Rowing Technique - The Catch
(mostly taken from the Australian Capital Territory Rowing Association web site: www.rowingact.org.au)
The Aim of a good catch is to put the blade (s) into the water at the maximum point of reach and to take up the drive directly without “missing water”, and without disturbing the run of the boat.
The catch is the last thing you do on the way forward. A good catch drops vertically and directly into the water at the end of the slide forward. The hands reach forward and up and almost let go as the blades drop straight down. This is the quickest entry the blades can have.
There is an instant of stillness as you reach full slide just before you change direction—this is the instant that the blade must enter the water. It requires perfect timing which in practice means that the movement must begin earlier than instinct would tell you. It helps to think of dropping the blades in as you are still coming forward.
Teaching points—the catch
- As the seat slides forward to the catch, the body position is stable and the arms, while straight-ish, are relaxed rather than ramrod straight.
Only the hands need to move up and forward slightly to drop the blade(s) in. This is achieved by stretching the arms and shoulder girdle “up and away” from you in a smooth and co-ordinated way while simultaneously letting the blades fall. (We are not talking big movements here—it should be barely perceptible from a coaches speedboat.) - The splash from the blade as it drops in should be even on each side of the blade.
- The blade should drop so that the whole of the blade is just beneath the surface of the water—the blade is designed to float at this level.
- When the blade has dropped the legs/feet should initiate the leg drive, which should be in tune with the speed of the boat (e.g. faster leg drive for quads and eights, slower leg drive for single scull). (Note: If you were to let the blade go entirely as you were dropping it in, the blade would drop slightly below the surface of the water then bob up again before settling in its floating position. A good trick is to think of initiating the leg drive (smoothly) before the blade can bob up).
- All the above should be executed in a way to minimise disturbance to the run of the boat. (This means being smooth into the front and having a momentary period of calmness as the blades enter the water before the leg drive is applied.)
- With a good catch where little water is missed, the blades make a ‘gloop’ sound as they enter the water (rather than a smacking or splashing sound).
Common faults—the catch
- Hands dip before the catch resulting in “skying” of the blades (i.e. blades are high off the water) and then blade is chopped into the water. Usually a lot of water is “missed”.
- Overreaching into the catch where the body keeps moving over the knees in a general downward trajectory. The shoulders are then used to initiate the catch as they open back to a more upright position. Invariably much of this part of the stroke is in the air, resulting in “missed water”. The initial dipping of the body tends to push the stern of the boat down in the water and check the run of the boat. The lifting of the back to put the blade in the water results in a very weak and inefficient beginning to the stroke as the legs are not being applied.
- Arms bent at the catch and early in the stroke, which will mean a weak stroke at this point because the full power of the legs cannot be applied if the arms have to be held in a bent position. Alternatively the arms snap straight after the leg drive is applied, which is a waste of the leg drive as the legs have been applied with no resulting movement on the oar.
- Racing into the catch, causing overreaching, with the same effects as in (2) above.
- Late squaring—blade is not squared until after the full slide is reached, causing a late entry of the blade into water and missed water.
- Leg drive is initiated before the blade is in the water, resulting in a stopping of the boat at every catch.
- Blades carried too high off the water, resulting in chopping into the water as in (1) and (2) above.
- Blades carried too low to the water, resulting in a dipping of the hands and skying of the blade (as in (1) above) to make room for it to square before dropping it in.
- Hesitating at the catch, rather than having a smooth, seamless change of direction. Inevitable result is an initiation of the leg drive before the blade is in, and a chopping of the blade into the water and with all the faults outlined in (1) and (2) and (6) above.
Disadvantages of missed water or a late catch
- shorter effective stroke, hence less acceleration developed, hence lower boat speed
- wasted time at catch means having to rush forward in order to attain a high rating. Rushing forward means that the change in direction at the catch is sudden and severe and results in a checking or stopping of the boat run
- blades go too deep into the water, applying unwanted vertical forces, and inevitably resulting in a dirty and untidy finish which will also slow boat run.
- leads to poor legs/body/arms co-ordination during the drive phase of the stroke with the final result being that the second half of the stroke is taken with the arms only, which results in a weak finish and poor acceleration of the hull.
Fault correction exercises—the catch
- Catch slap
Description: In a normal stroke after arriving at the catch position lift hands up to put blades in but keep the blades feathered so that they “slap” the water then square and put them in the water.
Purpose: To assist in learning to raise the hands to drop blades into water; to assist timing of the catch in a crew boat; to stop the legs coming on before the catch, i.e. to separate the catch from the leg drive. - Roll ups/strikes
Description: Starting at the finish with square blades, extract the blades, feather, and slide up to the catch position making sure that the crew goes through the recovery smoothly and with the correct sequence reaching body over by about half slide. From here they simply keep the seat moving to the front without any extra body swing. The catch is then taken with the hands only and is not followed by the leg drive. Try to make the “gloop” sound as you put the blades in at the catch.
Purpose: To slow down the preparation for the catch ensuring the body position is set and stable before taking the catch so that the catch is taken with the hands only; to reinforce the idea that the catch is part of the recovery and is the last thing you do on the way forward rather than the first thing in the drive; to separate the catch from the leg drive (good for correcting crews who get their leg drive on before the blades are in the water). - Feet out
Description: Row with the feet out of the shoes.
Purpose: To encourage relaxation and balance on the way forward; to stop the rower racing into the front by pulling themselves forward by the foot stretcher. Racing into the front always leads to a poor catch. - Early squaring
Description: Squaring the blade earlier than usual.
Purpose: An exaggeration exercise for rowers who square late and consequently have slow catches. - Double catches
Description: Place blades in at catch then take out and place in again.
Purpose: To reinforce the idea that only the hands need to be used to put the blades into the water. - Catch drop and hit
Description: Drop the blades into the water in the catch position and initiate the leg drive before the blades bob up to the surface.
Purpose: To encourage good timing of the catch and the leg drive; to separate the catch from the leg drive (in that order) by as small a gap as possible.
