How to Increase the Length of Your Stroke When Rowing 

It’s the little points you give that make such benefits! Always stoked to stumble on an older video of yours✊️🤘✊️

This video was extremely helpful. Thank you for the tips. I’ll add one thing: in addition to keeping the heels down to maximize power, it also takes pressure off the knees, which helps keep the knees healthy.

Fantastic. I was popping my knees way out to maximize reach. So glad you addressed that. Thank you. . .

This is a great video! I've very much enjoyed lots of others from DH, but this addresses one of the most difficult parts of the stroke. Thanks Shane!

The rowing machine has revolutionized my visits to the gym! Why did it take me decades to discover it? I hit 60 this year. Lifting 4 times a week after a 25 year break from lifting. Warming up for lifting on the rowing machine is great. Getting in the gym a couple more times a week for half an hour / 40 mins of rowing, cycling and stretching is a great add on.

Beautiful explanation thank you!

wow! this is actually a very great video! so helpful for my novice rowing

I am a novice rower and this video is very very helpful to me because my coach is always pointing out to me that I need to get more length and I feel this video could help me understand how to lock things in place so that I can accomplish that goal

Ooh yes. I kind of figured out that going too far back (too wide of an angle) was just exhausting, and I couldn't go faster than 30m/s for any significant amount of time. All those points-- heels down, not going too far forward on/bending knees too far, leaning back too far-- ensure that you don't lose potential energy in your stroke. As soon as those angles are violated, you have to work harder to basically get your stroke going again; they break your stroke....not to mention possibly causing some crappy injuries like overextended knees, low back problems from not engaging your abs and letting the back bow forward, and so on. Awesome video.

Fantastic !

Brilliant!!

Excellent. Easy to follow.

awesome!

nice video thanks.. greetings from Germany

Just be aware that your heal is supposed to rise at the catch and that the drive should be "toes to heals". If you doubt this, look at the foot stretcher... the ball of the shoe is fixed but the heal is designed to rise... look at real rowing boats... it is the same.

Another great video.

I’m a gym rat and I have the money to buy some good equipment. I am so pleased with my purchase and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Super excited.

Thanks

Nice video on technique

Hey Shane. Great video. I try to keep this position when I row. But I noticed watching the olympics that the athletes seem to round their back at the catch. Is that something that elite athletes can do that might cause injury for lesser mortals? Just curious . Thanks

Finally!!!!! Somebody teaching heels down. I always used to the comparison to squatting. Maybe people will listen to you.

This helped me. I now have a spot on my Waterrower (2 black bolts on the top) that I strive to reach with my handle.

What a brilliant explanation. Thank you so much. (64 trying to regain fitness)

Приобрела эту модель, спасибо ребятам из Зоны Спорта, рассказали какую лучше выбрать, что в нем есть, с чего лучше начинать, чтобы не отбило желание тренироваться.

Your points are well made, Sir! Perhaps it is useful to instruct your audience by an apt meme. 'Keep your finish compact'. Meaning, only slightly lean back, even less than you show to be correct, for the exact reason you mention. A "compact finish" may increase your rhythm or stroke rate with only marginal loss to the drive's energy delivered, your point exactly! Alternatively, when you keep your stroke rate equal in stead, you benefit from more time to your recover, better resting your muscles and making for a sharper catch, mustering more muscle bundles in better synch, creating better acceleration during the first tenths of seconds of the drive, higher speed during maximum force, and power is force times speed.

Great videos! Just one thing: Force contains acceleration (F=m x a). It’s contained in F, not an extra parameter.

I'm going to try this. I definitely struggle to keep my heels planted though.

Thank you! Great technique help with this video.

Okay, but in real rowing is lifting of the heel at catch very normal for a good length of the drive. Knees just above the ankles. You can keep connection with the forefoot (heads of the metatarsal bones). Also on the ergo (concept2, RP3). In this video is your drive with the legs now too short.

Hey Shane, thanks for this approach on stroke lenght. I am 184 cm tall, but my stroke length is about 104 cm. Should I be concern about this length? If it were, what should be a average good stroke length for my body? Tks in advance, Roberto

Graсccciaas

SUPER

Hey Shane. Thanks for all you videos. I find that at the catch I feel slack in the chain. I’ve upped the damper setting a notch to 6 and still feel it. Also when I drive with my legs I don’t feel a lot of resistance. Any ideas? Thanks.

Is it ideal that 'vertical shins' coexist with 'heels down' at the catch??

This will help my slav squat

Good video, thanks! Your knees should be under your upper arms at the catch, not the elbows. Shins should be vertical, not under vertical or over vertical. Forearms should stay in the same horizontal position from catch to finish, without dropping elbows below hand height at any stage of the stroke...this prevents bent wrists through the drive phase and through to the finish which is a very weak position...so, keep elbows up at all times! Finally it's important to accelerate from the catch through the middle of the stroke right through to the finish without letting pressure off. From the catch to square off, you have lifted the boat up out of the water, then from square off through to the finish it's your job to hold the boat up out of the water and stop it dropping back down, thereby creating more drag on the hull...think as if it's trying to lift the boat up out of the water in the last half of the stroke. Remember also it's legs, body, arms when driving backwards from the catch and arms, body and knees / legs up coming up on the way forward. But, you get all your length whilst in the finish position with your knees / legs flat down. Your hands should be over your shins at this point and you maintain that position whilst coming forward on the slide right through to the catch without trying to get additional length whilst coming forward up the slide. Remember from the finish the sequence is, arms / elbows straight whilst shoulders are still behind your hips. Only when your elbows are straight and your arms and shoulder sockets are stretchedas farforward aspissible, do you then move your shoulders in front of your hips by povoting over using the hips ( not shoulders), Level without dropping your shoulders down at all ( keep head and shoulders level at all times). Only then your legs/knees come up, with your arms stretched out over your shins and you start to move forward up the slide keeping your body in that position all the way through to the catch. Your body thenstays in that same forward position all the way back to the square-off position.

I'm 6'5". Inseam 34. Do you think the beam would be long enough for me to fully extend?

I have quite a long reach, but find it hard to square the blade at the catch before it slices through the water. It seems that the longer the stroke, the harder it is for me to square the blade at the catch. Can anyone explain what I’m doing wrong?

I am a rower, you're supose to have your calf at a T with the ground, and your feet naturally lift. To get a maximised stroke you lift your heals, your not supose to be pushing with your heel, you push more with the balls of your feet.

Grow taller!

How do you use a rowing machine for beginners?

as stated in other comments as well, lifting off the heels is absolutely fine and done in literally every stroke(except sprinting and some people like to keep their heels down at the start). great video otherwise

Nailed a 1.41 per 500m for 45 mins last night.........13840 meters.. i watch these vids for a bit of motivation. I.ll try these tips tonighy....

He's obviously not a rower but he makes sense.

Impressive knowledge for a non rower. Would like to see a stronger catch position though. If you compress a bit more into the catch you will gain more length by getting more out of your legs. If you see at 2:33 your butt is almost half the way up the slide. You can see at 4:30 that you are using your upper body to get more length slightly which is a weaker position. Rowing is mostly legs so if you can get more out of your legs = more efficient rowing and faster times.

What if you find it difficult to keep your knees from flaring out and not being able to keep them under your elbow like you explained?

Heels must come up slightly . In a boat you drive with the balls of you feet. Heels planted destabilises the boat.

man no matter what i do, i HAVE to lift my heel when I start the drive. although i make contact with the whole foot as i drive.

Wrong, you're supposed to allow the heels to come off the foot plate at catch, and if you say 'well then you wont have any connection on the drive phase it's actually an initial drive with the ball of the foot and then heel comes in about mid drive and adds a boost to the power. 'Not supposed to take heels off the foot plate' smh

You definitely have a more recent video about rowing myths where you say "The rower measures all of the row, not just the drive." In this video, you say the opposite. What gives?

My average stroke length on Concept 2 erg is 1.20 I know...I'm a shrimp 🍤

thats kind of dumb to let youre heals on you should go farther and than from the moment heals can help they should help

Gawd, what’s with the “real rowing” snobbery. Look very carefully. It’s hard to see but if you study the video closely you’ll notice that he’s not in a boat, he’s not pulling on oars, and there is no f*cking water anywhere in sight! Don’t let those first six letters of “rowing machine” fool you into thinking that what you know about _actual_ rowing has got anything more than only the most superficial application to using a C2 (or the like).

Dude you’ve never rowed, trying to sound clever with big words. Sad.