Go . . . read . . .

Yes, yes, I know . . . I’ve been horrible tardy in posting things up.

Apologies all around.

Here is something that I did not write, but I think for anyone involved in rowing, it is a must read.

Regardless of how you feel about the topic itself, it is great background information and discussion material.

Want to discuss it? Chime in below.

What Not To Do With Your Rigging When It Is Really Hot

Dang, it is hot. We’ve just hit our 7th day over 100 degrees.

That won’t impress some of you, but for us in the Mid-Atlantic states it is impressive—actually more like depressive.

Thought it might be appropriate to throw out a few rigging things that you should NOT do when it is hot. I discuss them in the following video.

I probably could have gone over a few more things while shooting this, but I’m a wimp in the heat.

Oh yeah, let me add this . . . many years ago in my novice-rigging-days, I left a single-skin fiberglass eight out in the hot Florida sun. It was seats-up, and out there for about 4 hours. The glass got so hot that is actually deformed, more like melted, around the slings. It looked like a hot knife has gone through butter. The boat was ruined.

What about you—any suggestions about rigging things NOT to do when it’s really hot?

Rowing and Lightning

Friend Chris Partridge just posted a thoughtful post about rowing, thunderstorms, and lightning on his blog.

It is short, but thoughtful, and worthy of 3 minutes to read.

Since this is the season for fireworks (at least in the States) I thought it appropriate to share.

Secret Rowing Weapon #3: Is your hull trimmed?

(This post is cowritten with Casey Baker, from Resolute Racing Shells.)

The trim of a shell is an interesting measurement. Interesting mainly because few rowers pay attention to it. Really interesting because it is a place where you can pick up some quick speed with very little effort.

The trim is how level the boat is when it is sitting in the water. The goal of properly trimmed shell is to have the boat as close to level as possible throughout the entire stroke cycle. All things equal, a properly trimmed boat will be faster than a shell that is not trimmed.

When people are added to a shell the trim will change. And with moving seats, and moving mass, the trim of your boat will even change during the stroke. And significant differences can slow you down.

Many rowers and coaches have placed little if any focus on a shell’s trim. And because of this the trim could be a secret weapon for you.

To utilize your new secret weapon, you should first determine if your hull’s trim is where you need it. Try these two methods to determine if your trim is right for you.

Method #1: Quick Method

Put your boat in the water. Then put your rowers in. Take a 3-foot-long level and put it on the gunwale. Have the rowers come to the catch. Then have the rowers come to the finish, and then sit at the mid drive. Notice the reading of the level in all three positions.

How were the readings?

At the mid drive, was the level centered? At the catch was there a slight stern drop? At the finish, a slight bow drop? If any of those readings were off more than just slightly you might have an issue.

If from this quick test, you think you have a problem, then you should probably adjust your trim (and I’ll discuss that in the next post). If you want more specific information about how severe your trim-issue might be, try this . . .

Method #2: Advanced Method

Get some pinstriping tape, black in the case of a white boat, about 1/8” thick, and make three hash marks with the tape on the bow and stern of the boat just like you would see on a ship. This tape is wrapped around the bow, as well as the stern to show on both sides of the boat.

Make the top and bottom pinstripe 1cm above and below the middle stripe. Also make the middle stripe the longest, like 2” on each side and the upper and lower stripe shorter, like 1 ½ inches. You can set the marks from an empty boat in dead flat water, or with a crew loaded in the boat. The goal is to have the marks give you your indication of trim both bow and stern.

Now put your team in the boat, and have them row. What are you noticing on the trim markers? Significant drop to bow or stern? These markers will not only give you an idea of whether you have a problem, but how significant the issue might be.

In the next post I’ll go over two of the more popular ways to trim the hull in your shell.

Until then, let us know of any thoughts you have. Just leave a comment below.

A new weapon for your coaching and rigging arsenal—Plan B.

Okay, riddle me this . . . what do you do when you have a plan to get something done—and that plan doesn’t work?

For instance, you’re driving your trailer full of shells to an important race. The race site is only 1 hour away, you’ve got plenty of time . . . and then your trailer gets a flat. And then another. And one more.

Arggh—three flats.

Your Plan A just went down the tube. What do you do?

Read more

The Speed of Speed

Most rowers and coaches will have the expectation that their speed will come fast. Thinking that if they are dedicated to finding it the speed will quickly show up. The majority of us are not very patient so expectations are high.

In a theoretical world, without all the human factors that affect us, that would be the case. In such a perfect world a simple graph of your speed over a season would probably look like this:

However our worlds are anything BUT perfect, with illnesses, injuries, economy, weather, and a wealth of other things effecting us. A realistic speed graph for an individual might actually look like this:

That graph is just for one person trying to get fast. Add a partner or team mates and suddenly the variations become much more pronounced:

We would love for our speed to come quick, and to see improvements daily. Unfortunately that doesn’t happen. The road to fast is often full of bumps and takes longer than we think it should.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Chime in below.

• Rigging Videos
• Post 1: A Hunt For Speed
• Post 2:  A Cheater’s Guide To Making A Boat Go Fast
• Post 3: Coxswain’s Head Explodes. Too Much Speed The Cause
• Post 4: Step 1 of Your Personal Speed System: Fierce Mindset
• Post 5: Step 2 of Your Personal Speed System: Rock-star Athlete(s)
• Post 6: Step 3 of Your Personal Speed System: Mindful Training
• Post 7: Step 4 of Your Personal Speed System: Freak Your Technique
• Post 8: Step 5 of Your Personal Speed System: Rock-solid Equipment
• Post 9: Step 6 of Your Personal Speed System: Real Rigging
• Post 10: Step 7 of Your Personal Speed System: Your Speed Pyramid
• Rowing Slow: The Secret For Going Fast And Getting What You Really Want From Rowing

The Final Step: Your Speed Pyramid

The last 9 posts have been about speed—specifically about building your own Personal Speed System. Time now to tie all those bits and pieces together. I would like to introduce you to the Rowing Speed Pyramid.

Pyramids

When the ancients wanted to construct something strong and lasting they built a pyramid. A pyramid is a structure where the outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a point. These were some of the original large buildings, and have proven themselves to be strong, durable, and very stable. And some of them look pretty darn cool.

Closer to home, on the left hand corner of my desk is a book titled: Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success. It details the system that John Wooden used to develop his 10 national championship basketball teams at UCLA. As you can see from the image below Coach invested a great deal of time into the development and perfection of his system.

Rowing Speed Pyramid

We can look at speed in a similar view, in fact a pyramid is a great metaphor for how our Personal Speed System operates. I’ll let the image below speak for itself but there are a few points that need to be brought out.

First: simple geometry tells us that if you want a tall pyramid (which you do in this case because the taller it is the more speed you can find) then you need a wide base. In our case the base is your fierce mindset. A strong, wide mindset, include critical component such as vision, failure, giving up control, and finding joy will help you build a taller structure.

Second: the foundation of any pyramid is a critical part of how long the pyramid stands, and how high it can be built. Without a strong foundation all the hard work may be for naught. The Egyptians knew the importance of a strong foundation, and spent a long time working on before they started the main structure. In fact, they built several Pyramids on bases of solid rock.

In our case, the foundation for our Speed Pyrmaimd is built on a foundation of hardwork, a supportive community, and using a system.

Third: pyramids take a lot of time to build. Estimates are some Egyptian pyramids took well over 25 years to build. Yours won’t take that long, but do expect to invest time in constructing yours. [However, keep in mind if you want to be world-class fast you can expect to invest upwards of 10,000 hours building your pyramid.]

Take Action Now

Are you in the process of hunting for the speed you need? Then hopefully this helps tie up some loose ends as you go about trying to get faster. See something that needs to be changed, updated, or fixed? Let me know what you think.

• Rigging Videos
• Post 1: A Hunt For Speed
• Post 2:  A Cheater’s Guide To Making A Boat Go Fast
• Post 3: Coxswain’s Head Explodes. Too Much Speed The Cause
• Post 4: Step 1 of Your Personal Speed System: Fierce Mindset
• Post 5: Step 2 of Your Personal Speed System: Rock-star Athlete(s)
• Post 6: Step 3 of Your Personal Speed System: Mindful Training
• Post 7: Step 4 of Your Personal Speed System: Freak Your Technique
• Post 8: Step 5 of Your Personal Speed System: Rock-solid Equipment
• Post 9: Step 6 of Your Personal Speed System: Real Rigging
• Rowing Slow: The Secret For Going Fast And Getting What You Really Want From Rowing

Step 6 In Your Personal Speed System: Real Rigging

Step six in this process of finding the speed you need is the pillar I call real rigging. This is the shortest post in this series. Let’s see if I can get my point across in just a few words.

Real Rigging

You want speed? Then you need real rigging. Pure and simple. And real rigging occurs when:

1. The appropriate rigging numbers are found for the mindset, vision, athlete, training plan, and equipment being used.
2. The equipment is adjusted properly for the mindset, vision, athlete, training plan, and equipment being used.
3. The numbers and adjustments are tested to make sure that they work well for for the mindset, vision, athlete, training plan, and equipment being used.

Three steps to real rigging.

Yup, there are a lot of subtleties to rigging however if you can do these three (use appropriate numbers, make proper adjustments, and test effectiveness) you’ll be much closer to your finish line in a smaller amount of time.

The last post in this series, tying it altogether, will be out shortly.

In the meantime if you need more info check out the links below or drop me a comment.

• Rigging Videos
• Post 1: A Hunt For Speed
• Post 2:  A Cheater’s Guide To Making A Boat Go Fast
• Post 3: Coxswain’s Head Explodes. Too Much Speed The Cause
• Post 4: Step 1 of Your Personal Speed System: Fierce Mindset
• Post 5: Step 2 of Your Personal Speed System: Rock-star Athlete(s)
• Post 6: Step 3 of Your Personal Speed System: Mindful Training
• Post 7: Step 4 of Your Personal Speed System: Freak Your Technique
• Post 8: Step 5 of Your Personal Speed System: Rock-solid Equipment
• Rowing Slow: The Secret For Going Fast And Getting What You Really Want From Rowing

Step #5 In Your Personal Speed System: Rock-solid Equipment

Today’s post is going to be a little different. I’m going to share some of my rigging book with you.

Five years of working on this site, writing books and articles, presenting clinics, doing videos has helped me realize that this is one-heck-of-an-equipment-intensive sport. Maybe too intensive.

Buying, transporting, cleaning, adjusting, etc. . . . sometimes it seems like having rowing equipment is more responsibility than having a child. As one of my friends likes to put it,

Having a rowing shell is like being pecked to death by a chicken.

A perspective

Ok . . . now on to speed.

When it comes to speed the first 4 pillars are more important than the equipment. Let me repeat that: There are 4 pillars more important to speed than rowing equipment. (Okay, I am kind of yelling that because it really does need to be yelled.) Those pillars are: fierce mindset, rock-star athletes, mindful training, and freak your technique. Yes, lightning bolts may be coming my way from New Haven or Seattle or Morrisville but that’s my version of the truth.

For instance, a rock-star athlete rowing old equipment will beat a lacksidazical athlete rowing brand new stuff 99% of the time. Scratch that . . 99.9% of the time.

Yet, this fifth pillar of rock-solid equipment is important. Why? Because the equipment serves a critical function—it allows the propulsion to happen. The key word there is allows. Equipment doesn’t make propulsion happen, it allows it.

We have a tendency to place the equipment on a pedestal, especially when it comes to speed. You’ve heard the comments, I’m sure (fill in the *blanks* below):

• Hey, how could I possibly be fast? My boat is *blank* years older than theirs.
• My athletes can’t row well unless they have the latest *blank*
• The winning crew was in a *blank*, I need to buy one of those.

That is a lot of pressure on the equipment, and it is blown out of proportion. I truly believe that you just need rock-solid equipment and you will be okay.

The three keys of rock-solid equipment.

There are three critical characteristics that make a piece of equipment rock-solid. I’ve written a lot about them, (maybe too much) so I’ll get to the point, and if you want more details just hit the old search button. I am going to place the focus on the hull, because that is the really big-bang place. Here are the three characteristics:

#1 Stiffness of the hull: Simply put, the stiffer the boat the better the boat responds to the effort put forth by the rower. The boat is more responsive. It makes a difference.

A boat that wiggles, sags, and twists is not as effective. It is not rock-solid. (The stiffness does not necessarily apply to oars, as they come in different stiffnesses, with great successes across the board.)

Want to know how stiff the hull of your boat is? Here’s part of the chapter from Nuts and Bolts Guide to Rigging that deals with that topic. I hope it helps a little:

JOB 13.4: MEASURING SHELL STIFFNESS.

Problem: Trying to find out how much wiggle you’ve got in your shell.

Needed: The boat in question, preferably slinged, seats-up.

What we’re interested in finding out is how tight, or un-tight, your shell is. We are going to check in two directions: side to side, and bow to stern. I use a reliable, but a fairly unscientific method. Definitely check the stiffness if it’s a used shell you’re thinking of buying.

Step 1. Setup: It’s best to try checking stiffness when the boat is in slings. For an eight, place the slings under the two and seven seats. If you can’t sling it, you can still check the bow to stern stiffness in the rack.

Step 2. Side To Side: Make sure your rigger nuts are tight. Go to the fore-most rigger and press down with a gentle motion. Notice what happens to your aft-most rigger on the opposite side. When you press down the other rigger should go up the same amount, and at the same time. Now gently rock the bow rigger up and down and see what happens. There should be little or no time delay between the two riggers moving, or any swaying occurring in the boat. The more sway you have, the less stiff the boat.

Step 3. Bow To Stern: Now we’re going to find out if the boat is tight from end to end. Go to the bow, about two feet from the bow ball. Cradle the hull in both hands and wiggle the shell up and down. Nothing drastic—just a subtle motion. Careful of the soft decking if you’ve got it. Look at the stern and see what’s happening. Are things tight, or does the boat wiggle like a bowl of strawberry Jell-O? (See figure 13.2.)

You can check your shell's stiffness in two different directions.

If the boat is in the racks, there’s another test you can do. Go to the bow, about halfway between the bow ball and wash box. Cradle the sides of the boat and gently lift up. Watch your back; grab a friend to help if you need it. When you lift, look at the racks and notice if the shell moves as one unit or if it sags in the middle. If it sags, it’s not stiff—the more the sag, the less the stiffness.

Step 4. Now What? You’ve looked at sag and sway so now you know something about how stiff your boat is. What do you do with the info? Your choices are fairly simple. If the shell is tight and solid, keep rowing it. If the boat wiggled, it may be time to either do a major repair JOB, such as tightening up the bracing, or take the boat off of your competitive racing-boat list and start using it as a training shell. If it’s a used shell you’re thinking about buying, lack of stiffness is a warning there might be problems.

#2 Size of the hull: When the shoes you have on fit well they are safer, look better, and function better than ones too small or too big. Same with a shell. Get the right fit to be faster. How do you know if you have the right fit? This might help:

JOB 13.3: DETERMINING WEIGHT CLASSIFICATION OF SHELL.

Problem: You need to know your shell’s weight classification (the average weight of rowers it’s designed to hold).

Needed: Rigging stick, tape measure, rigging card.

Most boats used to come in basically three different weight classifications (sizes): heavyweight (for 185–210 pound average crew weight), midweight (160–185 average) and lightweight (130–160 average). That was in the olden days, oh . . . say in the 1990s.

Today, there are more choices, and with more choices you have the need to make more decisions and you have more chances to make mistakes. What you are interested in with weight classification is pretty simple: trying to get the correct size crew in the correct size boat (see Chapter Seven, JOB 7.2, for more info on this).

Each size boat will have different dimensions. There are two dimensions that change the most between the different sizes: depth and beam. But there is variety as far as these dimensions are concerned, and two heavyweight shells from the same builder may have different depths and beams.

One reason is that customers may want different options that change the dimension of the boat, and models change from year to year as the builders experiment to come up with better and faster shells. Also, the building processes change over time with new methods and new technology, and that may mean different dimensions, too.

So how do you tell what shell size a boat is? First, you need the depth and the beam dimensions. Get your tape measure and go to the midships of the shell. This is where the hull should be the deepest. Set your rigging stick or straight edge across the gunwales. Now measure down from the bottom of the straight edge to the bottom of the inside of the hull. That’s your hull depth. At the same point—which should also be the widest part of the boat—measure from the inside of one gunwale to inside of the other for the beam. These numbers will be a guideline to help you find the shell size. Second, you may need your serial number for info on locating different serial. Armed with this information, you’ve got three ways to tell the shell size:

Good method: Eyeball comparison. If you’ve been around this sport long enough you’ll be able to tell a shell’s size just by looking. If you’re in a boathouse, and need a little help, take a few steps back and compare shapes with another boat you know the size of. If this doesn’t help,

try . . .

Better method: The best way to tell a shell size, with the least amount of hassles, is to already have the measurements (beam and depth) of a boat whose size you know and then compare the boat in question to those numbers. There are two ways to get these numbers. One, of course, is to call the builder and get the beam and depth for a size and category (eight, four, pair) of boat. The other way is just to measure a boat. Either way, make sure the numbers are from the same manufacturer.

Don’t try to compare a Dirigo’s measurements to a Pocock’s—the measurements vary drastically between different makes of shells.  Generally, heavyweight shells will have larger depths and beams than midweights, and midweights will be larger than lightweights. But don’t be surprised if there is not a lot of difference in dimensions between sizes. In fact, different classes might have the same beam or depth. If this won’t work,

try . . .

Best method: Take your measurements and the serial number and head to a phone. You need to call the builder. This may cost you a few pennies, but you’ll find out positively what size shell you’ve got.

I know all this may sound like a lot of hassle, but for good rigging you need to know what class a boat is.

#3 Integrity of the hull: There are two critical aspects here: the smoothness of the hull, and the cleanliness. Both go directly to the drag. A smooth, clean hull, free of anything that will increase drag will be faster than a hull that is not. How do you get it clean and smooth? Well here is an article I published a while back:

Last month we discussed the benefits of waxing the hull of your rowing shells. And, yes, there are benefits, like protecting the hull from damage from the sun and from pollutants. (And, of course, there are also down sides, like messing up a nice pair of pants).

However, one of the benefits of waxing is NOT speed. A good wax job will actually slow your hull down. So what is the best treatment for a hull when you’re looking for speed?

The answer is, “Nothing!” A naked hull is usually the fastest.

You see, when a hull is gliding through the water, you want to have the smoothest possible surface that you can. Smooth is fast. The smoother the hull, the less friction . . . and that is good.

If your hull has a good paint job and is free of dings and checks, then its maximum speed will come from being clean. Think of it in these terms: “Clean is fast.”

So how do you clean a hull? In my opinion, it’s a two-step process.

My first step is to use a rubbing compound. I usually treat the hull one or twice a year with the compound to remove the gunk that attaches to the hull over time. This is critical if you do wax your hull, or if you row in water that has pollution in it (and, unfortunately, today most water does have it).

Rubbing compound is an abrasive, usually in a liquid or almost-liquid form, and it comes in different levels of “grit.” I just think of it as liquid sandpaper.

There are two critical components of successfully using rubbing compound. One is selecting the correct grit (I use 1500). The other is to follow the directions, and I mean follow.

Using compound can be a mindless job, but that doesn’t mean that YOU should be mindless. Care needs to be taken that you only “clean” the hull, and not damage the paint. Gentle strokes, usually in a circular pattern, work fine. Some people profess that using a bow-to-stern motion is best. This does have its merits, but usually only if you are using a heavier grit, or sandpaper.

My second step is to wash the hull prior to each race. I try to do this the day of the race, when the boat is ready to go. That means if we’ve transported the boat, I’ll wash it right at the race course.

That’s not usually a hardship. A bucket, a sponge, a little soap (I use dishwashing detergent), a little water (which tends to be available at race courses . . . hint, the river or lake), a little scrubbing, and in ten minutes the hull is clean. I then just rinse off the soap and let the boat drip-dry.

(For what it’s worth, one thing that I’ve noticed is that people love, I mean LOVE, to help wash a racing hull. There must be something sensual to it. Almost, without fail, every time I wash a hull people flock to help.)

So . . . if you’re racing, clean off your hull.

And remember, naked is fast!

Is it that simple?

Maybe. No. Yes. Sorta.

Yup, there are many more subities to equipment, but notice one thing—age is not one of the top characteristics. Remember, a proper fitting, stiff hull, with a smooth, clean hull can be fast. Very fast. So if you can get these three specifics taken care of you will be well down the road to finding speed.

Take action now!

Why don’t you chime in and let’s me know how it is going, and what you think of this post.

• Post 1: A Hunt For Speed
• Post 2:  A Cheater’s Guide To Making A Boat Go Fast
• Post 3: Coxswain’s Head Explodes. Too Much Speed The Cause
• Post 4: Step 1 of Your Personal Speed System: Fierce Mindset
• Post 5: Step 2 of Your Personal Speed System: Rock-star Athlete(s)
• Post 6: Step 3 of Your Personal Speed System: Mindful Training
• Post 7: Step 4 of Your Personal Speed System: Freak Your Technique
• Rowing Slow: The Secret For Going Fast And Getting What You Really Want From Rowing

Step #4 In Your Personal Speed System: Freak Your Technique

So the first pillar of boat speed is setting up a Personal Speed System, right? Next you build a fierce mindset, get rock-star athletes, and develop mindful training. Those four pillars make a solid foundation that can help you be successful in your hunt for boat speed.

Ah . . . and there is more. Specifically, there are three more pillars that can make your foundation even stronger, and your boats even faster.

And the next pillar of those three is to freak your technique.

What’s a freak?

There are numerous people today we consider extraordinary but in their youth would have been called many other things—things not so nice. For instance consider Albert Einstein.

He was a rebellious and difficult student. Like Leonardo, he was dyslexic . . . leading one of his teachers to tell him that he would “never amount to anything.”

Mike Gelb wrote that about Einstein in his book Discover Your Genius.

Growing up Albert was probably hard for two reasons: he marched to his own drummer, and he was notably different than kids his own age. I mean, here was a kid who stopped to think about problems of space and time.

By many accounts youngster Einstein was no doubt thought of as a freak by his peers. Yet today he is known as one of the most intellectual humans to have recently lived. If you put your mind to it you could probably write a list of many others like Einstein—many other freaks. Maybe you were one.

And what Einstein did (how he thought and acted) is what you need to do to your rowing technique, that is, if you want to find speed.

Not long ago freak was used only to describe people (Man, that Einstein guy sure is a freak). But today freak also means look at the world differently and that is exactly what you should be doing with your technique. Look at it like a freak (differently) to make it better—to find more speed.

Specifically there are four things you can do to freak your technique.

Freak #1: Befriend your technique.

I wasn’t always smart about rowing technique. In fact I probably spent many years doing and teaching it wrong. For as long as I can remember I was told that technique was for wussy boys. And that sentiment stayed with me for many years. Back then we sacrificed technique and focused more on strength, which means many of us worked way too hard to get whatever speed we could achieve. And this still goes on today in the rowing world.

I’m going to suggest you stop that.

Instead, look to become wickedly efficient with your technique. Strive to get more distance per stroke rather than more strokes per distance. I know it seems all wrong (a 38 must be faster than a 32) and seems actually, kinda . . . well . . . freaky, but there is some pretty good science behind the concept.

By befriending your technique you can greatly increase your chances to get fast.

Freak #2: Ask, look and listen.

Not long ago I wrote a post about looking at boat speed differently. It sparked intense conversations. In essence I reported on Jim Mitchell’s research showing the catch to be the fastest part of the rowing stroke. People weighed in and I did get called quite a few nice names in the process. What I noticed was a real entrenchment by many to not even consider any alternative to the status quo (the finish must be the fastest because we’ve always been told that). That’s not being very mindful (regardless of the merit of the concept).

This brings up an interesting point, what should your rowing technique actually be? Two thoughts.

First, many of us having a rowing technique that we neither question nor deeply understand. We do it because we were taught it. And that certainly is understandable since most of us were taught by coaches who learned a style handed down to them by coaches who had the style handed down to them. Our learning comes from on high so many of us just accept it as the gospel.

Second, rowing is a comfortable sport (for the most part) and the stroke is fairly natural. The small details are often what separates the fast from the wanna-be-fast.

So, again, what should your rowing technique be? That depends on what your goal is, what boat you are rowing, your skill level and a host of other things. The best way to determine what it should be is hook up with a mindful coach (or mindful rower) who can teach you the best way for you.

Ask who that might be, find them and look at their results, and then listen to them to see if the person is the right one to teach you the right technique for you.

Freak #3: Work hard.

I’ll be very blunt here, you will need to invest time (a lot) in your technique to get really good at it. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers: The Story of Success, promotes the idea that to become a world-class expert at anything (anything) you will need to invest upwards of 10,000 hours. That’s around 20 hours per week for 10 years. But what if you don’t have world-dominating aspirations? Once you find the right technique you will still need to dedicate yourself to it to get efficient and find your speed.

Freak #4: Play.

Some of the great breakthroughs that occur in science, sport and numerous other areas of life happen when people are playing. That play may be rigid-playing such as experiment, or doddling, or daydreaming, or goofing off . . . regardless, sometimes the results are great. Look no further than the business world to see examples such as Post-It Notes and Silly Putty, both products of play.

You’ll need to work hard to perfect your technique, yet  you’ll also need to play, fiddle with it, experiment, to see what works for you, and what doesn’t.

You have permission to experiment, and if you think you’ll get in trouble I’ll write you a note.

Take Action Now.

Okay, go be a freak. Your technique will love you for it.

Step 5 on it’s way.

Let me know how I’m doing in the comments below.

• Post 1: A Hunt For Speed
• Post 2:  A Cheater’s Guide To Making A Boat Go Fast
• Post 3: Coxswain’s Head Explodes. Too Much Speed The Cause
• Post 4: Step 1 of Your Personal Speed System: Fierce Mindset
• Post 5: Step 2 of Your Personal Speed System: Rock-star Athlete(s)
• Post 6: Step 3 of Your Personal Speed System: Mindful Training
• Rowing Slow: The Secret For Going Fast And Getting What You Really Want From Rowing

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