THE LESSONS OF 200 YEARS schlag/Schubschlag For the most part, the Kern- force application boundary tracks with the sequential Modern Orthodox/concurrent Classical divide. Though it is not necessary for a crew using sequential body motions to explode the catch, the overwhelming trend for crews that lead with the legs is to front-half the pullthrough, as a careful reading of history as a whole and of the chart on a previous page will confirm. The predominance of Classical Tech- nique Schubschlag at the top of the world rowing pyramid is not a recent phenomenon. In 1989 in Bled, of 132 World finalists, there were only fifteen boats rowing Modern Orthodox, and except for a couple of scull- ers and a British lightweight women’s four, all were from either from Italy or the U.S. In the nearly half-century since the con- cept of leg-back-arms sequentiality coa- lesced in the mind of Allen Rosenberg at Vesper Boat Club in Philadelphia, the Kern- schlag branch of Modern Orthodoxy has been followed to the highest levels of our sport by isolated pockets of true believers who have carried on as a vocal minority in international-level rowing year after year, decade after decade, all seemingly con- vinced they are embracing rowing’s main- stream. In their own particular world view, se- quentiality predominates despite two hun- dred years of evidence to the contrary. Tradeoffs Nevertheless, both Schubschlag and Kernschlag are viable approaches, and the tradeoffs between the two basic approaches to force application must be carefully con- sidered. They are real, significant and fun- damental. Kernschlag is easy to teach, easy to learn and very satisfying to the athlete who wishes to do something tangible and affirm- ative to move the boat. The Concept2 er- gometer does not discriminate against Kern- schlag, and since ergometer testing is crucial for boat selection in many programs around the world, a high score achieved through Kernschlag provides immediate positive feedback and may indeed earn the athlete a seat in his or her team’s first boat. Kernschlag can be easily experienced and appreciated, especially in an eight, while Schubschlag is much more subtle, meta- physical, harder to experience, harder to de- scribe, harder to teach, harder to learn, and its benefits are often truly obvious only in small boats. Kernschlag can be successful. Three of the seven Australian Kernschlag World fi- nalists in 2007 were World Champions. There is anecdotal evidence of Kern- schlag crews leading early in a race, sug- gesting that there may be more speed poten- tial in front-half emphasis than other force application strategies. There is anecdotal evidence of Kern- schlag crews fading in the final 500 meters of a tough race, suggesting that explosive force application may tire the athletes more than steady acceleration to the release. Jimmy Joy, North American coach and philosopher: “The steady pressure bladework maintains more constant boat velocity. Physiologically, it may prove to be more efficient and to create less unnecessary strain on the body.”8782 Food for thought. The Pullthrough is a Cumulative Motion In the case of Kernschlag, with its em- phasis on the front half, there is real ques- tion of what can be accomplished at the catch. Babraj: “Your action at the beginning really is only a starting point, so it’s difficult 8782 Qtd. by Klavora, Rowing 3, p. 33 2471
