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What can rowing and sculling coaches learn from the recent Winter Olympic Games?

The Mind’s Eye explores extensively the evolution of the athlete’s skills and awareness.  So it was with great interest during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games that the cameras showed the figure skaters and skiers engaging in visualisation practices on a number of occasions.  In both situations, the athletes were Gold Medalists, Shen and Zhao in figure skating, and Lindsay Vonn in downhill skiing.

My immediate reaction and question to myself in viewing their pre competition preparations was how much of this type of inner training is being done by rowing coaches and athletes today?  For me I was fortunate to have experienced this practice in two sports in the 1950s, in wrestling and sculling.  Looking back, it was a highly successful strategy employed by the coaches.

Tell us more about how you were taught visualisation

In sculling I was fortunate to have a coach, Robert Fitzpatrick, who inserted meditative exercises into the on water practice sessions on a regular basis, including relaxation, mindfulness, concentration, and the visualisation.  Years later I would do the same with my own rowing coaching, adding quiet sitting to the list, and expanding the sessions to include land as well as water practices. 

This generated the development of a yearly plan for mental training.  It proved to be highly successful. The various practices, the plan, and the effect on skill training, are addressed in detail in my book, The Mind’s Eye. Rowperfect will be selling the book from mid-March, 2010.

The development of the visualisation skills are assisted by simulation exercises considered to be “pump primers”. In rowing the simulations take a number of forms including: using the hands to describe the entry and release movements, using the trunk and one leg up on a bench to simulate the drive and recovery phases.  It is noted that simulation exercises are common to other sports.  For rowing the two major complete units, the stroke cycle and the race itself, are critical visualisation practices.

So how can you build mental training into rowing workouts?

The yearly mental training plan, sequenced and diagrammed clearly in the book, underscores the importance of doing this type of training in some form on a daily basis.  So the book provides detailed examples and the consequence of this type of training is a highly focused and concentrated athlete.  Eventually, the practices become a part of who the athlete’s makeup, as it obviously is the case with Shen, Zhao, Vonn and others.

The book also provides an extensive bibliography for future reading and research for both the interested athlete and coach.  The Mind’s Eye represents a significant part of a lifelong odyssey; my hope is that you find the read both enjoyable and profitable.  

Jimmy Joy

Jim Joy has had a distinguished career as an athlete, coach, and as Director of the Canadian
National Team. For the past 35 years, he has been a leader in the area of coaching education,
putting together seminars for coaches all over the world. His "Joy of Sculling Coaches
Conferences " have become the top program of it's kind, and his many years of teaching sculling
clinics and camps makes him unique in the sculling world.

Buy The Mind's Eye £15 in the Rowperfect shop.   

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Two intrepid teams from the University of Worcester Rowing Club will row thousands of kilometres during a gruelling non-stop world record attempt taking place in CrownGate Shopping Centre from Monday, March 1st.
The ten-strong teams, one men’s and one women’s, will attempt to smash existing ‘longest continual rowing’ world records by rowing day and night for several days in CrownGate’s Bell Square, to raise funds for local charity Worcester Snoezelen.
The men’s team is aiming to row more than 3,250km, equivalent to the distance from Worcester to Athens, in 11 days, and the women’s team needs to reach 2,000km in seven days to beat the record, currently held by a team from Florida.
One competitor from each team will row at any one time on indoor rowing machines supplied by Concept2, but the machine cannot be allowed to stop – if it does, the record attempt fails. (more…)

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Get cold hands and feet in the winter?  Whether a coach or an athlete there's always a tine when you wish you had better thermo-insulation.  

I contibuted the comment about the shooting mittens for sculling handle management.

Coaching Glove Recommendations discussion.

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Mark Earnshaw coach to the GB mens 4x and 2x Bronze medallists from the last Olympiad has been picked by UK Sport for an accelerated learning programme for 'domestic coaching excellence'.

The ARA announced it this week.

The two year accelerated Apprenticeship Programme will build on the knowledge and experience gained to create a bespoke development pathway towards coaching excellence for each participant, based on the needs of each coach and their sport.

Tim Foster and Nick Strange were in the first intake of the earlier Elite Coach programme - Nick still coached U23s in the GB System but Tim is head coach of Switzerland - and so lost to the UK, hopefully temporarily.

The 12 Apprentices will benefit from ‘on the job’ training by working alongside a ‘Master Coach’ from within their sport while also having access to a Mentor.  This will be complimented by a workshop programme, delivered by experts in coaching, non-technical coaching skills, sport science and sports medicine.

Rowperfect salutes the addition of mentoring to the programme, because that can be a great way to help put theory into practical training.  You might want to consider adding this to your club coaching programme.

But the mentor must be a fabulous teacher in their own right and with the right balance of vision and humility such that they can step back and let the trainee make mistakes and deliver programmes in their own manner.  The trust of the senior coach to let the trainee into their personal knowledge-store of experience is vital.  Feeling unthreatened by the advances of a younger coach is also important otherwise the senior coach will stop or slow their participation and gift of knowledge.

Mark Earnshaw's Master Coach Mentor, Jurgen Grobler, is yet to be confirmed in this role.

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On 1 January 2010 the UK sales tax changed to 17.5% from the previouw 15% rate.

This means that items in the Rowperfect shop are now taxed at the new rate.  Books are exempt from sales tax.

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Peter Mallory is writing a history of world rowing, focusing on technique and coaching.  He is writing the chapters on Colin Porter and Jumbo Edwards at present and has written to us asking if anyone has experience of the coaching and technique used by them, would they read his draft text and comment.

 If you want a copy, please get in touch and we'll send you the pdf as well as connecting you directly with Peter Mallory.

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Nic Bourne has joined the Rowperfect UK team.

He will be working with us on the day to day running of the website shop and will be the person you probably speak to when you call us up.

If you want to be the first to congratulate him, his mobile number is 07939 584140 - go on, send him a text and introduce yourself!

Nic is an accomplished coach, sculler and coastal boat rower and has been a driving force in establishing the Teign Scullers Club near his home in Teignmouth.

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'Tis the season to get prepared early for festivities and Rowperfect has teamed up with Linda Thomas and her newly formed company, RowCo, to supply you with rowing and sculling themed seasonal greetings cards.

RowCo offers a new and distinctive range of cards, gifts and clothing from Henley on Thames.  Its delightful range of snowy Christmas cards scenes are perfect for rowers, and it also offers a personalised Christmas card service.  RowCo Christmas cards can be overprinted with a selected greeting and personalisation details of company name and address. 

Rowperfect is selling 7 card designs in packs of 10 cards.  Our "Gifts for Rowers" section of the shop has a range of Christmas present ideas.

RowCo was set up by Linda Thomas who loves rowing at Henley and started to row in Durham 40 years ago.  The photography for most of the cards was taken beside the river in Henley and at Henley Royal Regatta, and many of the products are from Henley based suppliers.
 
To view the full range of products including single cards, posters and clothing please visit the website .  Or contact Linda on 07740 626640 or email enquiries@rowco.co.uk for more information.   

Here is the full range of card images - we suspect we know the identity of the sculler in the last image….

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During the UK Postal strike, we will endeavour to get your orders to you using the best means possible.  For orders over £250 these can be sent by courier - next day delivery to a signed-for address.

For smaller orders, we are taking advice each day from our local post office staff and taking action based on their advice.  To date, this has been to send items first class but to expect a 3+ day delivery, or to use signed for or special delivery signed for services.  

We will continue to endeavour to get your orders out as quickly as possible.

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We're doing a turn-out and have found a couple of books that are no longer needed.

If you would like them, we'll mail them out to you in exchange, would you make a donation to the Mark Lees Foundation ?  It supports up and coming young people who want to row at the highest levels.

British Rowing Almanac 2006

British Rowing Almanac 2007

British Rowing Almanac  2008

Cardio sport Exel Sport heart rate monitor manual

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