Grip Drills

In the last post, I described the proper way to hold the handles.  In this one, I’ll talk about some ways you can coach yourself to a better grip. 

As usual, beginning to discuss one issue in rowing brings up others which deserve comment.  This time, it’s the value of self-coaching.  The vast majority of the strokes you take will be without a coach, so to make sure that you are using proper technique you must develop the ability to tell whether you are rowing correctly.  Teaching self-monitoring to my scullers is one of my main aims as a coach.  I do this by giving them what I call “sensory cues” to help in the self-monitoring process.  As I describe the drills to come, I will also tell you what to look for so that you will be able to tell whether you are rowing correctly.  Your job will be to make those details happen. 

For grip, one of the best drills is simply to start from a dead stop, sitting at arms-away with your blades squared and buried.  As mentioned last time, in this position the back of your hand should be parallel to the water and the wedding-ring part of your hand should be perpendicular to it, facing straight ahead. 

[Aside:  In this position, your hands shouldn’t be one right over the top of the other.  Instead, the knuckles of your right hand should brush the heel of your left hand.  Staggering the hands like this has two important advantages.  First, it keeps your right knuckles away from your left fingernails so you are less likely to gouge yourself.  The second reason has to do with how most boats are rigged in North America. 

Oar handles overlap with each other, so riggers were faced with the choice of which handle should go over the other.  In North America, the left oarlock is generally rigged about a centimeter higher higher than the right one.  However, if your hands are exactly one on top of the other, the difference in height between the two handles will then be greater than the difference in height of the oarlocks, and your boat will tend to list to port on the recovery.  To avoid listing, stagger the hands slightly so that your right knuckles brush the heel of your left hand.  This allows the handles to be more nearly a centimeter apart in height and improves your set considerably.]

Continue with your drill:  Very, very lightly, so that you don’t build up any boat speed, bring the handles to your body.  Your elbows should be out to the sides as if they were akimbo.  Just as there was a nice gradual diagonal line down from shoulders to elbows to wrists to knuckles at the hands-away position, so at the finish position should there also be a diagonal line from elbows to knuckles.  As I sit at the finish, squared and buried, I often notice how my forearms “reflect” the oar shafts.  I mean that my forearms are roughly at the same height as the shafts of the oar (not lower) and that they form a nice “v” with the shafts of the oar. 

In this position (at the finish, squared and buried), the knuckles of your thumbs should be against your shirt (optimally about 4”-6” apart, but this is the subject of a future post).  Your wrists should still be flat.  Crucially, the oars should be fully buried.  This means that they should be all the way under water, with about an inch of water over the top edge of the blade.  Many rowers wash out at the finish, meaning that they allow the blades to climb out of the water during the arms-only portion of the drive, so that in effect they are finishing off the stroke using only half a blade.  Right now the important piece to remember is to keep the blades buried until your handles run out of room and your hands brush your shirt.  You can tell whether you are doing this simply by looking at your blades as you finish off the stroke.  If you see the top edge of the blade peek out of the water, use a little pressure on the pads of your fingers against the bottom edge of the handles to keep the blades buried. 

Here is where the new grip really begins to show off.  In order to take the blades out of the water, all you need to do is to relax your arms from the elbow down.  Think about making your hands weigh more, while your elbows maintain their akimbo position.  When you do this, your handles will pop down and your blades will come out.  Here’s the second drill to try:  with your excellent grip, wrists perfectly flat, just bob the oars in and out of the water.  Feel how the release can now be accomplished by relaxing the forearms, not by pulling or pushing the handles down.  Feel how low and relaxed the shoulders are.  And feel how your elbows stay where they are, as if they were resting on the edges of two conveniently located tables. 

Take a minute to appreciate the beauty of this maneuver.  You release the blades from the water by relaxing.  Imagine:  You’ve now learned how to accomplish one of the most important parts of the stroke by doing less.  You’ve taken advantage of your own body’s biomechanics to make the release a natural, easy, almost effortless movement.

A third, related drill:  Now sit at arms-away, this time with your blades flat on the water.  With the pressure point on the palm side of your hand in contact with the handles, press down to raise the blades from the water.  Lift your fingers up so that they aren't even touching the handle.  Remember:  flat hands, flat wrists. 

The fourth drill is to row arms and body only, square blades, with the new grip you are developing.  But make sure that the blades are fully square all the time – that you’re not sneaking the blades out halfway feathered.  If you are doing this, it means that you are bending your wrists at the release.  The oars should rest continuously on one of the flat sides of their collars. 

As you row arms-and-back, square blades, you will have to make the relaxation maneuver of getting your blades out of the water a quicker motion.  This will be even more true as the boat speed increases, as you will have less time to extract the blades.  Watch your blades to make sure that they are buried all the way until your thumbs touch your body.  Then quickly pop the blades out, deflecting the handles downward by relaxing the forearms.  Sometimes this is actually easier if you pull a little harder – it will create a pocket of low pressure behind the blade, which makes the blade easier to extract. 

When you feel ready, increase the pressure.  You are still at row arms-and-back only, square blades.  Feel how your arms make the release more quickly as the boat speed increases.  Row ¾ pressure, arms and back only, square blades, for 10 or 20 strokes, making the release as clean and quick as possible.  Then return to paddle pressure or steady state. 

Now, add in some legs:  Row half-slide.  After each change in pressure or length of stroke, look at your blades to make sure they are staying buried until the last possible moment.  Check your wrists to make sure that they are flat the whole time.  Make sure that the oars are resting fully on one of the flat sides of the collars as you row.  Because you no longer need to squeeze with your fingers to hold the oars, if the oars brush the water on the recovery, they will angle slightly and skim over the surface of the water.  They won’t jam into the water and stop the boat with a juddering motion. 

This is another advantage of the new grip you are developing:  relaxed fingers.  Because it is the weight of your hands and arms that controls the handle height, your fingers are free to cup the handle without squeezing it.  And that means – again – less effort for you.  It also means that square blades is becoming a less painful drill.  Because your hands are more relaxed, the oar will skim over the surface, not jam into it. 

As you feel comfortable, add in full slide.  Check to see that your blades are still fully buried until your handles get to your shirt.  The release motion may feel very deliberate and “square” in comparison to your previous release, if you were letting the handles sneak down into your lap to get the blades out.  It’s okay for the release to feel “bigger” until you get used to it.  The crucial things are that when your blades are in the water, they are fully in the water; and that your wrists are flat the whole time you are rowing square blades. 

A drill to make sure you're not squeezing too much with your fingers:  Playing the Piano.  Row on the feather, nice and light, and lift your fingers up off the handles on the recovery.  Maintain contact with the handles using your thumbs (press the oars into the oarlocks) and the pressure point of your hands. 

Finally, a very challenging drill I call "Lazy Square". Pick a nice flat day for this one.  Row square blades, but drag the lower edge of the blade on the water at all times during the recovery.  If you're gripping too much, this will be almost impossible.  To make it possible, use your fingers on the handles very, very gently -- just enough to prevent the oars from tipping over and feathering, but not so much that they resist the force of the water's surface to slightly angle them.   

Before signing off, I’ll summarize the drills and their progression.

1. Sit at arms-away, blades squared and buried.  Wedding ring forward, back of hand facing up. 
2. Move handles to finish position, blades squared and buried.  Elbows akimbo, wrists flat, thumb knuckles against shirt. 
3. Bob square blades in and out of the water by relaxing arms. 
4. Lift feathered blades off the water by pressing down on the pressure point.  Lift fingers off handles. 
5. Row arms-only or, better, arms-and-back only, square blades.  Wrists perfectly flat at all times.  Blades under water until thumbs brush shirt.  Deflect handles down quickly to get blades out cleanly.
6. Add a little pressure at arms-and-back only to feel how the release must speed up to accommodate.  Check wrists, elbows, blades. 
7. Return to paddle pressure, arms-and-back. 
8. Add half-slide.  Monitor wrists, elbows, blades.
9. Add full slide.  Monitor the three details as before.
10. Play the piano:  row on the feather, but lift your fingers off the handles on the recovery. 
11. The Lazy Square, for calm days only.  Row square blades, dragging the bottom edge of the blades on the water through the whole recovery.  Relax grip to allow handles to twist and blades to angle slightly.   

Next time:  Feathering and the finish. 

Comments

[caustic]

Why, exactly, is the square blade good at allowing a strong finish? By having to clear a full blade from teh water, the rower is forced to lower their handles a corresponding amount - typically 3-4 inches for the 8-ish inches of blade that needs to exit the water. This means that there must be that clearances in front of their body to allow this range of motion. However, if they are pulling all the way to their body (hence the brushing of the thumbs), this clearance does not exist.

However, if they feather & push away at the same time, this problem is eliminated.

[1xsculler]

In the starting position, hands away, blades square, the part of my finger with my wedding-ring on it is parallel with my flat wrist, my fingers are a hook and the tip of my thumb is on the bottom edge of the end of the grip. If I position my hand so the part of my finger with my wedding-ring on it is perpendicular to my wrist I pretty much have the grip in my palm which I don't want, Right?

[1xsculler]

Correction. about 45*, not parallel to water and not perpendicular to water, the wedding-ring part of my finger.

[Karen Chenausky]

1xsculler, you bring up an excellent point. The handle *does* feel like it is in your palm, and is something you don't want. However, the reason I believe the grip I describe is actually better has to do with whether you are really using your palm to grip. In my way of thinking you are not. The palm does rest on the handle, but it is not used to grip the handle. The grip comes from your finger pads (under the handle) and the roots of your fingers (on top of the handle). Your palm is only there because it is attached to the rest of your hand. With this grip, blisters will appear at the roots of your fingers, but not in your palm.

[Mark]

There is no "tap down" in the sense of keeping the blades completely buried until they reach the end of the arc and then removing them from the water. It's mostly a coach's white lie used in teaching and not really what happens. It's a physical impossibility - the handle must still be moving around the arc while the oar lifts out.

Read http://www.biorow.com/RBN_en_2008_files/2008RowBiomNews03.pdf

Coaches use the these sort of ideal images all the time, but they should also understand that they are simplifications or distortions, and in a written piece that will be read and used by coaches as well as athletes, you should indicate that you have that understanding too.

[1xsculler]

Another minor correction. I shouldn't have made my first and second comments with my laptop in my lap, watching the last episode of "Bachelor" with my wife and a 1 1/2" wood dowel in my hand trying to figure out how I place my hand on the grip. While doing my a.m. water piece today I realized that Karen's, wedding-ring part of finger at 90* to the water at the catch, is quite accurate and you still don't have the grip in your palm.

[tc]

Hi Karen,
First, I have enjoyed your blog quite a bit and appreciate the time you are taking to write.

I have a question about the grip during the recovering. Does the feather occur by rotating the handle via the wrist, or is the handle rotated by changing the grip?

Some history... Previously, before your article, my handles were in my fingers. That is, the base of my fingers were at 45 deg (not perpendicular) such that on the drive the pressure of the oar was essentially at the middle knuckle. I had always read/heard that the oar is not held in the hand but in the fingers, and the coaches I have had never corrected me, so I thought this was correct.

I had noticed though that in photographs I saw that it seemed like others had the handle not in just in the fingers but more in their hand. That, and their thumbs covered more of the handle end. Thus, when I read your blog entry I had an "Ah ha!" moment.

So then to the boat where upon trying your grip, with fingers at 90deg and the handle on the upper hand-pads, that I felt better connected. It was a little uncomfortable and I'm still getting used to it, but I swear that I'm getting better power out of the stroke. My theory is that I couldn't drive as hard and was subconsciously holding back because I could sense that my fingers were being challenged to hang on the the oar.

Back to my question... To feather the oar and keep "flat wrists" I have been rotating the handle by opening my fingers. That is, the lower part of my fingers, which were at 90deg, rotate up, bringing the handle, towards being more parallel to the water.

However, I've been watching a lot of videos and I don't see anybody do this. It appears that the handle stays at essentially a fixed position in the hand and that the feather is accomplished by rolling the wrist.

So there's where I am at. If you've made it this far, thanks. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Karen Chenausky]

Hi TC,

First of all, thank you for the kind compliments. I'm happy that my essays have been able to help you even remotely (i.e., not in person).

Regarding the grip on the handles with the fingers, I think this used to be the fashion. I was taught that way, too, and then un-taught it later in my training career. Since learning the grip I describe, I think I can achieve some important things more easily than with a finger-grip, which is why I promote it. In fact, one of those things is what you mention: it's really hard to transfer all of the force you can create with your legs to the blade if you're only hanging on by your fingers. The connection is indeed much better when you are using the more moder grip, precisely because you can engage the larger muscles of your back better and transfer the force of your legs better.

Now, for feathering. I think that pretty much any way you feather is all right, as long as the wrists get flat right afterward and that you're not scooping up water or causing any other problems in the boat or your arms. It's generally a good idea to keep the handle from moving vertically when you feather or square, but I don't think it matters if you use your wrists a little or not at all. In fact, if I could manage it, I would try NOT to use my wrists. So it's possible that you have managed this yourself. In "Feathering and the Finish" I allude to scullers who can feather without using their wrists -- my husband is one of these. His pinkies are as long as my index finger, and he can just roll the handle between his fingers and thumb without the need to crank his wrists at all. (And he's got worn spots on the ends of his grips to prove it).

So if this is what you are doing, then you have just made me jealous. But if you think that in feathering OR squaring your current method is making the handle change height, then I would suggest developing a method that does not involve that height-change. Does that make sense?

[tc]

Yea, that makes sense. I watched a couple of my sculling videos this afternoon to help put it all together. I think the main thing is that I was taking the phrase, "The handles should not be in the palm." a bit too far and making my fingers work to hard. Thanks again.

[Eugene]

Karen, thanks for all the time you spend on your blog. I'm a novice rower. I'm unclear about the drill Playing the Piano. What is meant by "row on the feather"? Thanks.

[Eugene]

like TC, I'm a little hung up on the grip thing, too. I had been taught to use the fingers to feather the oar, so that the wrist is always flat. What you write makes sense, but: if I use the wrist at (after, during) the release to feather the oar, and the wrist movement is to simply reach the "tipping point" before the weight of the oar drops it onto the other flat spot in the oar lock, and then (after the tipping point is reached and the oar drops onto the other flat spot) you flatten the wrist and hands away, doesn't this mean that your grip changes, or that the oar sort of spins in your hand? Otherwise, when you flatten your wrist (after the tipping point is reached) you'd be squaring the blade? [I just jumped to the part of your blog discussing blade preparation for the catch, where, with flat wrists, you roll your fingers down.] I'm not sure I'm getting it. Thanks for any further advice you can offer.

[Karen Chenausky]

Hi Eugene,

Thanks for writing. I'll address your comments in order. First, "rowing on the feather" means "rowing with the blades feathered". (Likewise, "on the square" means "with blades squared").

Now for your question about whether the oar spins in your hand after you break the wrists just enough to get the handle to its tipping point and then flatten your wrists again. The short answer is going to be that no, it doesn't. The longer answer is that it doesn't because you lift the heel of your hand up off the handles in order to get the wrists flat. You don't just reverse what you just did to feather.

It's hard to describe, but try this: Make a fist, then open your hand out flat. Not only will your wrist flatten a little, but your *hand* will also flatten. That is, when you make a fist, your big knuckles are bent. When you straighten your hand, those knuckles become straight. If you do it a few times in a row and keep the rest of your arm stationary, it looks a little like your knuckles are just rising and flattening, rising and flattening. That flattening motion is what I'm after here, because the handle is going to touch your palm just opposite from the big knuckles (kind of at the roots of your fingers). See, here's where I need to film my hand doing this and attach the video to the page, but I don't know how to do that yet...

Please ask more questions if you have them. If you're wondering, chances are someone else is, too.

[Eugene]

Karen, many thanks for your response. I hate to belabor this point; but, as a follow up: is it that motion of the fingers (from the clinched fist to extended fingers) that feathers the oar? If so, why do you "cock" or bend the wrist at all (down, to the "tipping point," and then quickly back to level)?

Another: rowing on the feather, the oar is in the water and pulled while feathered, so the boat doesn't or barely moves?

Thanks again, and I really appreciate you blog.

[Karen Chenausky]

Eugene,

You aren't belaboring anything; you're simply asking the kinds of questions that get at the real details of a process. And that's always useful. When I (or other coaches) say "row on the feather" I mean "row normally, feathering the blades after they come out of the water and squaring them up before they go back in." When we say "row on the square" we mean "row without feathering." Coach talk is often kind of a shorthand, and the meaning isn't always transparent. So it's good to get clarification. That's why I post my answers to your questions: so that others can get the benefit of them as well.

Now to your question about whether the hand flexion is all that's required to feather the oar. For some people this might be the case. My husband, among other people, is capable of doing just this. For me, though, hand flexion is just a *part* of how I feather, because my fingers aren't strong enough to roll the handle by themselves. So I would say, try it both ways. If you can manage to feather the oars without using the wrists at all, then great! as long as it doesn't cause repetitive stress injuries. If not, then you can use your wrists like most other people do, and will just have to pay attention to getting them flat again after tipping the oar.

Please ask any other questions you might have. I enjoy answering them.