By Craig Neal
In a previous post – Paired Up! – I had talked about how rowing a pair, and the opportunity that presents for improving a rower’s overall performance and skills, is not something to be afraid of but rather something to boldly approach with both caution and excitement. Now I will expand upon this topic and also challenge each of us in this area of our sport. While there are many books(1), magazine articles (2), and blog posts (3) written about the training benefits of rowing a pair, I would like to turn that around a bit and spend some time thinking about the other guy (or gal) in the boat with you – even if that is you!
Picking a pair partner, or being picked, largely depends on the depth and diversity of your training group. But it will also depend greatly on your purpose. Is the pair for skill practice, for race preparation, for overcoming fear, or to help another rower with their skills and abilities? We need to weight the desired outcome and benefits against how and who we will work with to accomplish these. For example, in Wisconsin, Coach Bebe Bryans (Head Coach for the Women’s Rowing Team) allows her athletes to select their own partners much like many of us do2. But Coach Bryans also requires her girls to row with at least 5 different partners in each season of practice. Interesting! It is this diversity and inclusiveness that I want to encourage!
It can be just plain dumb luck when you end up with a pair partner who you match up to well and swing with, performing at a high level together. But experimenting, and learning with others, and yes sacrificing at times, can and will bring out the best in each rower in any pair. Coach Bryans puts it best when she states, “the most important thing is that both people have a similar mindset… How to make the boat go fast”…. Rather than just pulling hard. As I have stated in prior blog posts, if both rowers communicate and work with and for each other – meet in the middle so to speak – then improvements and speed will follow.
When you are thinking about who you should be “paired up” with, experience does matter and needs to be considered. But this works both ways! If you are new to the pair, then ask your coach and other rowers which other experienced pair rower they would suggest for you to row with. And if you are an experienced, or just comfortable pair rower, then please give someone else a chance to learn and grow to your level of comfort and performance. You were that first time pair rower once too, weren’t you? We all need to wrok together for the benefit of the sport, and of our teams. And we all need to join in as we work together to improve ourselves in our skills, strength, ability, and our character! Take the time and go out in a pair or in groups of pairs with those far faster and more experienced than yourself, BUT also take the time to go out with those new to a pair who may be struggling and yet have the desire to improve. When I have gone out with those with higher skills and abilities as well as those new to the pair I always learn about my stroke and my specific issues. It always causes me to relearn how to relax and let the boat talk to me.
So please let me encourage you, the power to improve is within you! That power can improve your skills and abilities and those of your pair partners. Take out a pair and experiment with yourself and others. Row in the stroke seat! Row in the bow seat (that is a fun one)! Partner with a new rower to the pair! Partner with the most experienced person in your training group! In all cases let yourself relax so you can learn to feel the boat and experience how you can adapt and control it together with your partner. The real power to improve is found both in practice and diversity! Hand in hand these make us better, more confident rowers. Yes, even if we do occasionally go for a brief swim. Now go enjoy…. Pair rowers are waiting for you!
See you on the water! Enjoy!
Follow on thought: Be careful not to over train!
1 The Kiwi Pair, by Hamish Bond, Eric Murray
2 Row Perfect, April 2016
3 US Rowing, Online News, March 03, 2013, Benefits of Pair Rowing