- Welcome to Dark Horse,
where you are the hero of your own story
and we are the guide that's gonna help you
get to where you want to go.
In this instance, I need a guide
to get me to where I wanna go.
His name is Sam Stitt.
So I've rowed for a long time,
and this is something that has been,
I've dabbled with it,
but I've never been coached,
and yet, I preach coaching all the time,
and I'm always trying to teach you guys
the basics of what all this is,
and I was coached for a long time on the water
but as a sweep rower.
For those of you that don't know,
sweep rowing is where every athlete
has one big oar in their hands.
It's like the huge, I don't know the exact length,
I'm gonna say, like, 12 feet.
So when you're sweep rowing,
you actually have one oar in your hand,
and that is typically what you do in collegiate rowing.
It's like basically big boat rowing is what you do.
It's eight guys or eight women in a boat.
Four are on one side.
They're oars on the port or the starboard side,
and the other four are on the opposite side,
and you counterbalance each other.
Well, the other style of rowing,
when you are, for example, rowing by yourself,
is called sculling,
and that's when you have a smaller oar,
I'm gonna guess, say eight feet.
You have two smaller oars, one in each hand,
and you have to be able to balance the boat by yourself.
Now, in my opinion, this is a much better form
of actual rowing,
but I've never been a sculler
because I was raised in the collegiate program world,
and but that was just, was what we did.
We swept, sweeped.
We were sweep rowers,
and now, I've decided I'm gonna get better.
I've now, I have sculled before, but I'm self-taught,
and I do believe in good coaching.
So I'm gonna bring you guys along on the journey.
This journey is going to start with a coach.
His name is Sam Stitt.
He's an Olympian that lives here in San Diego
and is going to be my coach
as I improve at becoming a sculling rower.
Come along on the journey.
I hope you guys have fun with this.
We'll see how this goes, and let's see what happens.
♪ Know that I won't get you ♪
♪ Outta my, outta my mind ♪
♪ Outta my, outta my, outta my mind ♪
♪ Even though I want to ♪
♪ I can't seem to get you ♪
♪ Outta my, outta my mind ♪
♪ Outta my, outta my, outta my mind ♪
♪ Even though I want you ♪
♪ I can't seem to get you ♪
♪ Yeah, wish I did ♪
- [Sam] Sounds good.
In that case, yeah, you always hold onto your oars,
and then, you can just kinda push off with your left foot.
- And left over right, right?
- [Sam] Yeah, we'll get to that.
- Got it. (water splashing)
- [Sam] All right, so go ahead, put your feet in.
Alright.
So one thing, whenever I'm coaching you and I say reset,
right here.
Sitting at the finish, with your feet down, legs down,
that's my safety position. - Okay.
- [Sam] So if there's a giant boat comin' by
or a big wave you know, I don't think something is going
right I'll say reset
and I want you to get back to the finish--
- And just, hold? - [Sam] Yeah,
blades feathered. - Okay.
- [Sam] So here, let's just go and bring it
around with the left arm.
- Okay.
- [Sam] Just kind of take a few strokes and start going.
Yeah, just bring it around.
Yeah, lean back a little bit.
So imagine there's like a 90 degree kind of plane
off to your side, straight up,
you want the shrugs behind that.
- Okay.
- [Sam] Just relax the shoulders, elbows are out, good.
All right yeah let's just try arms only
just stay in this laid back position just with right arm
first so just the right arm first like I just saw your left
so let's just do like five strokes with the right,
five strokes with the left, kinda snake our way
back into the cove here.
- Okay.
- [Sam] Five strokes each arm,
slow down, slow down, slow down.
Relax, just relax, slow down.
Not in a rush today.
Speed and whatever works on the erg.
Today we're just gonna chill in the boat
and like I said, just get used to it.
All right we'll get you straight then we'll wade on.
- Okay
- [Sam] All right, so you're talkin' about your grip, right?
Like left over right.
So what we're gonna do, so basically when you carry the oar,
when you're on the drive right?
So you've had coaches tell you they want like
your arms straight, your back forward,
you want a direct connection,
I mean you teach erging too so,
you want that direct connection between your foot stretcher
and the handles. - Yeah.
- [Sam] So the arms are straight, shoulders are down,
kind of like everything is relaxed, you're basically just
rolling skeletal, more skeletal, so you know,
the boats, it's not gonna be as heavy as if your arms
are bent you know, your backs like leanin' back
a little bit so-- - Right
- [Sam] Same thing with the grip.
So what you're doin' now, so when we finish,
kinda the wrists come down,
the elbow comes down, the shoulder comes down,
like everything kind of gets pulled down a little bit.
- Okay
- [Sam] So when you row like that,
just make sure you stay pointed.
So when you row like that, you wanna try and keep
your wrists up.
So this motion is a lot easier than this.
Like when you do a pullup, you don't like twist your wrist,
you just hang - Right
- [Sam] Because that's just basically eliminating
any extra movement, any extra muscle,
so when you row you want the oar handle in the palm
of your hands so go ahead and sit in the finish.
So you're at the feather, wrists are up so now,
now go ahead and push the handle out into your fingers
a little bit, so yeah, so when you go down and away,
go ahead and square your right hand out, there.
So now, when your right hand comes out,
go right hand out straight, keep your left hand, yeah--
So like there, so knuckles to shoulders.
That's what I say, knuckles to shoulders,
you want a straight line, knuckles all the way up.
So, when you come to the finish, you pull through,
you pull through, you pull through, down and away,
now it's easy just to get that wrist behind it.
But what I want you to try to do, with your grip,
just try and like use your fingers to roll it out,
don't regrip, yeah just roll it out into the fingers,
yeah yeah yeah, exactly.
Like piano fingers is what we say.
Sometimes coming up in recovery you can put your fingers out
like a piano and just let it sit in the nook of your fingers
- Okay.
- [Sam] So there, so now when you come into the fi--
Yeah, so you're already doing it.
The reason why I have you do it with one hand and then
the other is because now look at your left hand,
your left hands already doin' it.
- Oh. - [Sam] So when you come down
to the finish, so go ahead that right hand,
go ahead and square it up.
So that right hand comes through just a slight,
light pull, just slowly pull through,
and now when you push down and away try to roll it out
into the fingers, yah don't try to drop that wrist,
try to just roll it into the fingers.
Yeah, see how it's kinda like,
you need that little initial push with the wrist
- Yeah - [Sam] But you know
when you're rowing, like say you're just rowing normally
and you leave like you get to here and then you let
the oar handles go, the blades will get pushed flat
just 'cause of the water,
so you know, it'll be a little bit easier when you're moving
now it's a little harder 'cause we're just standing still
but go ahead, let's just do a couple arms only
and just yeah, just arms only,
just real easy, real relaxed.
Just thinkin' about that grip, yeah.
Around the finish, just roll it out into the fingers.
So it's not even, it doesn't even take that much energy,
like I said, when you're moving, it'll be a little bit
easier but just kinda like fling it into the fingers.
Yeah like you can use the wrist a little bit but I just
don't want like this - Cranking on it
- [Sam] 'Cause this just pulls everything down
and it ruins your whole posture.
Yeah.
Good.
Just getting used to it, yeah, the left over right.
Yeah.
Good.
Just arms only, you can drag your blades a little bit
if you need to.
Like I said, we're not really worried about getting
your blades off the water or getting the speed.
So, guiding your blades like I said again to get a better
feel where the water is, slow down, slow down,
take your time.
Yeah, tryin' to pop that, pop that
handle out into your finger and on the drive obviously
to the knuckles, kind of rest in a good position.
Just relax, try to breathe a little bit around the finish.
Dude you look so tense.
- I feel tense.
- [Sam] That's the thing about skulling man,
you can't row tense.
Small boats don't react well to that.
If you watch the Olympics you see those guys bumpin'
and grinding but on that recovery,
there's a lot of rest going on between those strokes.
Got a lot of relaxation, like I like your body posture,
you're sitting up, you're sitting back,
don't have to sit like you have a broomstick in your ass
try to relax, yeah.
Lookin' good, buddy.
- But what if that's what I'm used to.
(Sam laughing)
- [Sam] Yeah, tell it like a workout guy.
Yeah, just stay relaxed, good.
Okay you talk about coaches that preach efficiency,
well the most efficient you can be is sitting on a couch,
eating potatoes watching TV.
But now, trying to get next to this thing,
now you're just sittin' in a boat and movin' your arms
so you want that same relaxation as when you're breathing,
your heart rates down lower 'cause it's not stressed out
every time you're taking the strokes it's a little reactant
not that much as when you do your third 500
where you gotta blow it out.
- Wait, I thought you won it in the first 500?
- [Sam] Huh?
First, no no no.
- I thought it was won in the first 500.
- [Sam] No, first 500 is free.
- You don't even feel it at that point.
- [Sam] All right, now it should be set.
All right.
Now we've done the arms, right?
We're gettin' the grip, the arms is nice and relaxed,
now we pivot, I want you to keep your legs flat.
Keep your knees down, we're gonna pivot at the hips
so it's all gonna be forward and back.
But when you pivot forward, I want you to keep that chest up
I don't want this, I want this.
- Okay. - [Sam] Because when you put
your hands forward, usually when you get to the front
and a lot of people kinda drop, drop their arms down,
I mean you've coached too so you know this,
I want you to keep your chest up,
I'm not worried about the posture,
but I want you to really kind of exaggerate that pivot
forward I want you to really really reach out
and try and get more than you would normally
on a regular stroke. - Okay.
- [Sam] Then when you're also taking strokes,
we'll talk about the pressure on the push stretcher
so let's get a couple right hand.
Sorry, we're skippin' over a lot since
you already know what you're doin'.
- I'm followin' you man, you're my coach.
- [Sam] Well that's good, yeah.
- Keep going?
- [Sam] So let's go ahead, just do arms and back
but I really want you to try to use, you're obviously
flexible and you stretch so try to get your body out
as far as you can, keeping your chest up.
- Okay.
- [Sam] Yeah, good.
Try to relax.
I don't want that death grip on those handles.
Nice, relax, wide grip,
even on the stride, I just want it relaxed.
I don't want you to pull on it with the shoulders
and then tensing up.
Just want it nice and light.
Once we try and explore we'll try and turn the other whirl.
- So, I just wrapped up day two of the sculling adventure
and it is a, it's a new feeling.
It's both nostalgic getting back on the water
and rewarding but challenging at the same time
because this is not the rowing that I'm used to.
I'm used to sweep rowing, this is sculling,
everything feels different, I have two oars in my hands
and I have to think about rowing in a different way.
I would liken it to learning a new technique
on the ert, you know you have a technique down
but then something has to chance because you have to blend,
you have to find a feel for the water,
but really I'd say it's amazing being back on the water,
I feel so happy to be out here and practice starts
at five AM and it's seven o'clock now
and we are off the water.
Just goes to show you what this kinda schedule is like,
we rowed mostly in the dark this morning.
But you get to row and wake up on the water
as the rest of the world is waking up,
you're already out, and so this is the view
that you get to see when you are getting up this early.
It's amazing, you're here with the sunrise,
you get to basically, you row through the dark
which creates a lot of feel and you have to feel the water
not unlike how you have to feel the machine and when
you get better on the machine is when you start to feel
how to connect and we ran drills all day, for two hours,
we ran drills this morning.
We had some continuous rowing
but about 80% of the time, we were on technique
and that really is how it should be,
especially as you're getting started in something,
when I'm coaching you guys
I want you to spend 80% of your time on technique,
the difference is unbelievable when you can actually
spend that time practicing versus just smashing meters,
smashing meters is not gonna get you far,
playing with your technique is so anyway,
today's take away for me as I was in the boat was number one
keep myself sitting up, I found myself slouching
pretty decently as the workout went on
and as I started to get tired,
number two easy placement of my handles at the catch
as opposed to smashing the water with the oar
which is similar to if you were to smash the catch,
you just put way too much power in at the front end,
on the erg, it doesn't reward you, it actually punishes you
because you get too much tension too early,
you just need to finesse the catch on the erg
and the same goes for the water,
in sweep rowing, I had a tendency to smash the water
with the ore or drop it in a little heavier,
that's how I was taught and now I'm having to lighten
my hands at the catch so that's number two
and number three was an easy finish.
So as the handles were coming out of the water,
letting the oar be a little bit clear of the water
before I feathered it meaning that the oar comes out
and then I feather instead of throwing the ore blade out
and that made a significant difference for me
so that is the breakdown for today,
I'll keep you updated and we'll see
how the process goes along.
♪ Outta my, outta my mind ♪
♪ Outta my, outta my, outta my mind ♪
♪ Even though I want to ♪
♪ I can't seem to get you ♪
♪ Outta my, outta my mind ♪
♪ Outta my, outta my, outta my mind ♪
♪ Even though I want you ♪
♪ I can't seem to get you ♪
♪ I wish I did ♪