In preparation for our induction day, here’s a quick cheat sheet that will help you get up to speed with rowing in no time!
Cox who?
Unlike kayaking and other sports, rowers face backwards. While good for power delivery, it’s not the best for seeing where we’re going. So, in addition to the 8 rowers, each boat has 1 coxswain (cox) that steers and tells you what to do. Listen to them!
Get a grip
Each rower has one oar or blade that they use to move the boat. The part that you hold is called the handle, while the part in the water is the spoon. You’ll notice that the spoon is curved – you want the curve to be facing forward (from your perspective) when in the water.
If the cox tells you to tap down with your handle, that means to lower the part near your hands, which will also raise the spoon up!
What a catch!
Each stroke with your oar has four important parts.
- The catch is when your spoon enters the water.
- The drive is when you push with your legs and body to propel the boat forward, using the oar as a lever against the water.
- The finish is when you extract the spoon from the water.
- The recovery is when you slide forward with the spoon out of the water, preparing to take another catch.
Hold up…
There’s lots more rowing lingo that you will learn over the next few weeks. Here’s a couple more important phrases that your cox might use:
- “Ready” – sit at the finish of the stroke, with the blade in the water and be ready to do what the cox says.
- “Easy there” – stop rowing, and listen to the cox.
- “Hold it up” – force your blade into the water to make the boat slow down and stop.
Curious for more?
Take a look at some of the other resources at our learn to row page!
Looking forward to seeing you on the water soon 🙂