When you are developing still- it's a placement, when you get to the level of "dance/swing" with the boat- it is a catch. Being slow in a placement makes a back splash, being agile and fast enough- makes no backsplash. If being fast breaks your overall technique- stick to placement, when ready- finesse the catch- drop the oars and before it's starts to bounce stabilise it with instant push with the legs. I would love to have a time to make a non biased video of it..
Thanks for the comment Somerset. I wish you would make that video. I would like to see what you mean more clearly. I'm very keen on rowing with finesse and like the sound of the boat and rower "dancing". I cant agree that a splash is something that you do when developing and this goes away when you are more technically skilled though. .. That's not been my experience. For me, the guy who I have referenced in my Technique series thus far, Peirre Houin, places the blade pretty much perfectly. Hardly any movement on the slide. Just lift hands and in. And he creates some splash.
Nice question Hans. As the blade enters the water it has the water rush against it, causing the "backsplash" behind the spoon. In front of the spoon it creates a small void. This fills up by the time the spoon has properly submerged, but if you get onto the power before this has happened then you end up trying to push against the void and the front of the spoon will splash when it hits the water on the other side. You will usually get a sound from this sort of entry too. The check comes from pushing with the blade not connected, which is the case when there is still air on the working side of the spoon.
The blade has to be moving towards the stern as it’s placed. There would be an absolutely almighty boat stopping backsplash otherwise. The crucial thing is coordinating the timing and speed of entry and change of direction to get the right balance between too much backsplash and not enough.
Thanks Anthony. Practically, even the best placers of the blade, like Pierre Houin (who I used to illustrate this) has a slight sternward movement during the fraction of a second that the blade is submerging, but considering the blade is spearing in at the catch angle, I firmly believe that its like a swimmers arm... it stops the boat less than pressure on the foot plate would. I agree on the balance between too much and not enough though. When I coach people who row the blade in, I get them to develop a big back splash first, just to "unlearn" the desire to change direction too soon, and then work on them almost completely getting rid of it.
@@InFin8RowingIntl agreed. And it’s an asymmetric distribution around perfect timing - for every athlete who puts the blade in too early there are 20+ who put it in too late. Also agree on the approach of getting them to go too far the other way and then pull back from there - they need to overcorrect so they can feel what that is like and then start searching for the balance point between too early and too late.
Another well reasoned argument for how to row the right way.
When you are developing still- it's a placement, when you get to the level of "dance/swing" with the boat- it is a catch. Being slow in a placement makes a back splash, being agile and fast enough- makes no backsplash. If being fast breaks your overall technique- stick to placement, when ready- finesse the catch- drop the oars and before it's starts to bounce stabilise it with instant push with the legs. I would love to have a time to make a non biased video of it..
Thanks for the comment Somerset. I wish you would make that video. I would like to see what you mean more clearly. I'm very keen on rowing with finesse and like the sound of the boat and rower "dancing". I cant agree that a splash is something that you do when developing and this goes away when you are more technically skilled though. .. That's not been my experience. For me, the guy who I have referenced in my Technique series thus far, Peirre Houin, places the blade pretty much perfectly. Hardly any movement on the slide. Just lift hands and in. And he creates some splash.
Great informative video
How about a butterfly splash. That is, symmetrical.
Yes a V splash is great if you can time it perfectly. I would still prefer to see more of it going to the back than the front though.
Could you clarify what secondary front splash is and how that checks the boat?
Nice question Hans. As the blade enters the water it has the water rush against it, causing the "backsplash" behind the spoon. In front of the spoon it creates a small void. This fills up by the time the spoon has properly submerged, but if you get onto the power before this has happened then you end up trying to push against the void and the front of the spoon will splash when it hits the water on the other side. You will usually get a sound from this sort of entry too. The check comes from pushing with the blade not connected, which is the case when there is still air on the working side of the spoon.
The blade has to be moving towards the stern as it’s placed. There would be an absolutely almighty boat stopping backsplash otherwise. The crucial thing is coordinating the timing and speed of entry and change of direction to get the right balance between too much backsplash and not enough.
Thanks Anthony. Practically, even the best placers of the blade, like Pierre Houin (who I used to illustrate this) has a slight sternward movement during the fraction of a second that the blade is submerging, but considering the blade is spearing in at the catch angle, I firmly believe that its like a swimmers arm... it stops the boat less than pressure on the foot plate would. I agree on the balance between too much and not enough though. When I coach people who row the blade in, I get them to develop a big back splash first, just to "unlearn" the desire to change direction too soon, and then work on them almost completely getting rid of it.
@@InFin8RowingIntl agreed. And it’s an asymmetric distribution around perfect timing - for every athlete who puts the blade in too early there are 20+ who put it in too late. Also agree on the approach of getting them to go too far the other way and then pull back from there - they need to overcorrect so they can feel what that is like and then start searching for the balance point between too early and too late.