint Forces, in skills call- ing mainly for maximum force, the perform- er should perform slower, controlled move- ments at high intensity. In these skills, body segments usually move at the same time, especially if the object is heavy or both hands are used at once. [my emphasis]”8639 Equally importantly, it’s also absolutely incorrect in the real world. Ask any shot- putter. They recruit all muscles, including arms, immediately. Every time. 8637 Nilsen, personal conversation, 2005 8638 Nolte, RCA Coaches’ Conference, 2005 8639 Carter, personal correspondence, 2005 2430
