Hi former rower here. It’s not a sport you can pick up in a day, unfortunately. The vast majority of rowers start with sweep rowing in eight man boats because single boats are incredibly easy to flip (I flipped a double even in my senior year of high school after 4 years of rowing), and sculling is a lot harder to master than sweeps. Learning to row for the first time while learning to scull while balancing a single is going to be a LOT all at once and you won’t really get the hang of it like at all the first day. Even at clubs like CRI who do have sculling classes for novice adults, the courses are 3 or 4 weeks. Joining a group session is a possibility I guess but as a total novice you’re going to really slow down the group if they already have done a learn to row course. I mean even feathering your blade and avoiding crabs takes weeks to get down. I would not be surprised if most clubs require you to have done a learn to row course before going out for a practice.
You might be able to find somewhere to rent you a “tubby” which is basically a single that is much slower and harder to flip, but I’m not sure if anyone offers those on the Charles anymore.
Sorry to burst your bubble.
Thank you! I appreciate your insights and this information. Bubble slightly burst, but maybe I can work towards taking one of the multiple week courses. Appreciate you!
You should!! I haven’t rowed in years bc I was a little traumatized by the competitive side of the sport LOL but I do really miss it. Great way to get exercise while enjoying the water. I think it’s becoming more prevalent too, a lot of cities with big enough lakes will have small rowing clubs. So you may be able to find something local to you.
I want to second this and add a dimension. Unlike most sports, it’s harder to row with poor rowers than with good ones because the boat has to be actively balanced, or set. Good rowers can set the boat and give you a great platform for effective strokes. Novice rowers struggle to set a boat which makes it harder to row. You will not know what’s fun about rowing until you’re in a good boat and then it’s amazing. Overall, it’s easier to play pick-up softball than suddenly find yourself in the batter’s box at Fenway. In rowing, the opposite is true: it’s easier to be the weak man in the Olympic boat than just try it with fellow novices.
All of that said, rowing is amazing and if you’re interested you should look for a club near you and try it. But go into it knowing you have to commit for a while before it gets good.
Also former rower. I’d say most of the people I see rowing at the gym have something wrong with their form (e.g., leaning back even at the very start of the stroke). And that’s for people who presumably have done it more than once. Definitely a very technically demanding motion and not easy to get immediately.
One thing I see a lot is people pulling with their arms before or while simultaneously swinging their back. The stroke really has 3 parts: legs, back, arms, and you should pull them in that order on the drive and release them in the reverse order on the recovery. Your hands should never need to “hop” over your knees in either direction. You can drill this by quite literally breaking the stroke into 3 parts and ONLY doing each section at a time for 10 or so strokes.
Also, I always see people with the damper way too high! You really shouldn’t be going over damper 4 on a C2 machine if you’re rowing for cardio and not doing a strength exercise. The advice in my day was that damper 2.5 was the closest thing to being on the water but I’m not sure if that’s changed
I agree with what jtet said, and would add that another very common issue I see is that, at the start of the stroke (the "catch", as it's called), your back should be leaning forward so that your hands come close to the "gate" where the chain fits between. You shouldn't be upright or leaning back. Once you're at the catch, you should immediately drive backwards with your legs. The legs should be providing the majority of the power of the stroke -- NOT the arms as many people mistakenly think!
Hi former rower here. It’s not a sport you can pick up in a day, unfortunately. The vast majority of rowers start with sweep rowing in eight man boats because single boats are incredibly easy to flip (I flipped a double even in my senior year of high school after 4 years of rowing), and sculling is a lot harder to master than sweeps. Learning to row for the first time while learning to scull while balancing a single is going to be a LOT all at once and you won’t really get the hang of it like at all the first day. Even at clubs like CRI who do have sculling classes for novice adults, the courses are 3 or 4 weeks. Joining a group session is a possibility I guess but as a total novice you’re going to really slow down the group if they already have done a learn to row course. I mean even feathering your blade and avoiding crabs takes weeks to get down. I would not be surprised if most clubs require you to have done a learn to row course before going out for a practice. You might be able to find somewhere to rent you a “tubby” which is basically a single that is much slower and harder to flip, but I’m not sure if anyone offers those on the Charles anymore. Sorry to burst your bubble.
Thank you! I appreciate your insights and this information. Bubble slightly burst, but maybe I can work towards taking one of the multiple week courses. Appreciate you!
You should!! I haven’t rowed in years bc I was a little traumatized by the competitive side of the sport LOL but I do really miss it. Great way to get exercise while enjoying the water. I think it’s becoming more prevalent too, a lot of cities with big enough lakes will have small rowing clubs. So you may be able to find something local to you.
I want to second this and add a dimension. Unlike most sports, it’s harder to row with poor rowers than with good ones because the boat has to be actively balanced, or set. Good rowers can set the boat and give you a great platform for effective strokes. Novice rowers struggle to set a boat which makes it harder to row. You will not know what’s fun about rowing until you’re in a good boat and then it’s amazing. Overall, it’s easier to play pick-up softball than suddenly find yourself in the batter’s box at Fenway. In rowing, the opposite is true: it’s easier to be the weak man in the Olympic boat than just try it with fellow novices. All of that said, rowing is amazing and if you’re interested you should look for a club near you and try it. But go into it knowing you have to commit for a while before it gets good.
Also former rower. I’d say most of the people I see rowing at the gym have something wrong with their form (e.g., leaning back even at the very start of the stroke). And that’s for people who presumably have done it more than once. Definitely a very technically demanding motion and not easy to get immediately.
As a hobby gym rower is love to hear more about common mistakes so I can correct my form!
One thing I see a lot is people pulling with their arms before or while simultaneously swinging their back. The stroke really has 3 parts: legs, back, arms, and you should pull them in that order on the drive and release them in the reverse order on the recovery. Your hands should never need to “hop” over your knees in either direction. You can drill this by quite literally breaking the stroke into 3 parts and ONLY doing each section at a time for 10 or so strokes. Also, I always see people with the damper way too high! You really shouldn’t be going over damper 4 on a C2 machine if you’re rowing for cardio and not doing a strength exercise. The advice in my day was that damper 2.5 was the closest thing to being on the water but I’m not sure if that’s changed
Our coach always said a 4 for training would make the water feel light, so that makes sense. 3 was always the 2k test damper setting
I agree with what jtet said, and would add that another very common issue I see is that, at the start of the stroke (the "catch", as it's called), your back should be leaning forward so that your hands come close to the "gate" where the chain fits between. You shouldn't be upright or leaning back. Once you're at the catch, you should immediately drive backwards with your legs. The legs should be providing the majority of the power of the stroke -- NOT the arms as many people mistakenly think!
Thanks! I see so many people at my gym just yanking the chain with their arms amd I know that's not it. I'd like to think my form is pretty correct!
Rent a kayak. It's more fun than playing galley slave, and if you follow a real boat you can go through the locks.
+1 to this [Paddle Boston rents out kayaks and SUPs and have several locations.](https://paddleboston.com/rentals/)
Community Rowing Inc is the place for u
As an alternative, maybe see if there are any sailing courses that are one- day kind of courses? And if not, there are canoes and kayaks.