Joe’s go to on the water race day warm up for racing 8+s. This warmup has been crafted over the 8 years of personal racing and 14 years of coaching. It’s lead to 4 championships and over a dozen grand final appearances at races like the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, and SRAA Nationals.

1. Legs only: The warm up starts approx. 40 min before the the start of the race as soon as the crew shoves from the dock. The crew launches feet out rowing by stern 4 legs only with switches every 10 strokes. If catches are soft/slow I’m usually within ear shot to encourage the coxswain to sharpen up the catches. The point of the drill to reinforce the concept that the stroke always starts at the catch and then engagement should begin with the legs. Secondarily, timing and heft of the shell. This drill is generally done on the square.
   • 1.1 Alternatively I’ve had crews launch doing top quarter drill by 4s. If the crew is having issues with sharp catches, this can help lock the crew in
2. Reverse Pick Drill by 6s: After the rotation of 4s has returned to stern 4, stop. Begin reverse pick drill by stern 6: 20 full strokes, 20 half slide strokes, 20 quarter slide strokes, 20 arms and body, 20 arms only. Stop. Bow six repeat. The point of the drill is to get timing down and continue to stress that the stroke should be long, start at the catch, and the stroke begins with leg drive. As the slide length is reduced, upper body length should remain the same.
   • 2.1 Alternatively I’ve had crews do standard pick drill as DDR, with upping the rate every 5 strokes over each portion of the drill by 6s. I’ll explain DDR in another post, but the point is to help the crew get comfortable at higher rates. Some crews may be a bit sluggish at launch
3. All 8+ pauses: Do 10 strokes all 8 pausing at body over on the square. Do 10 strokes all 8 pausing at body over with the feather. This will help the crew get comfortable and setting the shell up. Encourage the rowers and coxswains to add pressure to the blade face to help the shell setup better
4. Power 10s at set rates: Start power 10s at 18 strokes a minute. The crew will only need about 2 strokes to get to rate. Take 5 to 10 strokes in between each set of hard tens. Next do a 10 at 22 s/m, then 26, 30, 34, 38, 42, 46, 50. The crew will need at most 5 strokes to get to higher rates after 30 s/m. Then come back down and do 10s at 36 and 28. The 36 and 28 should feel very long and low
   • 4.1 If the crew is properly warmed up or the crew is on a tight schedule, it’s okay to start the 10s at 26 or 30 strokes a minute.
   • 4.2 I have also had the crew skip 10s, so crews will do the 26, then 34, then 42, then 50.
   • 4.3 I encourage coxswains to mandate that if a 10 isn’t sharp or doesn’t seem right, or the crew isn’t hitting the rates, do the 10 again
   • 4.4 I’ve also had crews row inside arm only between 10s. It helps the crew drop the blade in better at the catch and set the shell up
5. Starting 5: I have the crew run through the starting 5 strokes. The sequence was 3/4 length stroke, 3/4, 3/4, lengthen (so almost full slide), full
   • 5.1 My starting strokes are very different than the base cadence stroke. The crew should sit more upright and be primarily focused on rowing arms and legs
   • 5.2 For the first couple of starting 5 strokes I’ll have the coxswains run either half speed/half pressure or 3/4 speed 3/4 pressure to ensure the crew is focused on blade depth, clean releases, and timing
   • 5.3 Do the starting 5 full speed/full press. The crew should be getting up to 42 s/m or higher by the 5th stroke
6. Start 5, High 5: This should be done at least twice and the crew should be hitting their goal high stroke cadence by the end of the high 5.
7. Start 5, High 5, Lengthen 5: After the 5th stroke of the High 5, the crew should aggressively shift down to their goal cadence by adding the back in and creating more length in the stroke. I’m always encouraging the 5 and 6 seats to help lead shift down to rate as this is their hardest strokes of the start and race.
8. All of these drills should prepare the crew in around 30-35 min and give the crew 5 min to lock on to their steak boat or starting platform.
   • I do encourage crews to do at least one starting 5 in the race lane, though not necessary and not always permitted.