How wide apart are your hands?

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Recess
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How wide apart are your hands?

Post by Recess »

I'm trying to tweak every aspect of my stroke in the hunt for every last second (or half second) I can gain. Today, it occurred to me that maybe (certainly) I'm losing a lot of power because when going for 100m sprints, it seems I'm not locking out my arms for proper power transfer.

And then, today, doing fast intervals (1:30), I noticed that it was easier to lock the arms if I hold the handle with my hands a bit closer together. And this translated to splits down to 1:29 / 1:28 at the same SPM.

So, obviously, the answer for the time being is to close the gap a bit - but is there any rule? I used to be on the outskirts of the handle, now I'm about 5cm in on each side.

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Paul Victory
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Re: How wide apart are your hands?

Post by Paul Victory »

Interesting.

I usually start with my hands at the edge of the handle, but I often find my left hand creeping in towards the centre, particularly on very long rows. This is presumably due to some sort of imbalance or uneven stroke.

I will try placing my hands closer to the centre on sprints and see if it makes any difference.

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Re: How wide apart are your hands?

Post by gregsmith01748 »

I almost always have my hands so that my pinky is right on the end of handle. I think it would be related to how narrow or broad your shoulders are. If your hands get in too close together, then it is tough to get a clean finish for the stroke. If they are too wide, I think that it would be tough to get as much power into the arms phase of the stroke.
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Re: How wide apart are your hands?

Post by sander »

I have the "old" wooden handle on my home erg and I grip it with about 1.5cm showing on the outside. I am with Greg: It depends on the broadness of your shoulder and will impact on how efficiently you pull the finish.

A side question: Are there more people like me who like the straight old handle more than the new one?

I am using this one:
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I find it more comfortable than this one:
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Re: How wide apart are your hands?

Post by GuidonTheBee »

I'd always assumed that it was related to an individuals biomechanics in a similar way to cycling handlebars width i.e. there was a biomechanically optimal width (in terms of joint stresses, avoiding injury, etc) but that it might be possible to work outside that with care.

For almost all training I just about have my pinky flapping off the edge of the handle but for TTs & races (especially sprints) I'll have a firmer grip with all fingers just on the handle.

If my grip is too narrow I sort of feel as if I'm compressing my chest a bit but I guess that should be less of an issue on sprints ?

(My home erg used to have a wooden handle but I got a blue one a few years ago. It took a while to grow a slightly different set of calluses but I wouldn't go back now)
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Re: How wide apart are your hands?

Post by Grobi »

I always have the hands as far out as possible. My feeling is that my breathing is bothered with hands/arms moved inwards.
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Re: How wide apart are your hands?

Post by BorisZ »

sander wrote:
A side question: Are there more people like me who like the straight old handle more than the new one?
I like the old one better as well. May be the lesser diameter is nicer for smaller hands? I use both though so that callus for both handles is maintained. For the little I do ... :oops:
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Re: How wide apart are your hands?

Post by dr3do »

From my point of view it depends on things like shoulder with and, arm length, strength & endurance capacities of engaged muscle groups, rowing technique, rowing speed & aimed distance/duration. :fsbgrin:

If you're interested in this topic, you'll find some possibly helpful informations by using "cable row muscles worked" (e.g. google image search).

On longer rows I generally vary the grip by feeling. Doing basic endurance stuff I tend to grip wider, on shorter (and harder/faster) sessions I tend to grip tighter.
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