Club Technique. Stage Number 2 The Catch

As the hip pivot develops (RRC tech sheet1), the effective length of stroke should develop. Longer reach at the catch should make the catch easier if it is done correctly.

The secrets to be found.

The best catch is the end of the previous stroke. What is believed to be the catch is usually given an attack. NO attack needed! The best catch involves no desire to pull on the handle, but a strong desire to spear the tip of the spoon into the water, end on.

The appearance of a good catch

The spoon should go into the water at the end of the recovery. The water should stop the spoon’s progress towards the finish line with a little backsplash pushed up by the back of the spoon as it slices in (without lifting, just dropping loosely). Water should grab the front face of the buried spoon, resulting in a spurt/spray of water vertically and NOT a scrolling frontsplash resulting from rowing the spoon in.

Club Technique. Stage Number 2 The Catch (cont)

The mechanics.

There should be no movement through the stroke until the catch is concluded. Once the spoon is fully enveloped by the water, the legs should squeeze the boat against the loom through the pin. This is not a sudden jarring movement, but should be a smooth squeezy pick-up. Increasing pressure from the legs should build to maximum drive mid-slide, to be taken over by the hip pivot (tech sheet 1), and then developed into the hardest possible draw to the finish. Acceleration is the key result desired from a correct catch. The softer the catch, the greater the potential for acceleration.

Common Faults

Only a very few rowers :

...get the spoons in at the catch. The vast majority row the spoons in way after their change of direction.

...don’t pull the handles at the catch. Hanging / resisting is the only feeling wanted.

...are relaxed enough not to plough the spoons in too deep.

Conclusion.

The catch should be a time of the greatest calm and the greatest precision in your change of direction.