Efficient Rowing Boat Movement with Jimmy Joy

Efficiency of Movement
& Intensive Coaching
James Joy
9 August 2013
Genesee Water,Rochester,NY.
Sunday, September 15, 2013

My Background
My study of this subject began near the
end of World War II when I was a young
athlete in St. Catharines, Ontario. Rowing
would be my 8th sport.Efficiency has
captivated my interest throughout my life
and I have come to realize the profound
implications for life beyond athletics. It is a
life lived with FLOW!

The training objective.
Winter practice - Simulation exercises.
Value of meditation - ‘Spirintel
Observe the contorted placement of the specific body components -
head, shoulders, arms, trunk, elbows, hands, knees, and legs.
Smooth Movements
Hands on the Handle.
“Pull what you can handle”as a principle. Reduce the strain and the rush.
The essentials of sculling
Water Practices.
Summary.
Bibliography.
Topics

The Training Objective
Produce qualitative movements, a smooth action,
for speed, strength and endurance development
that have simplicity, relaxation, linearity, balance,
and wholeness. These qualities produce a stable
platform at each end of the slide.
Training encompasses the physical, the mental,
the spiritual, and the technical - integral training.
The all important mental component is living with
Spirintel, moving to a universe people. An
appreciation of the grandeur of this earthly home.

Winter Practices: simulations* on the
ergometer - Neural patterns.
i) With the handle.
ii) Without the handle.
iii) Meditation
Note: *These drills were used effectively at Yale
from 1966 to 1972 and at Hobart - William Smith from
1990 to 1999. Now again at Hobart from 2012 to the
present.

Simulation exercises with handle - winter training.

Simulations without the handle - winter training.

Simulation exercises without the
handle- winter training.

American Athletes Meditating before the
CAN AM MEX competition

Post practice meditation - On
the Androscoggin.

Develops the quality of stillness - mentally and physically - our internal energy
comes from stillness.
Develops a layer of silence within that serves as a buffer for stress and noise.
Improves our ability to focus and concentrate.
Lowers the base heart rate.
Develops our awareness and mindfulness.
Opportunity to experience no boundaries - we are part of our environment.
The value of meditation - Spirintel/ IUniverse state
people

The value of meditation - continued
Practice deep abdominal, nasal,breathing helps reduce the anxiety
levels .
Practice good posture.
Opportunity to merge the subject and the object.
Opportunity to regenerate the total being.
Develops the ability to remain in the moment - stroke by stroke.
Experience a deeper spiritual self and intelligence - the supramental and
the supraspiritual self- Spirintel.*The Spirintel is a wholistic training
approach covering the mental, physical and spiritual. Eventually the
mental framework moves from a nation state people to an Universe state
people.
** - A new term coined by Jim.

The beginning on water -early spring.
Saturday, July 14, 2012

Relaxation, uniformity, and wholeness.
Heads in line.
Knee angles.
Trunk angles.
Shoulders level.
Hands level.
Blades level and close to water surface.
Relaxation, uniformity, and wholeness.
Heads in line.
Knee angles.
Trunk angles.
Shoulders level.
Hands level.
Blades level and close to water surface.
Saturday, July 14, 2012

Uniformity & lower edge rowing- hand levels.
Lower legs perpendicular to gunwale at the entry.
In competition:

Sculler or slugger & ecology
Sensitive sculling can involve four of our five senses with every stroke: we feel the run of the shell and the
invigorating breezes of early spring: we enjoy the various smells emanating from the banks as the great
Diamond Sculls winner F.S. Kelley experienced as he sculled Henley, ‘smell by smell’:we see the levelness of
our stern and the bubbling effect of the shell’s wake;our subtle touch to the handles eventually becomes
masterful with our handling of the sculls with fingers and flat wrist sculling.
Our sense of touch reaches a deeper level of being because we are seated inches from the the
water’s surface through the flimsy membrane of the shell for long periods of time in our training. We are
resurrecting our primordial nature. Where the primates once sat on the earth for extended periods,
unfortunately, we now sit on elevated chairs for much of the day. So the rowing seat engages our ancient
sensibilities allowing us as an animal to operate adeptly, embedded in our earthly cosmology, not on it but in
it. In addition, each time we bury the blades we are touching the earth, ecosculling.
With good sitting posture, a mindset that thinks upward, we resist the downward pull of gravity, and open
ourselves to love of sculling, and indirectly, in a small way to the love of the earth. So it is essential for the
athletes to have meditative experiences in the fall, late spring, and summer, outdoors on an earthly cushion,
and in the winter months on the floor. My crews would follow this practice at the completion of a water session
in the fall and late spring by retreating to a grassy circle position adjacent to the boathouse, thoroughly
regenerating themselves through this quiet concentration session.
Sitting on the ground, or in the shell, or on the floor returns us briefly to a forgotten state of being; we
revive the union between our animate spirit and the earth. The implications of the sculling seat is mainly
overlooked because we lack an understanding of the profound importance of sitting in a shell, or on the floor,
or on the earth’s carpet and the benefit to our larger more holistic life.
- from ‘Beyond the Centaur’ by Jim Joy.

Anthropocosmic: Evolution from
egocentric to ethnocentric to kosmocentric.
Two perspectives that can facilitate such a cosmic vision in a students are a new understanding of
evolution and the view of the Earth from the moon. Both of these involve an evocation of our place in
nature and our role as humans in the larger universe. It will be important to encourage students to move
from an anthropocentric view of human dominion management of nature to an anthropocosmic one of
reciprocity and respect between humans and all life forms on the Earth. An anthropocosmic
perspective implies one where humans acknowledge their embedness in nature and their evolution from
the larger cosmos.
from Mary Evelyn Tucker, Education and Ecology.
Note: There is the evolution of both the consciousness and skill level at work
here! Consciously,you are operating at macrophase level, “the global or
panhuman phase of human existence.”

Identify the Contorted movements.
Observing the contorted placement of the specific
body components - head, shoulders, arms, trunk,
elbows, hands, knees, and legs.

Body component -the head. Head up looking
at nape of neck of person in front. Blades close to the water.

Body component - the arms.
Arms are a relaxed, fluid and continuous draw to the body.

Timing on the recovery & blade
heights, knee angles, etc.

Body component - the hands - rig.
Relaxed inside hand hold- knuckles in middle of handle and no palm.

The knees & seat position-rig.
Knees in armpits at the entry.

Body component - the hands, knees & trunk.
Relaxed inside hand hold- knuckles in middle of handle and no palm.
Knees in armpits at the entry .effect.

Body Component - The Legs/Knees

Blade component- “lower edge rowing” at the
entry?
Knees in armpits at the entry, hands, vector of the arms, and more - rig?

Blade heights, leg positions& hand positions.

Inside Hand

Pulling Position

Body component- the legs/knees.
Knees in armpits at the entry .

Body component- The legs/knees.
Knees in armpits at the entry and knees together at release, butterfly
effect.

Body component - the legs/knees.
Knees in armpits at the entry. Shoulders level.

American Sculler competing at the
World Cup II- June 22, 2013

Drill: Blades off water at end of
stroke

USA Women’s Four on the recovery

Blade heights off water and trunk positions

Junior Men
Text

Junior Women

Smooth Movements
Physical Training + Technical Training +
Spiritual Training = Smooth, Strong
Movements

Sir Roger Bannister( Continued)
“Running the mile was an art of taking more out of
yourself than you’ve got...The efficient integration
of the human body, in order to achieve something
like the four - minute mile, is way ahead of our
capacity to measure how much is breathing, how
much is heart or how much is circulation.”
Sir Roger Bannister

Sir Roger Bannister’s running form
Bannister had long perfected his stride so that
his movements were neither wasted nor restricted
by tension.A few awkward and clumsy strides
could steal momentum and to regain it a runner
needed to use oxygen for more energy... To
maintain evenness of stride he had practiced
accelerating while striding relaxed(Rowing’s easy
speed).
From The Perfect Mile

Water practices that combine the technical and the
mental.
i)Slow motion Rowing/Sculling- for accuracy,
concentration, and self knowledge. For stillness,
silence, and simplicity.
ii)Relaxation in Movement.
a) Easy speeds.
b)80 % Rowing- “Effortless Rowing& Golf Swing.”
c)Tension and Relaxation of the individual strokes.

Water practices that combine the technical and the
mental - continued.
iii) Concentration and mindfulness
a) High quality one minute pieces: for mindfulness.
b) Placement drills - moving and stationary: for Precision and
concentration.
c) Partial slide rowing at each end of the track: for wholeness
d) Long slow distance, i) with eyes closed, ii) silent: for concentration.
e) fartlek - speed play, slow, regular, quick, sprint: for concentration.

Hands on the Handle
Relaxed hand and fingers.
In this position the power is transmitted through the handle and not into
the handle.
Wrists are flat and elongated.
Handle is allowed to turn in the hand with slight pressure from the fingers
and pad of the hand.
Hand follows the handle to the entry.

The Five Movements of the Release:
done as one movement.
i) Hands move down slightly to bring blades a
quarter blade out of the water.
ii)Wrists break slightly to feather the blade.
iii) Arms extend to relaxed straight arm,
movement coming from the elbow.
iv) Trunk moves slightly through the
perpendicular.
v) Knees rise.

The Trunk Swing

The sculling entry: lower edge sculling
Blade carried close to surface of water.
Once the blade reaches full extension the stern edge moves down to the water
with a rhythmic movement of the hands/knuckles: raise the hands/knuckles
slightly, start to pull handle towards you letting the blade drop into the water.
It so simple, quick, and immediate with no square blade above the water. You see
the blade on the horizontal one moment and then it disappears.
You save a movement by not squaring the squaring of the blade above the water.
This should be simulated with your hands over and over:the action of the blade.
The actual rhythmic movement of the hand, knuckle, and wrist. It is continuous and
has a micro flow quality.
The hands on the handle must be relaxed to achieve this action.

Hand simulations of the entry movements.
1.
2.
3.
It is a little rhythmic movement of the hand knuckles:
raise the hands slightly, raise the wrists start the pull
letting the blade drop into the water.
Recovery
Initial entry
movement
Entry: blade at
blade depth

The Drive
1. Blade covered to blade depth
2. Even pressure on the blade throughout the
length of the drive, through each of the water
segments.
3. “Pull what you can handle.” Feel for the right
pressure. Reduce the strain and the rush.
Friday, September 6, 13

Drive - Continued
4. The Yale fixed seat principle. Integrate
the legs, trunk,arms at the entry as you
would do on a fixed seat. At the end of
the drive, trunk and legs finish together
with arms slightly trailing .

The Drive: The Fixed Seat Principle.
At the entry Integrate the trunk, legs,
and arms as you would do with a fixed
seat. At the end of the drive trunk and
legs finish together with the arms trailing
slightly.

Initial Part of the Drive
Diagram - The Coordinated Hand and knee action during
the initial part of the drive.

Primary Training Principle -
Economy/Flow
Four practical methods of achieving economy
i) Through a clean release.
ii) Through a relaxed, effortless recovery.
iii)Through a clean entry.
iv) A pull what you can handle drive.
Underpinning these methods is a mental feeling
for economical movements - Flow.

Hobart Crew from the Stern

Hobart Crew Port Release at 40 spm

Hobart Crew Starboard Release

Vince Reynolds in a single.
Double click on video to start.

William Smith College - Excellent meditators and
scullers- observe the absolute relaxed unity in the
crew. All heads, arms, trunks, and legs are
perfectly aligned.
SSA

The Incomparable Bobby Pearce
Undefeated two time Olympic Gold Medalist and voted Australia’s bicentennial
athlete in 1967. This is the origin of much of this technique through the two year
involvement of Robert Fitzpatrick with Robert Pearce.

Fitzpatrick and the old oarsman.
Fitzpatrick was at his usual spot on the Welland Canal bank at Port
Dalhousie when he was approached by an old Hamilton Leander. “ Who is
that sculler out there who looks like Bob Pearce?” asked the old timer.
Fitz, just a little proud, said, he is a young sculler working under me. Fitz
relayed this story to me in our post practice debriefing. It certainly made
me feel good.

The essentials of sculling.
Hand placement is two hands width separation with the knuckle line on the
midline of the top of the handle when the blade is squared in the water.
Entry is quick and clean- “we see the blade above the water horizontal and
then it disappears.”
The power application is integral generated through the coordination of the
trunk, legs and arms.
Knees are positioned over the armpits.
Knees at full flexion are perpendicular to the gunwhales.
Trunk is a linear, horizontal drive with equal pressure on each buttock.
Steady even pressure with the legs from the balls of the feet.
The release is the inverse coming out at a 45 degree angle.
The recovery is a well timed trunk swing morphing into a glide.

Summary
1.The athlete gains self awareness; every bodily change is a mental change and
vice versa - Bernard Spinoza. Relate to nature so that there is no dichotomy
between the mind and the earth, Deus Sive Natura.
2.The process is challenging, enjoyable and educational for the athlete and
the coach.
3. Unity versus fragmentation is the central theme and is an extremely
important point for understanding life, nature, and sculling: developing the
supramental, the supraphysical, and the supraspiritual athlete(The Peaceful
Athlete): agitation is set aside and body awareness is heightened. SPIRINTEL.
4. The important keys for the coach is to bring the lessons of great literature
into your coaching and to lead by example.

Summary continued
5. Uniformity of alignment fosters flow.
6. Insistence on accuracy and consistency in the movement.
7. Keel line, lower edge rowing and blade depth sculling/rowing produces
consistent , simple, and efficient powerful movements.
8. Insistence on relaxation in the movement.

Bibliography*
Abram, David, Becoming Animal: An Earthy Cosmology.
Berry,Thomas, The Sacred Universe.
Bortoft, Henri, The Wholeness of Nature: Goethe’s Way toward
a Science of Conscious Participation in Nature.
Cerutty, Percy, How to Become a Champion
Hampshire, Stuart, Spinoza: An introduction to his Philosophical Thought.
Heckler, Richard Strozzi, In Search of the Warrior’s
spirit: Teaching Awareness Disciplines to the Green Berets.
Huxley, Aldous, The Perennial Philosophy.
Liddell-Hart, Sir Basil Henry, Strategy.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre,The Phenomenon of Man.
Swimme, Brian Thomas, and Tucker Mary Evelyn, Journey of the Universe.
Wilber, Ken, No Boundary.
,The Spectrum of Consciousness.
* A limited, yet carefully selected bibliography.

Acknowledgements
My appreciation and gratitude to Jim Barker,
Thomas E. Weil Jr., Jon Van Amringe, Len De
Francisco, the late Greg Yurkow, Vince Reynolds,
Paul Bugengagen, Tom Keller, Mike Wagner, David
Meggysey, and my friend, Professor Emeritus
Marvin Bram, for their suggestions, contributions,
and assistance with this presentation.

Thank You for your patient attention and good
lucK with your integral training and integral life.

Efficient Rowing Boat Movement with Jimmy Joy

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