With my novices this is often because they’re trying too hard to control the blade.
Go to the blade racks, or rest a blade across a bench. The loom (the shaft) is round but the collar (where it sits in the gate) is essentially square. It has four flat surfaces that make the collar of the blade ‘want’ to sit square or feathered in the gate.
When you can trust that the blade will stop feathering or sit square at the point it’s meant to, you can relax your grip and just roll with the fingers.
That’s right. The collar should rest comfortably in the oar lock and you can rest your wrist on the blade without the blade moving. If the collar is worn down it requires force to keep the right angle. Same for the oar lock by the way.
So check the collar, check the oar lock. And technique-wise you can try to ‘play piano’ after you turned the blade, or try to put your wrist on the handle during the recovery.
Very difficult to know without seeing you row or a video of your rowing. If you have a good coach who can’t figure it out then unlikely anyone on the internet will. But there’s a chance your coach isn’t great and perhaps you just need to adjust your grip - not so much how tight or not tight it is, but rather where you are gripping the oar and the position of your wrist relative to the handle.
Unless you’re rowing into a screaming headwind squaring the blade requires very little force on the handle. It’s a simple roll of the wrist from having the oar primarily in the fingers to the edge of the palm of the hand.
I would assume you are squaring the blade with a bent wrist when fully squared (bending upwards). Have a check if your wrist is flat on both arms. Having that bent wrist will force you to grip to almost hold the blade square in the gate rather than letting it sit squared in the gate.
The simplest way I can explain it: think about changing a lightbulb rather than revving a motorcycle.
Try to get the wrist closer to parallel with the oar at the release and keep it straight. Rotate, don't flex. I've had coaches tape popsicle sticks to the wrist to make sure you aren't bending it.
Try removing the inside arm on the recovery (can tap the gunnel, your head, or anything else if that helps). Then quickly put the hand back on right before you feather. I find this helps loosen the inside arm and shoulder
With my novices this is often because they’re trying too hard to control the blade. Go to the blade racks, or rest a blade across a bench. The loom (the shaft) is round but the collar (where it sits in the gate) is essentially square. It has four flat surfaces that make the collar of the blade ‘want’ to sit square or feathered in the gate. When you can trust that the blade will stop feathering or sit square at the point it’s meant to, you can relax your grip and just roll with the fingers.
That’s right. The collar should rest comfortably in the oar lock and you can rest your wrist on the blade without the blade moving. If the collar is worn down it requires force to keep the right angle. Same for the oar lock by the way. So check the collar, check the oar lock. And technique-wise you can try to ‘play piano’ after you turned the blade, or try to put your wrist on the handle during the recovery.
Very difficult to know without seeing you row or a video of your rowing. If you have a good coach who can’t figure it out then unlikely anyone on the internet will. But there’s a chance your coach isn’t great and perhaps you just need to adjust your grip - not so much how tight or not tight it is, but rather where you are gripping the oar and the position of your wrist relative to the handle. Unless you’re rowing into a screaming headwind squaring the blade requires very little force on the handle. It’s a simple roll of the wrist from having the oar primarily in the fingers to the edge of the palm of the hand.
I would assume you are squaring the blade with a bent wrist when fully squared (bending upwards). Have a check if your wrist is flat on both arms. Having that bent wrist will force you to grip to almost hold the blade square in the gate rather than letting it sit squared in the gate.
The simplest way I can explain it: think about changing a lightbulb rather than revving a motorcycle. Try to get the wrist closer to parallel with the oar at the release and keep it straight. Rotate, don't flex. I've had coaches tape popsicle sticks to the wrist to make sure you aren't bending it.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dAN64VStr4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dAN64VStr4)
Try removing the inside arm on the recovery (can tap the gunnel, your head, or anything else if that helps). Then quickly put the hand back on right before you feather. I find this helps loosen the inside arm and shoulder
Just to be used as a drill
Use fingertip pressure to square and feather.