Wednesday, 18 September 2013

The joy of movement

The great athletes make their skillful movements look easy: Ali, Federer, Bolt and Senna. Why? There are undoubtedly a multitude of reasons including importantly the ability to control one's movement from start to finish, repeatedly. Rowing is one movement repeated. It should be the case that a good oarsman or woman can repeat this movement with full control from start to finish- in a 2000m race context, somewhere in the region of 210 times.
Let us remove our imagination from the final of the Olympics and turn the mind to the processes that get an athlete to this level of control over their movement... It is often said that rowers are not coordinated enough for ball sports or too clumsy for one field sport or another. This may be the case initially. But to accept that rowers are to be flat footed bad movers is to accept that the timing of the blade placement will always be inaccurate or that the movement of the pelvis off back-stops will be disjointed and bounce the shell. It is my strong belief that the ability to move with accuracy and lightness of touch that is the result of mastery of the fundamental movement of the body is vital to good boat speed. An example of this that is permanently burnt into my memory is the start of the final of the Grand Challenge at Henley in 2011. Germany versus Great Britain. Within 150 meters, possibly less, Germany had a three seat advantage. Their movement and accuracy made a World class crew look like relative novices, stationary, blades in the air caught like the proverbial rabbit.
Wednesday evenings at UCCRC are currently dedicated to being more mobile, Jeff, the Arena's head Strength and Conditioning coach is taking the Senior Squad through a series of moves that are perhaps a little left field for some. For me, thinking and doing in this territory is essential and it is great to see the group focused on the work- another 60 minutes of purpose added to the programme.

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