The rower should make long strokes in a heavy boat, and shorter and
quicker strokes in a light boat. At the beginning of the pull, he must,
in general, bend his body till his head is over his knees, and extend
his arms as far aft as convenient, that the blades of the sculls may
be thrown correspondingly forward. Plate XXIX. f. 1. With regard to
the back in particular, some think that, if a short distance is to be
rowed, it should be bent; and that, if a long distance, it is less
fatiguing to keep it straight. When the arms are extended as far aft,
and the blades of the sculls as far forward as convenient--which must
never be so far as to jam in the rullocks--(Plate XXIX. f. 1) the rower
must dip the sculls into the water, and pull towards him, by at once
bending the arms and the body.
When in the middle of the pull, if the sculls are not short enough, or
even if the head and body are slightly turned, one of the hands will
go higher than the other; and, as the right is generally the stronger,
it may go above, and the left below. It is often found difficult to
keep one hand clear of the other in pulling a pair of sculls. This is
so much the case, indeed, that the inexperienced frequently suffer
more from the knocking and rubbing of the backs and sides of the hands
against each other, than from the friction of the handles of the oars
in the palms of the hands. This may be easily obviated by attending to
the following advice:--
Having seated yourself in the centre of the thwart, with your feet
close together against the centre of the stretcher, ship your sculls,
but, before pulling a stroke, move your body three or four inches to
the right hand, and still retain your feet in the centre: thus you
will be sitting rather obliquely; this will throw your right shoulder
more forward, and consequently the right hand; and thus the hands
will work perfectly clear of each other. This rule, however, must be
modified by the circumstances of river-rowing. A waterman writes us as
follows:--“As to carrying one hand above the other, my way is, that
if, for instance, I go from Greenwich to Blackwall against tide, I
keep down on the Greenwich side, in general look toward the shore, and
having my face over the left shoulder, my right hand is then above.
If I go from Greenwich to London, my face is turned over the right
shoulder, and the left hand is then uppermost.”
[Illustration: _Plate XXIX_
_Page 102._
Beginning of the Pull.