Thanks Aram for doing a review on our small school crew from the West of Ireland! Absolutely right about the elasticity of the carbon oars. It felt like you could really get a lovely grip on the water at the catch and drive it through the stroke. At the finish (as you say) we didn't need to lean right back as the blade sprung out nicely. We maximised that finish by miles and miles of square blade rowing and focusing on drills where we delayed the feather at the finish. Our coaches were excellent throughout (all voluntary guys outside of our school system giving up their free time) and our improvements through the season demonstrated their ability and knowledge. I rowed for other clubs after leaving school but this crew had a very special connection and was my most favourite season of all. Cheers (from Stroke)

I rowed under a coach who was as much an athlete as he was a historian of the sport. He and I would talk for HOURS both when I was an athlete, and when I later became his assistant coach. This video made me tear up a bit as it reminded me of our long conversations outside the boathouse. Thanks Aram, for bringing back those old memories.

Dear Aram, Totally agree! Technically rowing with this oars was much harder. Nowadays I use wooden sculls (Macon) to teach my rowers to be more precise at the finish. You have to be more precise because the shaft is in the middle of the blade. A lot of modern rowers are not accurate enough at the finish. After a few K’s with old equipment their technique improvers dramatically Greets Rob Ins&Outs Rowing

superb video. really brought me back to my college rowing days which began in 1992. Bendy oar got snapped once by one of our heavyweight rowers, the incident made him even more of a legend than his erg score. Real nostalgia here in this video, thank you from a Washington College crew alum.

A coach of mine still holds the world best time in the lighweight eight. They used a wooden boat and oars...

Only a recent novice, but it's incredible on how helpful this analysis was. Knowing how equipment affects stroke is invaluable. Thanks.

I rowed for the University of San Diego way back in the late 1970's (wooden boats and oars) then picked riwing back up in the 90''s (carbon fiber)...I much preferred 70's equipment...it flexed with the water providing strangely more stability.

Great video, relaxed crew, moving the boat effortlessly. Enjoyed it. Having been in the sport when orthodox blades were used by school boy novices, through macon with yew, and coaching crews in the early nineties with the new shorter cleaver, materials have changed but sometimes coaches don t always adapt or appreciate that today s equipment especially blades should be placed and loaded then the drive, technique before before force. Could go on about body position etc.

It’s be great to see a similar video talking about some of the old oarsome foursome (90’s men’s four group). Perhaps in particular how that translated / evolved with Drew Ginns later crews (did the technique stay basically the same as the equipment changed? Or do you seem some fundamental changes?)

I remember when my college shifted to the first generation big blades, along with stiffer carbon hulls in the early 90s. Nearly all of us had grown up on macons in school. In the first week with hatchets, 3 1V heavies developed back spasms and strains which knocked them out for a couple of weeks. We were lightweights and our coach deliberately took it easy on hatchets, overshortening the oars and easing the rigging to get used to the different catch loading.

Nice to see this video! Reminds me of my rowing days in the 80's :-D yes, we had heavier boats and bendy rows ;-) part of the technique was to use the row bending at the finish

Very true. Rowed crew out of the Manila Boat Club in the mid 90s and we always had these old Macons from the early 90s. I just got to watching some of the newer crews and was surprised to see the higher SRs, and more lean at the finish compared to how I used to do it. Your analysis explains the differences we can observe.

In my opinion, you have brought up a really important issue

Totally make sense! I have a pair of stiff oars and every time I row with them, my arms and wrists and shoulders become numb and I have to stop.

Cool video, technique back in the '80s/'90s always made me curios. Recently i watched some videos from the Olympic Games in 1960 (wooden oars, macon blades and wooden boats)and the technique isn't that different from the techinque in the '80s and '90s. I mean, there is no lay back at the finish ( the upperbody is just stopping perpedicular to the water) and they try to get every centimeter at the catch. But the thing that seemes incredible that the German crew pulled out a 5'57'' and won the gold(with 48 as stroke rate, i don't know how reliable the stroke count was back in that days). In 1988 Olympics in Seoul (with carbon oars, macon blades, carbon boats) Germany pulled out a 5'46" and they win gold. 13 seconds in 28 years is not that much, if you think thy swapped from wood to carbon. Maybe there is no huge difference between the late '80s carbon oars and the '60s wood oars. And you have to think that sport science didn't knows that much in the '60. For example before the Olympics of Mexico City in 1968 no one knows about altitude training and his benefits

Hi Aram, could you do an analysis of the 2019 Temple Final where Oxford Brookes B. walks through Northeastern's 1v? It seems that Northeastern face a similar problem (among other things) of rowing as though their equipment is softer, whereas OBUBC B seem to appreciate the very light, carbon boat that they are racing.

I rowed from 83-88… we used to see how far we could bend that shaft by hanging on the oar. Almost lifting ourselves up from the seat. And the rigors would twist a bit too. Then, all that energy would uncoil mid stroke and send the boat. You could hear the water trickling under the hull when you were flying at full speed around 44..

Lieber Aram,,, besser zu erklären und professioneller als du es getan hast, geht gar nicht. Sehr beeindruckend. Danke dafür. Ruder grüße, Goran 💪

Hi Aram, as a current youth rower just out of schoolboys rowing this was a really interesting video. I am interested in what you think about the length at the catch. It seems like a lot of the old footage through the 90s and even past the 2000 olympic games there is a really long reach at the catch and it looks almost like its too much and is going to cause injury. I've been taught to sit as straight as possible and not to over reach because it will cause me lower back injuries. Was the long reach good, bad or just a product of the equipment? Did it result in more injuries?

We use 288, new equipment. Uni first year rowers. I heard you say 285 is normal, is this a potential improvement area?

these oar blades are better for combining crews, the blade work is simplified within the performance aggregate zone.These oars make it easier to get deeper into the first part of the stroke as well. flex gives oarsmen time to anticipate the timing of the finish and flow off the back..... If you caused the blade to sky at the catch the way they do today you would not be in the crew for long...

I use 90’s oars in the pair