How is a novice to be taught so that he may some day take his seat with credit in a good crew ? I answer that there is no royal road ; he must pass through a long period of practice, often so dull that all his patience will be required to carry him through it. His progress will be so slow, that he will sometimes feel he is making no headway at all ; but it will be sure none the less, and some day, if he has in him the makings of an oar, he will realize, to his delight, that his joints move freely, that his muscles are supple, that his limbs obey his brain immediately—that, in short, the various movements he has been striving so hard to acquire have become easy and natural to him, and that he can go through them without the painful exercise of deliberate thought at every moment of their recurrence.
Every oarsman must begin on fixed seats. This statement is to an English public school or University oar a mere platitude ; but in America, and even in some of our English clubs outside the Universities, its force and necessity have been lost sight of. Here and there may be found a born oar, whose limbs and body do not require an arduous discipline ; but in the case of ordinary average men like the immense majority of us, it is impossible, I believe, to acquire correct body movement without a stage, more or less prolonged, of practice in fixed-seat rowing. For it is on fixed seats alone that a man can learn that free and solid swing which is essential to good oarsmanship on slides.
I will, therefore, ask my novice reader to imagine that he is seated on one of the thwarts of a fixed seat tub-pair, while I deceive myself into the belief that I am coaching him from its stern. My first duty will be to see that all his implements are sound and true and correct, since it is probable that faults are often due as much to the use of weak or defective materials as to any other cause. I must satisfy myself that his oar is stiff and of a proper length ; that when pressed against the thole in a natural position it can grip the water firmly and come through it squarely ;* that the stretcher is properly set, and that the straps pass * The breadth of beam of an ordinary in-rigged fixed-seat gig for the use of novices may be stated at 3 ft. rct in. A line drawn horizontally across the boat, at right angles from the rowing thole, would be from r ri in. to 12 in. distant from the aft, or sitting edge tightly over the root of the toes. I must also see that he is properly dressed, and not constricted about the waist by impeding buttons. A belt is
never permissible. Now for instruction.
(t) Sit erect on the aft edge of your seat, exactly opposite the point at which your heels touch the stretcher. The feet must be placed firm and flat upon the stretcher, the heels touching one another, and forming an angle of about forty-five degrees. The knees mugt be bent to about one-third of their scope, and set a shoulder's breadth apart. Shoulders must be well set back, the chest open, and the stomach well set out.
(2) Now swing your body slowly forward as far as you are able from the hips, without bending the back, being careful to let your head swing with your body. Repeat this movement several times without holding the oar.
(Note.—The ideal swing is that which takes the whole unbending body full forward till it is down between the knees. This, to a novice, is impossible, and the coach must therefore be content to see the of the thwart. Oars should measure 12 ft. over all, with an in board length of 3 ft. 5 in. to 3 ft. 51 in. Breadth of blades 5i in. to 5i, not more.
first efforts at swing very short. It is better that this should be so than that a man should pre maturely attain length by bending his back, doubling in his stomach, and over-reaching with his shoulders, faults that, once acquired, it is ex tremely difficult to eradicate.) The swing must be slow and balanced, for " the time occupied in coming forward should be the body's rest, when the easy, measured swing, erect head, braced shoulders, and open chest, enable heart and lungs to work freely and easily, in pre paration for a defined beginning of the next stroke."* (3) Take hold of your oar, the fingers passing round it, thumbs underneath, and the hands one hand's-breadth apart. The grip on the oar should be a finger-grip, not the vice-like hold that cramps all the muscles of the arm. It is important, too, to remember that, while the arms are presumably of the same length, the outside hand (i.e. the hand at the end of the oar) has, during stroke and swing forward, to pass through a larger arc than the inside hand. The inside wrist should, therefore, be slightly arched even at the beginning of the stroke, thus shortening the inside arm, but without impairing its use during the stroke. This arch, too, will give the inside hand a greater leverage and ease for performing the work of feathering, which devolves mainly upon it.