Improving the stroke, a masters experience

This experience tempted Schick, who admits sport has never come easy to her, to join her local rowing club despite knowing nothing about the sport. That was 13 years ago. Most of that time Schick has rowed ‘casually’ but the competitive urge began to form. “It didn’t seem like it would be a very difficult transition, but for me it has been,” says Schick.

After numerous obstacles, Schick decided that in order to take a step forward, she needed to take a step back. She signed up for a rowing camp in the United States that focuses on masters rowers. Thus began her journey to Calm Waters Rowing in Virginia. Schick tells World Rowing about her experience.

“Calm Waters Rowing is run by husband/wife team John Dunn and Charlotte Hollings, and their rowing resume is impressive to say the least. Collectively they’ve spent more than 70 years immersed in the sport.

“Rowing happens three times daily, around 7:30am, 11:30am, and 4:30pm. Sessions take place on the camp’s private lake, Camps Millpond, located a short drive away. Originally dammed to provide water for a mill, it’s a good size for training, with one stretch running 1,500 meters and another 1,000 meters. It’s also secluded and well-sheltered, so even on windy days you can usually find some flat water.

“Between rowing, Dunn and Hollings provide demonstrations, analyse videos, and discuss technique. They also videotape participants each morning, and review the footage the same day, giving visual feedback and providing points of focus for the next on-water session. 

“During the first part of my stay, I witnessed Dunn and Hollings coach a mother and daughter who were absolute beginners, progressing them from wide-bottomed singles to narrow racing shells in just four days (and only five flips by the mum!). Later in the week, I saw how they helped very experienced rowers make obvious improvements in just a handful of sessions. They have a true knack for zeroing in on ways to fine-tune someone’s technique, and are able to relay it in a way that it makes sense.

“For me, they helped remove the layers of many years of coaching (and many different coaches) and take me back to the very basics of the stroke. I had to work on eliminating all power and effort, row very lightly, and just feel the stroke. Feel where the blades want to sit in the water. See the height where my hands want to be. Notice the pressure on the soles of the feet. Feel the connection to the core. Roll the handles away at the finish. Take the weight off the handles at the catch.

“During those first few days, I became aware of so many little realisations, one by one. Strange as it may sound, while I may have been rowing for 13 years, I don’t think I’ve ever really ‘felt’ a stroke before. Not like this. It was a brand new experience, and very exciting.

“Once I got comfortable feeling the stroke, the next progression was to make it fluid. Drive, recover. Drive, recover. It was explained to me this way: drive the boat, ride the boat. Then, once fluidity is achieved, start applying a little more pressure to the drive – but only the drive. The catch and finish, which they teach to be part of the recovery, always remain light and stealthy. Drive the boat with pressure and acceleration… ride the boat from finish to catch… to me, it was starting to make perfect sense… starting to click… 

“Dunn and Hollings share a philosophy that rowing should feel easy. It’s through applying power, speed and acceleration that it becomes more challenging. And that challenge is also what makes it so exhilarating. That thrill of chasing the perfect stroke can be the most difficult thing – and in the same moment, the most satisfying. The most frustrating, and the most fulfilling. Maybe that’s the magic that keeps rowers coming back, row after row, for more. More pain, more gain. “

Schick says she left the camp feeling more confident. “I came home feeling renewed, rejuvenated, and more in love with the sport than ever before. And now, I’m more determined to keep learning, keep trying, and keep working on getting as good as I can, in order to achieve my own potential. Still hopeful that one day, sometime soon perhaps, it will all click…”

Copy thanks to RoseAnna Schick, www.ras-words.com