Placing the blade before you push. Possibly the hardest thing to do in rowing.
Here’s a round-up of expert insight from the Rowperfect blog archive to help you out.
Firstly – what is the catch? Duncan Holland explains in his rowing stroke cycle series – Catch. From that link you can get to all 6 of the other articles.
Now let’s look at the different ways people teach their crews. Firstly Howard Aiken talks generally about Coaching the Catch in Rowing with great diagrams and from expert coach, Walter Martindale – Why I coach the catch the way I do.
Drills and exercises for the catch – 3 ways to improve your catch timing and Drills for improving bladework ebook by Marlene Royle and the Rowing Stroke Cycle ebook.