S.A.S. My Foundational Teaching Principle Part 1
“How do you know where to start when teaching someone to row a raft in whitewater?”. It’s a frequent question I get asked and one that I pondered for a long time. A couple of years ago I decided to break it down and really think about organizing my teaching philosophy. I ultimately settled on 3 distinct segments. Stability, Angle and Speed.
Today I will focus on stability, which starts with “building the boat”, as we say. I want the rowing frame to be attached to the raft near its midline or “pivot point”, allowing the rower to be operating in a position of maximum efficiency and leverage with the frame and oars, all the while ensuring the raft is neither significantly bow or stern heavy.
Maximizing the stability of the boat includes the comfort of us as we row. This involves adjusting the frame foot bar to the proper length with knees bent approximately 45 degrees. Next up is the oar tower placement which is generally near the outer edge of the rowers knee when viewed laterally. There are several potential variables to this including the rowers type of PFD, arm/leg lenth, body type, etc. This is generally tweaked often as we gain experience and preferences.
Once we have achieved a comfortable fit in the raft seat and frame it is time to adjust the oar stoppers or “donuts” as they are frequently called. When the oars are gripped and held horizontally there should be roughly 2-3’ of space between the end of each oar handle. Keeping the oar handles close allows us to be efficient and powerful with our strokes, using our core muscles, both upper and lower, to initiate and follow through properly.
Stability of the rower in the raft allows us to be in our “fighting position” as we call it, similar to a boxer or wrestler. We are balanced, both laterally and front to back. Our center of gravity is lower and we can adjust quickly to the instability of whitewater rapids. It’s the beginning of the path to our success on the river.
Pro Tip #27: Oar boats can quickly become stern heavy, raising the bow, which changes the rafts pivot point and reduces its tracking ability and maneuverability. Put a heavy dry bag or water jug in the bow. You’ll thank me later.