Tech Tip: Sculling by the Seat of Your Pants

by COC Sculling Director Sara Gronewold

If you take time to study the styles of accomplished scullers, you’ll see a variety of styles in any given part of the stroke. One thing that remains consistent is the way the wheels of the seat move. During the propulsion phase, the wheels of the seat should be moving towards the bow. During the recovery, towards the stern.

One easy way to think about it is that there shouldn’t be any time during the rowing stroke when the wheels are completely immobile. Wait! You might be thinking: what about while you’re getting your hands away and your body over? Great question! Many coaches (myself included) believe that body preparation is part of the propulsion phase of the stroke. The weight transfer towards the stern of the boat actually propels the boat in a bow-ward direction. By continuing to eke out another ¼ rotation of the wheels to the bow while pivoting your torso into a prepared position, the weight transfer is tied to the drive, and actually extends the period of time during which the boat is surging. (Think of the motion your body makes at the front top end of the swing set, while transitioning from forwards to backwards).

What if you move your seat towards the bow on the drive before your blades are in the water? This, too would be an excellent question. If transferring body weight toward the stern pushes the boat towards the bow, then the inverse must also be true! If you’ve ever experienced “check” in the boat, then you know it happens when the body weight is moving towards the bow, in the absence of connection between the face of the blade and the water. This is why it’s important to think in terms of “propulsion as drive.”

If, after contemplating this in your sculling, you find that the seat is moving towards the bow before the connection is made, you can approach it two ways: You can place the blades earlier (or more succinctly), or you can make the transition take longer allowing for the blade placement to happen before changing direction with the seat. The more time you can take gaining a feel for that load, the more comfortable you’ll be with stability at the front end, and the easier it will be to relax enough to make a change to your handle/blade placement timing.

So, I would encourage you, next time you’re sculling (or erging, now that we’ve entered the colder months), focus on your seat. Make sure it’s moving when and how you want it to move.

(For insights on the front-end transition, see Coach Whelpley’s post from a few weeks ago.)