By Matt Imes

Wide grip would be with normal placement of the outside hand and the inside hand placed where the oar handle and shaft meet. (You could go a little wider if you want to: it’s not a set distance.)  Wide grip should allow for a relaxed inside shoulder and an ease of pivot to place the blade at the catch. A warm-up progression using wide grip could go:  arms only, to arms and back, to quarter track, to half track, to three quarter track, to full track. You could incorporate pause drills into this if you like. When rowing with wide grip, emphasis is placed on direct placement and solid connection with the outside arm/lat.