From Craftsbury Sculling Camp Coach (and frequent Head Coach) Jeanne Friedman

During the summer, one of my favorite dock talks deals with Tempo and Rhythm. I think this is because I am a musician, and these are two concepts that I can wrap my brain around.

Now that most/many of us are indoors on ergs, it might be easy to forget about these two concepts and focus solely on rowing hard. I suggest that indoors on the erg is the PERFECT time to think about tempo and rhythm! You have the most stable platform around, and there are no other boats to worry about.  No steering, no bad weather, no pesky wakes.  

To me, TEMPO is the metronome setting. Am I playing this piece as a fast Presto or a slow Adagio? The notes stay the same, but I have to play them quicker or slower. Tempo = Stroke Rate. 

RHYTHM is about the relationship of the notes within one measure of music. Regardless of the tempo, a quarter note remains a quarter note in relation to the other notations within that ONE MEASURE of music. If there are four beats to a measure, then the quarter note gets one beat and the remaining three beats could be more notes or rests. In rowing terms, I think RHYTHM = RATIO.

How does this all relate to rowing? Think of each stroke cycle as one measure of music. Within that one stroke, there is a relationship between time in the water (the drive) and time out of the water (the recovery). A simple waltz would be one beat of drive and two beats of recovery. If I rowed a slow waltz (low tempo), I’d get lots of run. If I rowed a more vigorous waltz that bordered on a polka, (increased the tempo), I’d get less run per stroke, but the relationship between the drive time and the recovery time would stay the same. If I left the tempo the same and changed the rhythm, I’d be able to increase my run (assuming I can control my body as I repositioned my weight during the recovery).

If your goal is efficient sculling – smoothness with good boat movement – you can play with these two variables and work out the combination best for you. Increase the tempo too much, and you might not be able to maintain an efficient rhythm. Change the rhythm too much and you might decrease the run or increase the check.

On the water, you can make use of a Stroke Coach or similar measuring device to experiment with changing these two variables to find your optimal tempo/rhythm combination. What tempo gives you the best boat speed? What rhythm gives you the least check and most run per stroke? The possibilities are endless – go play and see what you come up with! 

Stuck indoors? Use this time to focus on tempo and rhythm. One workout I always liked was rowing to Ravel’s Boléro. It is a great opportunity to focus on keeping rhythm (ratio) while the tempo (stroke rate) increases. Try it - you just might want to add this to your erg playlist!