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A Confident Start
Larry Gluckman
Mastering the start should be a goal of every competitive sculler. While the start may not win the race, it can easily lose it. Even if the start doesn't become a strength of yours, at the very least practicing your start until you have a solid mastery of it allows you to progress to the striding and body of the race without having hurt your race by losing ground or creating technical issues.
We can practice starts from a stationary position or on the run while paddling. In the case of a stationary start, I suggest that you come to the release position with the blades remaining in the water and the handle gripped in your most effective and comfortable manner. Without releasing your grip on the handle, take the blade out of the water and move forward into the catch. If you are comfortable with the blade square in the water, that's fine, if not let the blade rest flat on water. By preparing in this manner, you have already set yourself up for a comfortable release.
From this position, recite the starting commands to yourself (having taken the time to learn the proper start sequence commands your event will use), and key on them to practice your start - just like a race.
Beyond breaking the inertia of the shell and beginning to move the boat, the first stroke of a race is as much about preparing for the strokes to follow that will really start to accelerate the craft. The check-off list for the first stroke should be calm, breath, keep the blades buried, complete the stroke you are on before thinking of the next stroke and pull high to keep the shell stable. Think of pressing and prying the boat away to support your preparation for the next strokes - not just the first stroke. Driving the legs before the blade has a purchase on the water will make the shell move toward the starting dock and not to the finish line - be patient.
The second stroke is typically a shorter stroke to take advantage of what you created on the first (momentum, rhythm, and beginnings of good set). Again: do not drive the legs before you anchor the blade. During this stroke, the body will likely be more upright and without a lot of body swing to the bow.
The next few strokes are taking advantage of the ever increasing speed of the hull. By the 5th stroke, you should be at full slide and full length with the idea of keeping the hands moving at both ends of the stroke, and keeping those points in the stroke as precise as possible. Ripping the blade out of the water at the release, or missing water at the catch mitigates your higher rating and offers little speed for the effort. Stay calm during your start to preserve your efficiency. Depending on your fitness and ability to translate rate into speed, 15 to 20 strokes is an effective number for the start of your piece before finding a more effective rate for the larger portion of the race.
Another approach to start drills is to practice the start off the paddle. This version has several advantages. It is less fatiguing and less likely to injure your crew since your shell is moving somewhat already. Plus, you can take fewer strokes to bring the boat to speed. Starts from the paddle allow you to practice the starting sequence more frequently. Rolling starts are a good approach when teaming up with other scullers to create a double or quad, and they mimic the start sequence used for head racing. Follow a similar approach as above.
No matter how you practice your starts, the use of a speed monitor should help determine the most effective starting sequence for you in terms of manageable speed without leaving the race in the first 20 strokes. Another way to evaluate one sequence versus another is to locate a couple of buoys about 150 meters apart and time yourself rowing from one buoy to other trying different sequences or stroke rates.
Finally, resolve to take your starting sequence after every time you stop for a drink, to turn, to remove gear or wait for the wake to pass. It can be fewer strokes, less than full pressure or full speed - but continually practice your starts and take quality strokes. Remember practice makes permanent - not perfect. So pay attention to your starts. Do not keep repeating ineffective strokes, you can't do that and expect your start to be better on race day.
When you integrate your starts into your workout like this, you practice many more starts without setting aside separate time to do so and it affords you the widest range of water and wind conditions possible. It also reduces the anxiety of a start since you do them so frequently; the start becomes part of being on the water and not a special part of the practice or a unique situation.
You don't need to win the race off the line, but at least you want to be effective and that means not putting yourself in the hole due to poor starting technique. Work on your starts in your row today!
Larry Gluckman is Craftsbury's Director of Competitive Rowing and head of the Small Boat Training Center. Larry is a former US National Team Athlete, has coached multiple Olympians as well as several collegiate programs, most recently Trinity College in Hartford, CT.
