Depth
stern ft. ins. ft. ins.
I 81 8 1 4 8 6 44 54 3½ The other measurements would be the same as in the eight, but they require a few words of explanation. The height of the seat above the heels, which is now generally 81 inches, is in my opinion too much. Though the oarsman, by increasing the height of his seat, can swing with more comfort and more freedom, yet he places himself more out of the plane of his work, and so loses mechanical advantage, and further requires a more sloping stretcher, which prevents him from keeping on the necessary pressure at the finish. I think 7 inches is quite high enough except in a few individual cases, where a man is handicapped by an abnormally short body, or by exceptionally stiff thigh joints.
The height of "work," i.e., of rowlock sill above seat, varies, according to the floatability of the boat, from 6½ inches to 71 inches. It ought to be set as low as possible consistent with the comfort of the crew and the probable conditions of the weather: for instance, in winter, when the water is frequently rough, it is advisable to have the work inch higher than in summer. Some individuals require their work to be set either higher or lower than the average on account of some peculiarity of build, sometimes even of style. “ Experience has proved that a slide of sixteen inches is as much as can be used with advantage. With the seat raised 7 inches above the heels, the oarsman cannot slide more than 16 inches away from his work (in this case " work means a point exactly opposite to the rowing pin of his rowlock) without catching the calves of his legs against the front of the thwart; and an extension of the slide in front of the work causes a great loss of swing. It is argued that a man would swing more if his slide did not come up to his work but was stopped some inches away from it-he probably would, but he would also lose in leg work. There must be a compromise between swing and leg work: where the point of compromise comes must be a matter of opinion. Modern practice sanctions a 16-inch slide coming up level with the work: with this I quite agree.
The distance of the rowing pin from the centre of the seat measured horizontally and at right angles varies from 30 inches to 32 inches. It depends a good deal on the length of oar inboard (the leverage) which it is desired that the crew should use.
With a leverage of 3 feet 8½ inches I have found 301 inches a very good distance to choose for this. a Now as to the dimensions of the oar. On this point there has been a good deal of dissension in the rowing world, some authorities declaring for a I2-foot oar, 12-foot oar, others for a 12-foot 6-inch oar, with the leverage in both cases at 3 feet 8 inches, and in the latter case with a slightly smaller blade, 54 inches as against 5 inches. There is not a great deal of advantage on either side; the longer oar gives the longer stride in the water, and enables the oarsman to row a slightly slower stroke to get the same pace as with a shorter oar; but, on the other [ROWING The introduction of slides necessitated the use of longer leverage inboard, and the button of the oar was shifted 4 or 5 inches further away from the handle; to counterbalance this alteration in the leverage the width of the blade was increased ultimately to 6 and in a few cases even to 7 inches.
Experience showed that this was too much, and of late years the width of the blade has been gradually cut down without any loss of power to the oarsman, but rather with considerable gain. My own experience points to a 5-inch blade giving better results than a 6-inch blade, whether the total length of the oar be 12 feet or 12 feet 6 inches, and I rather suspect that a 5-inch A PAIR. hand, the longer oar is rather more unwieldy. The size of the blade is perhaps rather more important. As has been before remarked, the oar is a lever of the second order, the blade covered in the water is the fulcrum, and in order to get the greatest mechanical advantage it is necessary that the fulcrum should be as stable as possible.
The bigger the blade of the oar, the more stable the fulcrum. But human nature refuses to keep on making supreme efforts against an unyielding resistance; it is impossible to get a man to keep on putting out his greatest strength when he feels little response to his efforts, much less is it possible to get him to put forth that quickness and dash which is so necessary in the formation of a good crew. Hence it follows that it is not possible to lay down the size of the blade on mathematical principles, but only from experience. In the days of fixed seats, the consensus of opinion fixed the width of the blade at 5 inches. blade would give still better results. With the small blade there is very little loss of mechanical advantage, but there is immense gain in life and dash to the crew. My My preference is for an oar 12 feet 6 inches over all, buttoned at 3 feet 8 inches, with a blade 54 inches wide.
Coaching. To coach an eight or a four or any combination of men in a boat requires certain qualities in a man, chief of which, after a practical and theoretical knowledge of rowing, are unbounded patience and good temper, coupled with continuous and close observation. It is essential that the men who are rowing should have supreme confidence in their coach, and on his side it is equally necessary that he should do nothing to forfeit this confidence. Thus he should never make a hurried criticism on any individual lest he should by chance bestow blame where the individual addressed, or, what is perhaps worse, his comrades in the boat, know that it is not deserved. It is ROWING] very unwise, too, on the part of a coach to tell his crew to do a certain piece of work, having the intention of not stopping them at the distance named, but of keeping them on for some further distance; very likely the crew has not been rowing hard enough during the early stages of a practice row, and for that one particular row the trick will be successful; but the success is gained at the expense of the loss of all confidence in the coach, and a great unwillingness on the part of the men to extend themselves in future rows. During practice the coach ought always to tell his crew what their hard work is going to be, and he must always keep his word, unless something unforeseen crops up to stop the work. It is important to keep the attention of the crew fixed upon the instructions of the coach; therefore he must often vary the tones of his voice, and, as men's minds are differently constituted, and explanations which will satisfy one man will fail with another, so he must vary the terms of his instructions It is bad policy to keep on talking to one individual, even though his faults be many and glaring; it will either make him extremely angry, or else extremely despondent and hopeless of improving himself, neither of which frames of mind is conducive to good rowing. It does occasionally occur, however, that the very best results are obtained by continuous coaching of one individual during a practice row, but the coach must be very certain of the temper of his man before he tries this dangerous experiment.
There are men who have a thorough knowledge of the theory of rowing and a wide experience in its practice, but who, in coaching an eight or a four, devote all their time towards endeavouring to make each individual oarsman row in the best possible form, without really paying much attention towards combining the individuals into a crew . This is a fatal mistake.
Granted that if eight individuals are coached on exactly the same lines and brought to the utmost perfection of style, they will naturally row perfectly together; but in this imperfect world it is impossible to produce perfection, and as each individual fails, even though it be by but a little, to reach this necessary point, so will the crew, coached on this system, fail to attain combination.
The chief duty of a coach is to form individuals into a crew, to make them row as nearly as possible absolutely together; it is really subsidiary to teach each man to row in the best style; this ought to have been done before the men are put together in an eight, though a good deal may still be taught to individuals in a tub boat during VOI.. IV the early stages of practice. While the men coach must be given entirely towards corare out in the eight, the attention of the recting those faults which interfere with making the crew acquire those points of the uniformity of the crew, and towards swing, rhythm, beginning, which he considers necessary to give them pace. No one has yet attempted to lay down his crew together, and it is difficult to lay any principles to guide the coach in getting down any such principles, since no two crews ever have exactly the same faults, limited extent. but I think that it is possible to do it to a the following characteristics-shortness of Every crew in its earliest stages presents finish, slowness of recovery, hurry of bodies and slides forward, hang over the stretcher, missing of the beginning, oars in and out of the water at different times a formidable catalogue. Where is the coach to begin? The rattle of the oar in the rowlock presents itself as the easiest point at which to begin to rally the crew together; the ear assists the eye.
Therefore let the coach's first instruction it together, and be quick with the wrists in be, "Listen for the finish, get the sound of the recovery." Following on this point, the coach must try to steady the swing forward : "Get the bodies well down before the slides are started, and feel the feet on the stretcher." are the crew at the same time, and it is best These two points can be impressed upon to let them practise these for some little time without attempting to proceed further; but it is very useful to make the crew break to exceed 30 per minute, nor go below 28 from a paddling stroke (which ought not ten strokes, during which the coach must per minute) into a row for some six to insist on the swing forward being still slower and longer, while the blades brought faster through the water (I use this expression, though it is quite wrong, being men), and upon the men putting all cause it is the usual one employed by rowtheir strength into each stroke, and keeping the blades well covered right to the finish.
After rowing these few strokes, the crew again, and instructed to get the recovery ought to be allowed to drop to the paddle sharper and the hands quicker away; they stand that the coach wants them to improve will improve more quickly if they underin one definite point at a time; and this sharpness of recovery is perhaps the most important step towards getting the crew together. the men composing the crew must be taken Along with this practice in the eight, all out in pairs in a tub and carefully taught F the correct use of the slide (very few even of the best oarsmen slide properly), and the proper sequence of the motions of the recovery, in addition to the correction of any other faults which they may have acquired.
The early practice of a crew is generally carried on in a clinker-built boat; it is advisable to discard this as soon as possible; a racing ship is a little more difficult to balance and keep on a level keel, but is much more likely to have the work put correctly for each man, and it is impossible for a crew to make much progress in a heavy ship towards that life and briskness which is so very necessary.
The mention of work reminds me of one very important duty of the coach. It is really astonishing to see how seldom the work is put correctly in a boat even when fresh from a boat-builder; more often than not many alterations have to be made before the boat can be used; heel traps have to be moved opposite to the slides, or slides have to be moved in order to put a man opposite to his feet, the outriggers have to be lengthened or cut down in order to get the leverage equal all through the boat. All these things ought to be looked to, and measurements taken, by the coach himself before the boat is used; it is not fair to the crew to ask them to improve themselves as long as they are handicapped by their tools. The coach ought never to allow any individual to alter the height of his own work (i.e., the height of the sill of his rowlock above the seat); if he does, he will very soon find that every other man wants to alter his work, and the result will be startling. I have found one man with his work at 5½ inches, and the next man to him with his work at 7½ inches, and they both wished to alter it further. Every man ought to have his work at the same height, unless he has some peculiarity of build or figure.
When the crew have begun to get the recovery smartly and fairly well together, while showing length and steadiness of swing in their short pieces of rowing, it is time to make them do some more extended pieces of rowing for some six or seven minutes, during which they must be made to row really hard. This is necessary, not only for purposes of training, but also because men must be taught to row hard.
No man naturally rows quite as hard as he can; he must be forced to the utmost of his power during the early stages of practice. or he will not properly develop his rowing muscles. During these short hard rows the crew will not exhibit any life or dash: the coach must be satisfied if he gets real hard work and a long swing. He must alternate these hard rows with long stretches of paddling, breaking occasionally into a few strokes [ROWING of rowing; it is during these few strokes of rowing that he must now try to infuse life and dash into the men. "Sharp with the hands over the stretcher, get all the weight and work on at the beginning, feel the feet on the stretcher, and swing the finish well out. Drive with the legs.' Sharper on to it." 66 These are all the general instructions that I feel able to give. Every crew has its own peculiar characteristics, and require more attention to be given to some particular point.
As the day of the race for which the crew is preparing draws near, the attention of the coach must be given entirely towards getting the crew absolutely together; and it may sometimes be necessary for him to teach a man to do something quite opposed to all the principles of good rowing in order to get him into more uniformity with the rest of the crew. At this point individual form may have to be sacrificed for the benefit of the crew. The sacrifice ought not to be made for a crew of juniors; but in more important contests it sometimes has to be made.
The coach ought not to put off raising the slow practice stroke of 30 per minute too long. At least three weeks before the race the crew ought to be accustomed to rowing 32 for periods of seven or eight minutes, and 34 for one minute; and every third day another stroke should be added on.
If the race is a long one of three or four miles, the crew ought to be able to row 34 to 36 all the way, with the command of a spurt of 38. Over a course of a mile to a mile and a half, the racing stroke will be 38, with the power of spurting to 40 or 42.
The The crew must be well practised in starting. It does not matter very much whether they start with two short strokes and then a long one, one short stroke, a three-quarter stroke and then a long one, or a long stroke, a half-stroke and then a long one, all of which are used by different crews. pace of the start depends on the steadiness of the men and the cleanness with which the blades leave the water for the first few strokes, and, most of all, on how soon the men settle down together to their own style.
The start is always a scramble; the crew that scrambles least is generally ahead at the fifth stroke.
I do not propose to say much on training.
As long as the food is plain and simple, it does not make much difference what is eaten, though the more variety the better.
The most important matter in training is absolute regularity of habit. Drink must be restricted, especially during the early stages of training, when the wasting of fat calls for more liquid. Absolutely no ROWING] smoking. Here are the regulations for the sculling powers have been much hampered training of most modern crews. 7.0 A.M. 7.15 8.30 وو وو وو II.O I.O P.M. 3.0 6.30 وو دو دو Called. Dress in flannels.
Half-glass of milk and a biscuit. Go for walk of about two miles.
Sharp sprint for 200 yards. On return, tub and dress.
Breakfast-1½ cups of tea, fish, eggs, cutlets, &c.
Work on the river.
Lunch--pint beer, cold meat, salad.
Work on the river.