Coach Thrasher
Guest Coaching Adds Depth
Today we had Richard Edwards as a guest coach for the varsity men. Richard rowed at the elite level in England, and has coached several men's eights. I wanted to get a different perspective on the state of our current rowing, so Richard came to us as somewhat of a "finishing" coach to give us some excellent pointers and to add additional depth to our understanding of technique as we approach Championships.
He spoke of using hand speed to increase stroke rate and power, rather than push raw power with the legs. I think this was a really great point. It's not that the legs are less engaged, rather the focus moves to moving the hands (and oar) faster.
He also added an excellent relaxation drill: smiling! I thought this was cool because it's so simple. Smiling helps us to relax and gain confidence in the boat.
Richard discussed several other items as well, and the guys asked good follow up questions in discussion after practice. I really believe that having a different coach adds depth to a rower's "tools chest" of knowledge. Hopefully we can do it again sometime.
Posted at 09:01AM May 11, 2006 by jason in General | Comments[1]
Keep up the flexibility work (yoga or was it yoda?) and the warm ups, both will keep you long & strong!
I was very impressed with the rhythm in the heavy four, keep working on the basics (length & shape) both will come back to you when you really need it .......when you find competition who can get within open water of you!
It is never easy being a lightweight crew training against hwt. team mates but close the gap inch by inch just as you would in a close 2000m race. I saw some very promising moments today especially on the starts and when you held your finishes.
Thanks for inviting me out on the water with u. Perhaps next time it will be in a real boat!
May the length be with u! http://www.starwars.com/databank/organization/thejediorder/
Good luck at the championships.
Posted by richard edwards on May 11, 2006 at 10:59 PM PDT #