Many times at MastersCoaching clinics, rowers who are aware of the importance of the feet ask me two questions.
- Can the heels come up at the catch?
- What part or parts of my feet should be on the stretchers at the release?
Before answering, I’ll explain why I put so much emphasis on the feet.
The feet are the critical link between your effort and the blade as it moves through the water. With every stroke, you exert pressure with your feet and legs, and that force – the force that propels the boat – is transferred through your body, through the oar handle and out to the face of the oar blade.
Different coaches have different views about how to use your feet for maximum impact. Here’s what I believe.
Regarding the catch, the most important thing, all coaches agree, is that the rower gets fully compressed – shins perpendicular to the water. Of course, there is huge variation among masters athletes in their range of motion. The reality is that not all masters athletes can get fully compressed at the catch unless their heels come up. In my view, if your heels must come up to allow you to get compressed, that’s fine.
That said, it’s important to know that maintaining pressure on the balls of the feet during compression is essential. You do not want to rise up onto the toes.
The next motion, after the blade is connected to the water, is pushing the heels down and driving with your whole foot. To accelerate smoothly, you need to maintain constant force on the stretchers. Former Olympian and MastersCoaching staff member Tom Kiefer emphasizes the importance of this.
“You have to be relentless in searching for this feeling,” he said. “If you are sitting on your butt, you’ve lost it.”
Practice it! A good way to work on the foot-hand connection is to focus on this feeling while working on a Concept 2 erg, using “sliders.”
As for the release, I don’t really care what part of your foot is connected to the stretchers, so long as you are able to maintain constant pressure on the face of the blade. (Most rowers I coach press with the balls of their feet at this point in the stroke cycle, but I have coached a few who connect with their heels.)
While it’s easy to feel connected to the footboards during the drive phase, it is just as important to stay connected during the finish and release. If your feet are not pushing off the footboards throughout the entire stroke, you interrupt the transfer of force, which causes your body to act like an anchor or dead weight, slowing down the boat.
Another way to think of it is that when your feet lose contact, your body “falls” into the bow. This results in a sloppy release, slowing the boat.
Practice it! A great drill for the release is to row with your feet out of the stretchers. This can be done both on the erg and on the water.
Last word: your best strokes start and end with your feet. That’s why I recommend a feet-first approach.
Mayrene T. Earle, M.Ed., is founder of MastersCoaching. She conducts camps and clinics for masters rowers around the world. She also provides coaching for coaches. Contact Mayrene at
mayrene@masterscoaching.com
. Copyright 2009 © Mayrene T. Earle. All rights reserved.