Private Lessons

Rowing is much like learning to ride a bike, it can be difficult in the beginning, but once you’ve got it - you’ve got it. That said, everyone doesn’t ride a bike the same, nor do they row the same.

A private lesson for a beginner could be spent on land familiarizing new rowers with equipment and boat setup - or it could be reviewing how to safely get in and out of the boat at the dock.

New rowers could also spend their time working to establish consistency on the basic mechanics of the stroke.

Once you have the basics, the sport transitions from being a brain exercise to an amazing form of cardiovascular fitness. Intermediate rowers are working on improving the accuracy and efficiency of their stroke while also building fitness.

Rowing is not a sport where you stack higher level skills on top of a foundation, but more a sport where you return to the basics at a higher level of understanding and ability. One of the best analogies we’ve heard is that the development feels like climbing a spiral staircase - you come around to a higher level, while simultaneously feeling like you’re in the same place.

Advanced rowers have developed the ability to manipulate their stroke in different boat classes (singles, doubles, quads). They can change the rhythm that they row with to match the people in their boat. They can change the rhythm of different elements of the stroke. They are able to make the boat go faster as the stroke rate increases; however, like everyone, they still have a threshold where the boat stops going faster when they bring the rate up. They are working on pushing through physical and mental barriers to see what is possible for them.

These rowers are chasing a level of perfection they know they’ll never achieve, but they chase it anyways. They are striving to be better than yesterday in the smallest areas.

RowPro’s enjoy reading books on rigging and measuring everything you can in the sport. They are working on fine tuning the angles that their stroke creates, they’re adjusting where the peak power of their stroke is, and finding ways to stay relaxed while at max heart rate. They want one more degree of connected length at the catch and be able to hold that connection one degree further to the finish. They might always come off the dock feet out, trusting that it helps find that connection, even though there chances of going for a swim are slightly higher.

They are obsessed with rowing.