Get your rate up!

You're preparing to race and are concerned you aren't rating high enough.
Why rating matters. Two drills you can do to get the rate up.
What prevents you getting the rate up?
Resource: Practicing Racing Starts
fastermastersr...
3 Value Bombs
1 - Know your ideal mid race rate
2 - Precise bladework can always be improved
3 - Over-rate drill helps you get confident at high rates
Timestamps
01:15 First you must know what your ideal race rate goal is for the main body of your race.
Your training programme should have increasing race rates to help guide you closer to your race rate goal.
04:20 Be precise in your bladework practice. Can you get your oars in and out in perfect time with your crew mates? Increase the quality of precise practice.
Have a clearly defined sequence of the rowing stroke cycle.
Do these movements slowly and then test under pressure (rate, firm pressure).
10:30 Over-rating as a test
Can you practice rating higher than your race pace rate?
11:00 Three drills for rating
Half slide drill - take the rate up 2 strokes per minute every 10 strokes. Find the rate where your precision fails. Do this 3 times in every outing practice. Try at increasing pressure.
Double quick hands drill - double quick hands around the finish - from the extraction round to weight on the feet on the recovery. Helps develop fluidity of movement in the handle speed.
Over rating drill - row and pick a target rate and accelerate up to that rate and then do 10 strokes at that rate. Then wind down to light pressure. Then try it again at rates higher than your race pace goal. Later do the drill only to your race rate goal you should feel that you have plenty of time and can manage this rate with ease.
20:00 What should your rate be in the race?
Challenge your preconceptions about race rate by practicing drills regularly. Get familiar with the feeling of getting the boat up to higher rates.
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[@dermotbalaam5358]

I’m not sure that chasing rate is helpful. What you should be chasing is speed. Many chase rate and lose speed. The important thing for racing is knowing what pace you can maintain for the majority of the race with room to accelerate towards the end when necessary.

[@RowingChat]

Dermot, you make a good point about speed being the goal. However, I know that it's a challenge to get rates upwards in the weeks prior to a regatta and so this podcast is aimed at those people (not yourself, clearly!).