I was watching our local club paddle the other day and noticed they had a very fast cadence, stroke per minute. To me it looked a bit too fast and seemed like they couldn't possibly be getting any power out of their strokes.
So here's the question: What is the optimal stroke per minute rate that allows for the most power to be put behind the stroke? Not sure if that can be answered and I know it's different for each person, but I'm curious.
I guess I'm wondering if someone looks like they are getting 90 strokes per minute are they actually wasting energy and not producing a powerful stroke?
Submitted by jh on Mon, 08/27/2007 - 8:57am
I ask myself that exact question every time I am stroking OC-6.
During regatta, we usually start the race with 72-74 strokes per minute for the first few changes, then settle down to 64-66 for the remainder of the race.
As for distance stuff, my club has some big boys and they prefer a slower longer pull between 58-62 strokes per minute. I don't like going below 60, but if they are surging and I can feel the power behind me, I slow down the recovery and let them do the work. There have been a few instances where we have caught and passed other boats while maintaining a much slower stroke rate than our competitors. You can tell when a crew is "amping out", all speed and no power.
With that said, I believe you should always be working to increase your stroke rate while maintaining power and timing. If you watch the Tahitians, those guys are nuts. They are pounding. Their physical conditioning permits them to increase their rate while maintaining power and timing. That combination rate/power/blend will win every time. But we are not all world class athletes, so you need to find what works best for the crew you are working with.
I spend most of my time trying to "find" the boat by changing overall stroke rate, recovery rate, etc.
Ken
#1 Mon, 08/27/2007 - 10:44am
I think it's more like the Tahitians are such awesome athletes that they go fast even without the perfect timing that you see in veteran club type crews.Wasn't the shell team which won the channel pretty much an all-star team composed of guys who don't regularly paddle with each other? I haven't seen that particular crew in action, but while observing past tahitian channel winners I was impressed more by the speed they maintained without perfect timing.Jim
#2 Mon, 08/27/2007 - 4:17pm
As a mere mortal, It's hard to even guess what makes the Tahitians so fast. I don't know many paddlers who could maintain that pace and still get that much power into the water over such long distances. I think it was mentioned in an earlier thread... They may not be entering/exiting the water at the same time, but they most probably are applying their pull at the same time. I just don't see how they could be that fast unless they were all pulling together. I could be wrong. I'd love to get into seat seven with them and find out.
#3 Mon, 08/27/2007 - 4:41pm
Right, K, it was just how they looked- they must've been doing something right. For us slower types, we might as well look as perfect as possible as well as pull together perfectly, generally speaking. Perfect team work is essential to a given crew reaching its maximum speed, especially when you don't have the world's greatest atheletes on that crew. By the same token, we've all seen paddlers who don't look all perfect that still make the boat go fast.Jim
#4 Mon, 08/27/2007 - 4:44pm
Jim
you said that right, for example, look at seat 6 for SSP. Definately does not look the part but every time he is in the boat.,it moves . Congrats on the 3:15 over the weekend
Mike
#5 Tue, 08/28/2007 - 3:15am
Good question. Bottom line is for the stroker to do the stroke rate that fits the crew. If you got big men or women in the pit then a slower stroke is warranted but if you have a light crew a poppy stroke is in order. The best way I have found to make sure your stroke is matching your crew is to always make sure you don't cavitate the water in the beginning or end of your stroke. Cavitation makes a noise so try to make a clean entry, deep stroke and a clean exit. The crew should ALWAYS be the one to non-verbally tell you what the stroke should be, especially in long distance.
There are my thoughts on proper stroke count/ cadence!
Mahalo
Mikala
#6 Tue, 08/28/2007 - 7:32am
In a recent article a femal world champion rowing described her daily training volume: including 20 miles of skulling and 30 miles of biking.
Another source related to stroke length and cadence reported that world champion swimmer Ian Thorpe has as well the longest stroke length as well as one of the highest stroke rates.
Competitions in pools tend to have lower stroke rates compared to open ocean swimming.
I think that the high training volumes help you to get used to increased rate and length, forward power = stroke length x stroke rate, while maintaining a heart rate as low as possible.
The heart rate is the decisive factor for everybody; lower rate = less energy consumed.
One of the most important factors is the maximum oxygen transport capacity of your lungs, VO2max.
The average size & weight of world champion rowing is 6'4" and 206 lbs;
telling you that tall people generally have a larger lung exchange surface.
People who tend to do well in strength endurance sports have very good values in that.
The weight would count against them, but in water sports not as much as you might think: for every 1% increase in weight you have a 0.2% loss in speed, in other words the added drag is not 1:1.
Just some thoughts.
Thus to optimize your performance you need a very high training volume over many months. That enables you to paddle with a low and efficient heart rate. Then you can play with your stroke rate and adapt it to the conditions that you find yourself in.
#7 Tue, 08/28/2007 - 8:47am
What is your optimal stroke per minute (spm) rate paddling OC1? I measured mine at between 58-62 spm feeling that I was producing a powerful stroke. When I speed my stroke up beyond that, I feel more winded and can tell I'm not going as fast nor having enough time to focus on good technique and power output.
I realize that time on the water provides the foundation of fitness required, but there has to be a realistic number where your speed and endurance decline by the simple matter of stroking too fast.
#8 Tue, 08/28/2007 - 10:31am
Man,
I don't even know how I would measure my OC-1 stroke rate when going downhill. It seems to jump around from like 80+ down to 0. I would think if someone's stroke rate is near constant while going downwind with surf, they're probably doing it wrong.
My upwind / flat water stroke rate is probably in the 62-64 range. I find that even when I am trying to take it easy (like when doing the mile or so out and around the sea wall) my stroke rate just naturally climbs.
#9 Tue, 08/28/2007 - 10:51am
Sorry, I should have stated flat water, mild conditions. Downwind is a whole different ballgame.
#10 Tue, 08/28/2007 - 10:58am
jh,
I know this has been discussed before, but using a meter of some sort, (I use a Garmin Forerunner) especially in flat water, can give you instant feedback as to what stroke rate is working for you and what isn't. Besides just stroke rate though, you can pretty much play around with every aspect of your one-man paddling, and find YOUR individual optimum. It should all vary, even with the same paddler as your strength and fitness levels fluctuate.
Of course the down side is that you begin to develop the nasty habit (like me) of looking down while you're paddling... just don't crash.
#11 Tue, 08/28/2007 - 12:12pm