The Speed of Speed
January 27, 2010 by
Filed under Speed, Think Different
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
Mike…I’ve really enjoyed this series. Thanks for providing your perspective. If I was to draw your graph, and I love graphs, I would show the speed bumping up in steps with the small fluctuations persisting. The small fluctuations arising from injuries, lineup changes, exams, weather, etc. The speed ‘bumping up’s arising from stroke rate increases and significant technique advances. Just one guys thoughts…
I definitely agree that their are fluctuations, but using Bob’s thoughts, I think that there would be a general upwards slope that may contain within it smaller fluctuations. It seems that the graphs you have shown have similar average speeds throughout the year, where as I would argue that an athlete in the Spring suffereing from a cold would still be faster then his Fall counterpart.