What is the fastest rowing technique? Honestly, it's so simple. It's whatever gets your boat from point A to point B as fast as possible, because rowing is a race. Here's what I mean, what I learnt rowing with Hamish Bond, and how to make your own technique better without overcomplicating it.
What is good rowing technique?
I crack up at the comments under Olympic videos of Hamish Bond and Eric Murray. There's always someone saying their technique isn't actually very good. As if they'd have been the best in the world if only they'd made that one change. They already were: Olympic champions, world record holders and unbeaten in that boat.
"Is good technique the thing that gets you from point A to point B as fast as possible? Or is there some other framework that you've decided is good technique?"
Hamish and Eric weren't trying to row some textbook style. They were trying to move the boat from point A to point B as fast as possible. You can pick holes in anyone's rowing, but the sport is about a race.
"The thing about technique is you're only seeing 50% of the story."
When you watch rowing, you only see what it looks like on camera. You're not feeling what it feels like in that boat. So here's my definition. Good technique looks pretty good, then you're in the boat and it's going fast and it's easy to work hard. It's as simple as that. Rowing doesn't need to look pretty or follow some model of perfect rowing to go fast. Looking pretty and having that effortless speed is often a by-product of going fast.
Why does Hamish Bond row so simple?
If you're a rower and you don't know Hamish Bond, have you been living under a rock? He's the GOAT. Three Olympic gold medals, a 69-race winning streak in the men's pair and a world record in that boat that still stands. As a young athlete I looked up to him, and later he was my crewmate in the Kiwi eight.
The first time I jumped in a boat with Hamish was in a four. I was in bow seat, he was in two seat, and I was pretty scared. I worked as hard as I could to impress him, putting down as much power as possible. I quickly realised that, the way Hamish was rowing, I just needed to chill out a bit.
"I think Hamish is really good at sending the boat backwards as opposed to sending the boat sideways."
If you're big and strong, you can rip the boat round, and it'll slow the boat down. Hamish sends the force backwards, so he's super efficient. His stroke is really simple. He's super stable through the core and locks in at the catch, rock solid, immediately on the boat. His force curve is front-ended. He gets the first half of the stroke off the leg drive, opens up the body, then lets the rest take care of itself, super relaxed through the finish. It's a wall of power off the front, and then he doesn't disturb the run he's created while the blade is out of the water. Over and over again.
He's under 90kg, pulls a 5:43 on the erg and has a massive aerobic engine he's built over 15 years. So every stroke he gets a few more percent on it, and a few more percent of boat speed than others.
"There was nothing insanely special, it was just the basics done to an exceptional standard."
That was the bit that shocked me. It was really, really simple. But simple doesn't mean easy.
Is there one best rowing technique?
No. The fastest rowing technique is whichever one the crew aligns on. There are so many ways you can skin the cat. The trick is getting your entire crew, coxswain, coach and all, believing in one style and then holding each other accountable to it.
One of the best pieces of advice I ever got from a coach was, "Shaun, it's a simple sport, don't overcomplicate it." However you want to row, as long as the whole crew is doing the same things, that's what matters most.
Ian Wright coached us to pause around the finish. There are plenty of haters of that style, but it works. What makes or breaks it is whether everyone in the crew buys into it and does it together. I've written up Ian Wright's pause at the finish if you want to try it. Even when two Olympic legends came into our eight, nobody had the magic answer. We had to work it out together, and I wrote about that in two Olympic champions joined our eight and it didn't solve everything.
When your crew finds a bit of speed, remember what you were doing and capture it in words your crew understands. Then take those words into the next session.
How do you improve your rowing technique?
Use simple cues from strong positions. These are the ones I wish I'd known at the start:
- Set up off the back. Hands away, body over, knees just broken, together with your crew. From there your body position doesn't change. Roll into the front and put your blade in. No extra reach.
- Lock in at the catch. Put the power on immediately, together, and push the boat backwards, not sideways.
- Drive with your legs, then open the body. Hang off your lats so your arms just hold on. Eric Murray gave me that one, and it's all in hang off your lats.
- Complete every single stroke. Finish this one properly before you think about the next.
- Relax through the finish. Then don't disturb the run while the blade is out of the water.
- Drill it. Gunnel taps, catch slaps and a quarter-slide pause were the three drills we kept coming back to in the Kiwi eight.
If technique isn't your strength, you're in good company. Out of ten, I'd score my own technique around a six or seven, which is why I'm a Meataxe. Hamish is about the least Meataxe rower you could imagine, and the lesson from him still works for the rest of us: the basics, done exceptionally well.
Common mistakes
- Trying to impress. That was me in my first row with Hamish. Effort that sends the boat sideways slows it down.
- Showing your crew how strong you are. If everyone can feel your leg drive, you're probably out of time. The biggest, strongest rowers I rowed with, like Eric Murray, didn't feel like they were laying down massive watts. The boat just went faster. More in how a big, powerful rower should use their power in a crew boat.
- Judging technique on looks. From the outside you're only seeing half the story.
- Overcomplicating it. Rowing is a simple sport and we do our best to make it complicated.
- Everyone rowing their own style. Pick one way as a crew and hold each other to it.
More from Shaun on this
Read the transcript
you know i just do i do fucking crack up at seeing all these punters online critiquing some of the best roles in the world like olympic video of Hamish and Eric and there's always a dude in the comments has been like oh the techniques are actually not very good oh my god it should have just like the stupidest thing you could ever say like what is good technique is good technique the thing that gets you from point a to point b as fast as possible or is there some other framework that you've decided is good technique. Like what the fuck does that even mean? You like people in the comments thinking that if only Hamish and Eric had known that their technique wasn't good if only they had made this change they would have been what the best in the world fuck they already were they would have been Olympic champs fuck they already were they would have been world record holders fuck they already were they would have been totally unbeaten in that crew fuck they already were so why the fuck are there punters in the comments critiquing their technique and the thing about technique is you're only seeing 50% of the story like you're only seeing what it looks like on camera or what it looks like visually through your eyes you're not feeling what it feels like in that boat good technique is where it looks good it looks pretty good and then you're in the boat and it's going fast and it's easy to fucking work hard like it's as simple as that you can decide whatever you think is good technique but really the sport is about a race. It's about going from point A to point B as fast as possible.
