Beginners.

I had the privilege of coaching a group of novice rowers yesterday. For many of them it was their first day being in a river rowing boat and taking their first strokes. It was great to see so much enthusiasm and smiles all round. Never before had I coached people who had never pushed a boat through the water before so it was a great learning experience for me.

Many time I found myself thinking of how to get across the rowing stroke in a simple yet effective way. It is not like the on erg where you can demonstrate, and reposition peoples body positions. Half of the time was spent explaining the terms we use in rowing such as the catch, backstops the drive and the recovery.

Soon enough they we're rowing in pairs and trying to stay in time. Emphasising the proper body and blade movements from the beginning is paramount to getting the stroke right from the start and not letting bad habits creep in which can take much more work to undo. I found their attention span to be much shorter than competent rowers. They are going to have to train their minds as well as their bodies. In a short amount of time I could also observe how some people could learn and understand much faster then others this is interesting because the ability to learn and adjust is also paramount in rowing.