CNN M2 2024-03-17 #
Some comments on the outing we had on Sunday. As with M1, I'll use comments on individual seats but they illustrate general principles. The things that I am looking for are not the absolute truth and you can disagree with them. But they should help us to develop the fingerprint of this crew in order to minimise the internal friction to best use the fitness we have.
Squaring #
We can disagree about the best moment to square. But we follow the pattern that stroke seat is setting to develop our timing.
Jack and Ian should try to square ealier in order to gain time around the catch.
Compression at the Front #
In general I don't see over-compression at the front: we catch with shins vertical rather than over-extending ourselves.
Rotation #
We worked in the session to gain length from rotation: rotation happens in the lower part of the spine and is initiated early by keeping the shoulders parallel with the handle and the inside arm mostly straight. This goes hand in hand with not reaching at the front - because reaching drops the outside shoulder and now the shoulder is no longer parallel with the handle.
The white arrows point out where I believe rotation is initiated late: the body already moved towards the pin.
Rotation requires confidence because it shifts the weight to the inside. So we fear that our rigger might drop. The cox therefor needs to watch this.
Finish Position #
I talked about this before: I am looking for a still position with abs engaged such that the lower back does not slump. As a consequence the outside elbow stays at the level of the outside hand and weight is not dropped into the bow.
The outside elbow is more next to the body than behind and the outside hand is loose and not gripping the handle for a feathering movement. The inside elbow draws past the body, maintains contact with the gate, and is responsible for feathering - more on that below.
Feathering #
This is a detail to help increase relaxation. Watch experienced crews. The inside hand feathers the blade. But it should avoid doing this by dropping the wrist and rather use the fingers like in sculling to roll the handle.
Hang in the Drive #
We want to keep the work low in the boat and in the body. We need to engage the lats before the catch to avoid them coming up in the drive. Tensing up also will cause grabbing with the arms and engaging the shoulders.
Finish #
My sense is that the body could be more still in the finish and time taken to finish the stroke. My sense is that Don in stoke moves to the next stroke quite quickly by eagerly pushing the handle out. Take time to finish the stroke, sit still, then move the handle.
We want to avoid twisting the body and keeping it central. Legs and body/hip swing finish together - the handle moves into a still body.
Sitting Tall #
Front End #
How long does it take to connect? Observe how much leg drive is used before the blade is connected.
It pays dividens to work on a faster connection. I also believe it is related to overlong finishes: if we miss the connection at the front we are more likely wanting to make up for it at the finish.
They key for a quick connection is to bring the blade close to the water early (which requires a stable platform) and to use the small fast muscles (calfs, arms) while keeping the slower strong muscles still. Hand and shoulder movment must be kept separate.