Looks good !

The only standout issue I can see is with the swing; segment the movement of the arms around the finish of the stroke and separate them from moving your back.

To help with this, focus on finishing the push with the legs and then incorporate the body, and when you’ve swung with your body bring your arms in.

I think opening your back earlier, when your legs are still a little bent and using that powerful position to push and swing at the same time can make you much more efficient. Right now you're taking a stroke with your legs and then at the end using your back and arms to finish, almost as if they are two separate strokes. This isn't a bad problem to have, it means you've got power and lots of it in your legs and you know how to push, but adding in the rest of your body can boost that a lot. Try doing some drills that start with only arms or only legs and building parts in. Recording and watching yourself probably helps a lot too.

Not much wrong there as far as I can tell, the only thing would be the hand height, which is the mark of an actual rower, efficient erging does not require any vertical height changes. For the rest there is probably something to gain in sharper catches but that's something you need a better eye than mine for to spot.

Lemme guess... you're short?

As a fellow shortie... it can be difficult to watch the numbers and thread all the technical pieces together. Focus more on a lower SPM with a higher speed and a low-moderate drag.

Also think about the stroke of a boat... fluid motions.

and remember most of the numbers you see on line are from people with more leg than you and I. So think less about SPM, and more about the power that comes out of each stroke.

​

Happy rowing!

As others have said, slow down, and focus on making each part transition smoothly into the next. As you finish your leg drive you should be starting to lean back and as you get to the end of the lean, then you break at the arms and start pulling into the mid section. Then when you release your arms don't just pause, as soon as your arms are fully extended you should be leaning forward, and as soon as your hands pass over your knees, you break at the knees and come back up to the catch. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Try and keep the chain level and the handle moving in a straight line from the front to the back. And take your time coming up to the catch. It's called the recovery phase for a reason. Should be a ratio of about 1:3 seconds depending on what sort of piece you're working.

I'm no expert but it does look like you are using your arms too early in the cycle

You’re also bending your wrists, which comes from trying to pull more with your arms than using your legs. You’ll lose power this way, think of hanging onto the handle instead of pulling/moving it with your arms.

First slow down.

Legs, body, arms then arms, body, legs. You are doing legs and arms together.

What sort of advice are you looking for. You clearly know how to erg, we can hear the power too. Any sort of critique is gonna be nitpicking at this point. It might be more productive to post something where you are going at a higher rate but I have a hunch you’re probably great at that too.

Not bad, but your hands are on a rollercoaster. Also no need for that pause at the finish.

Hip Swing!

A couple things:

Need more flow through the finish. Hands come in and BOOM they’re back out again.

Hands are up & down a lot! To work on it, sit at the finish and have someone put electrical tape about a half inch above/below. As you erg, watch the chain - it shouldn’t go outside the very top/bottom of the tape lines. Think of your hands going over horizontal planes - over a table and under a table - with just a little bit of down & away at the finish, doesn’t take much.

Try for some more body over if you can (work on stretching out those hammies if that’s hard!)

Nice power! It’s great overall - rowing is about mastering the little things & always improving so keep it up!

Man that sounds nice

1. Depending on the school of technique you’re adopting and stroke rating, a micro-pause at the extraction (finish) may not be bad. At low ratings, some coaches advocate a micro-pause (it’s controversial, though).
2. I don’t understand what you mean here by “leading with the arms” on the recovery. Perhaps I’m just dense, but I didn’t get it. Either more description or video would help me. EDIT: Did you mean on the drive? Your hands do lead the recovery….

think of your arm movement like the chain of a bike. your arms should always be moving. when you finish, don’t yank your arms into a straight position in order to get to the recovery faster. keep your body tilted backward at the finish and push arms away at the same speed that you’ll be coming up the slide. don’t start that body over until you’ve pushed arms away

1. Personally I like to watch videos to see if I'm doing it right I'd recommend Cameron Buchan
2. Don't over think it

It might be good for you to post a form check.

That way we can really see and help you.

1. It’s an erg so “seamless connection” is not super important. At steady state pace a pause at the finish is fine. In the water this corresponds to the time spent tapping down. At high rates you will be moving that handle fast enough that there will be no pause.

2. Think you have recovery and drive switched. Recovery starts with arms. On the drive, bring your shoulders down. Try to keep them as far as possible from your ears. With a lower connection point, the force on the body is lowered and more effort can be exerted at the legs. Your fingers just need to get stronger, but you can help by completely relaxing them on the recovery. You can use a single finger on each hand to control the handle on recovery.

Maybe a dumb question, but are you also a swimmer. Often, the habit of swimmers to tilt the head every few strokes carries into rowing until it can be changed.

Not normal, not necessarily an issue in and of itself (unless you also row on the water, twisting in the boat isn’t great), but it is likely indicative of something else going on. It could be a whole host of things - extra tension on one side due to technique, muscle imbalances, unequal flexibility, different length legs, who knows. If I were you I’d start out with having someone else watch my rowing to see of there’s a clear technique issue going on, then if you still find yourself doing the head turn potentially follow that up with seeing a physical therapist.

I don’t have a fix for this but I do the same thing but didn’t want to make a post about I also feel as if I can breathe better but instead of turning my head I tilt it 😆

I got into this bad habit when starting new and looking over to match people's pace.

Literally none. You can train fitness and improve flexibility which will carry over to speed on the water but there’s nothing you can do but erg (and tank, but let’s be real—if you don’t have an erg, you won’t be getting into any tanks).

Direct carryover to technique, nothing. Now if you have incorrect movement patterns, certain muscles don’t engage properly, etc. you can work on that. For example, rushing the slide can be improved by doing hamstring work. Controlling the eccentric on glute bridges, lunges, squats, and other related movements. If you have issues keeping your back engaged through the drive, you can do different variations of pull-ups and weighted rows. Weak core causing difficulty setting the boat? Do a bunch of core work.

While this won’t directly be technique work, it will certainly assist in improving technique. Stronger muscles and more control over your body are a key to improving technique.

Picking up a pencil off of the ground.

I’m no expert, just another home rower, so make up your own mind. But I think you start and finish well, maybe a little longer before opening up the hips, I cue the open when I get past my knees. I also think upright is best, I get lower back when ive had a break, I just lower the drag and focus more on form, it comes good after a few weeks then I ramps back up.

I hear some exp guys say the tempo matters, I think it’s 1 to 2 but I’ve found it hard to get it down consistently on a long row.

I think your sequencing looks really good. I think you could lean forward/lengthen a little more as you approach the catch. But, I think your sequencing is good enough, that that sort of thing will come naturally as you condition to the upped workload.

I think one way to address the lower back situation is to make sure you're engaging your lats in the right way. As you generate more power, you'll need to engage your whole back more to transfer that power. If you're not engaging your whole back, then a lot of weight is swinging through your lower back and it can get sore.

One drill to try is the pick drill, where you just do the legs portion of the drive. Try and drive your split down just using your legs and keeping you body leaned forward. Try to feel the difference of engaging your upper body with your core vs your lats vs both.

This is what helped me get much more efficient stronger distances.

Your arms should be in line with the chain. Notice how yours form somewhere near a 150 degree angle with the chain. That limits your efficiency and power and probably is causing some of the lower back pain.

Raise your hands a bit and feel the load in your lats.

Looks pretty damn good to me. Getting advice on form is kind of like getting advice on your golf swing

The Ergdata has a power curve view that I've found super useful. You're looking for a smooth dome shape on your drive. Lots of literature on this. How you deliver power will show up on the curve, and you can adjust as needed. I found this method a bunch more intuitive than "extending at the catch more, or opening earlier/later, etc.". Looks pretty good for starters!! Have fun!

Not sure why the folks telling you not to overthink it are yucking your yum… As a data scientist myself I totally understand the desire to quantify it, and have spent a lot of time studying breathing in both rowing and running. You’ve hit squarely on one of the known quirks of rowing, that it puts your body in a sub-optimal breathing position exactly when you’d want to be inhaling.

Some people can stick to the breathing pattern you described for low intensity and then switch to a 2x breathing pattern for high intensity. Personally, I tend to breathe 2x per stroke even at low intensity, and I find that it allows me to better manage my heart rate at a variety of intensities. Here’s the pattern I follow, starting during the drive -

• Drive - somewhat of a hold at the beginning of the drive to create intra abdominal pressure to support core and back, similar to a squat. I say somewhat because it quickly bleeds into at mid-drive the beginning of an exhale into the finish. With a drive time typically considered to be about 0.7s there really isn’t much time to truly hold your breath.

• Finish - forcefully complete the exhale begun during the drive, valsalva maneuver-esque. Clear as much air as possible here without compromising spinal stability.

• Recovery - here’s where it starts to differ. Coming off of the exhale from the finish immediately rebound into a big inhale, being sure to use the diaphragm as well as the chest. This inhale needs to complete mostly by the time the shoulders are drawing over the hips, because we’re going to squeeze in a half exhale and inhale again during the slide on the way into the catch. This is the second breath, but really it’s only a half breath. By only exhaling halfway here, you sort of build in the positioning in your body so you won’t have to fight quite so hard for that second inhale at the catch, and that second inhale becomes a little less important because you’ve already taken a full breath.

• Catch - complete the 2nd inhale on your way into the catch, realistically only 75-80% of a full breath, but again that’s ok because we’ve already moved a full breath. The inhale here is more about providing the core/abdominal support for the push at the catch. The inhale goes to a light hold until you begin to exhale again ~mid-drive.

All of that said, there is a second school of thought revolving around exhaling into the catch and inhaling as you approach the finish that I’ve never quite been able to figure out/get behind.

There’s a specific quote that has always stuck in my head, I think from either Eric Murray or Hamish Bond, famous NZL rowers, during one of their test pieces, where they describe feeling like they “were breathing out of all of their holes” during a particularly high intensity piece. This doesn’t speak to the pattern necessarily, but it is something that I think about often when it comes to the volume of air being moved in a breath.

Hope all of that can help you out a little bit in figuring out your own personal approach!

It might be insightful to know how long your workouts are and what your perceived level of exertion is for the workouts. We (as rowers) put a lot of value on steady state rowing, which shouldn't be exhausting in the conventional sense. I think for now, you might consider shortening your slide such that you don't compress your lungs during the recovery. There are a number of high level rowers who erg at half or three-quarter slide anyway; of course they row at full slide compression. The erg is a tool, and I suspect your limitation at full compression will dissipate over time. Focus on building yourself up to long workouts at lower intensities. To that end, make it sustainable for yourself, which means getting good breathing.

I would say you’ve thought about breathing in rowing more in this post than I have in 20 years in the sport 😂. Honestly as someone new to the sport I’d focus on your basic technique and the body movements and start from there - maybe don’t overthink the breathing too much - but if you feel like you can’t catch a breath at the catch maybe you are over compressing or are too hunched over.

Scoot back on the seat so you’re sitting on the two knobs that are uncomfortable to sit on. From there, sit up taller in the upper back.

I have nothing to add, except you’re reminding me that the last time I did a 2k, i pushed myself to my limits, and for weeks afterwards I felt like my lung capacity was 20% greater. Felt amazing. I need to chase that again…

Try rowing with your feet out--seems like there's unnecessary lay-back going on. Also, try prepping your body (getting it over and ready) before you break your knees.

/u/ILike2Sweep hit the main points. The only other thing I'd say is the be a little quicker with your hands out of the finish. Right now there's almost a pause as you mental transition from stroke to recovery. That's just wasted time, instead try to push your hands away from the body quickly and get the body swing. The slow part of the recovery is bending your legs and coming back up to the catch.

/u/ILike2Sweep hit the main points. The only other thing I'd say is to be a little quicker with your hands out of the finish. Right now there's almost a pause as you mentally transition from stroke to recovery. That's just wasted time, instead try to push your hands away from the body quickly and get the body swing. The slow part of the recovery is bending your legs and coming back up to the catch.

Not bad at all, what the other guy said, and on the recovery I’d keep the handle higher, and keep it level. Also, your body might go over off the finish a bit quicker, to make the movement more before the legs. The drive looks good. ����

To be fair to you, you have a pretty solid grasp of all the core movements. So I have only 2 points that I would say you could think about to simply make your stroke more efficient.

​

1. At the Catch: your hand height and body position is good However I think that your trying to work with your shoulders a little too much. At this point of the stroke your legs are doing the work. your hips/back/shoulders/arms/hands are all working as a medium for power at this point. you can see your shoulders working when you feel the weight of the resistance and there is a split moment when your body kind of shudders under the weight. For this you need to focus on maintaining your strong position but have a feeling of looseness and ease through all the levers of your body. Remember that your Legs are the strongest part and that they are doing 100% of the work in this early stage of the drive. Later is for Back and Arms

​

2. finishing height: You are currently bringing your handle to your belly button at the finish. I would recommend that you aim to have the handle be touching your chest at the finish and then at the beginning of the recovery phase, you can lower your hands. Your back muscles will be better engaged with a higher finish. the lower you go the more you tire your triceps and shoulders which do not have the same level of strength or control as your back. on another note. Finishing with higher Hands promotes a must stronger posture. it forces your upper back to stay upright. this in turn allows you to go through your recovery more efficiently, entering your catching position with less effort.