Let me imagine, then, that my pupil is seated in the gig, his stretcher having been fixed at a point that will enable him, when his slide is full back, and he is sitting on it easily without pressing, to have his knees slightly bent.
And now to the business of instruction.
I. Remember and endeavour to apply all the lessons you have learnt on fixed seats. Slides add another element to the stroke. They do not alter the elements you have previously been taught.
2. BEGINNING.—Get hold of this just as you would on a fixed seat, with a sharp spring of the whole body, which thus begins its swing-back without the loss of a fraction of time.
(a) The natural tendency of a tiro will be to drive his slide away before his shoulders have begun to move. This must at all costs be avoided. In order to secure the effectual combination of body-swing and leg-work, it is essential that the swing should start first.
(b) It is equally reprehensible to swing the body full back before starting the slide ; you thus cut the stroke into two distinct parts, one composed of mere body-swing, the other of mere leg-work. Therefore : (2) When the body-swing backwards has started, but only the smallest fractional part of a second afterwards—so quickly, indeed, as to appear to the eye of a spectator almost a simultaneous movement—let the slide begin to travel back, the swing meanwhile continuing.
(a) Remember what was said in fixed-seat instructions as to the use of the toes and the ball of the foot at the beginning of the stroke. On slides this is even more important.
(3) Body and slide are now moving back in unison, the feet pressing with firm and steady pressure against the stretcher, and the arms per fectly straight. As the slide moves, the leg-power applied must on no account diminish. If any thing it ought to increase, for the body is begin ning to lose its impetus, and the main part of the resistance is transferred to the legs, the blade all the time moving at an even pace through the water.
(4) The body must swing a little further back than on a fixed seat.
(5) Body-swing and slide-back should end at the same moment.
(6) As they end, the knees should be pressed firmly down so as to enable you to secure the last ounce of leg-power from the stretcher. Simul taneously with this depression of the legs, the hands (and particularly the outside hand, which has been doing the main share of the work of the stroke all through) must bring the oar-handle firmly home to the chest, sweeping it in and thus obtaining what is called a firm hard finish. As the knees come finally down, the elbows pass the sides, and the shoulders move back and downwards.
(a) Mr. W. B. Woodgate, in the Badminton (3) Body and slide are now moving back in unison, the feet pressing with firm and steady pressure against the stretcher, and the arms per fectly straight. As the slide moves, the leg-power
applied must on no account diminish. If any thing it ought to increase, for the body is begin ning to lose its impetus, and the main part of the resistance is transferred to the legs, the blade all the time moving at an even pace through the water.
(4) The body must swing a little further back than on a fixed seat.
(5) Body-swing and slide-back should end at the same moment.
(6) As they end, the knees should be pressed firmly down so as to enable you to secure the last ounce of leg-power from the stretcher. Simul taneously with this depression of the legs, the hands (and particularly the outside hand, which has been doing the main share of the work of the stroke all through) must bring the oar-handle firmly home to the chest, sweeping it in and thus obtaining what is called a firm hard finish. As the knees come finally down, the elbows pass the sides, and the shoulders move back and downwards.
(a) Mr. W. B. Woodgate, in the Badminton book on "Boating," says : " Many good oarsmen slide until the knees are quite straight. In the writer's opinion this is waste of power : the knees should never quite straighten; the recovery is, for anatomical reasons, much stronger if the joint is slightly bent when the reversal of the machinery commences. The extra half-inch of kick gained by quite straightening the knees hardly compen sates for the extra strain of recovery ; also leg-work to the last fraction of a second of swing is better preserved by this retention of a slight bend, and an open chest and clean finish are thereby better attained." If Mr. Woodgate means that the legs are not to be pressed down as the stroke finishes, but are to remain loosely bent, I differ from him, though, considering his high authority, with hesitation and regret. As a matter of fact, the front edge of the thwart catches the calves of the legs at the finish, when the legs are pressed down, and prevents the knees from being absolutely straightened. But I am certain that unless an oarsman assures his legs in the firm position that I have explained, he will lose most valuable power at the end of the stroke, and will materially increase his difficulty in taking his oar clean out of the water and generally in getting a smart recovery. This final leg-pressure not only supports the body in a somewhat trying position, but enables the hands to come home to the chest without faltering. As on fixed seats, it is essential that the body should not be pulled forward to meet the oar. And it is equally essential that it should not sink down or fall away from the hands, thus rendering an elastic recovery impossible.