Spring Training Program

Nielsen-Kellerman is holding a Spring Training Cox Box pre-release program to selected participants for final field testing. This limited space program is open to fifty Cox Boxes. Participants in the Spring Training program will be among the first to have the all new Cox Box and are eligible to make a purchase at a 20% discount which includes a unit, top and bottom bumpers, newly designed microphone,charger and gearbag. Programs are limited to 2 units at this discount.

Participants are required to use the unit immediately and provide product feedback. Spring Training participants will receive all final product updates and adjustments. If you are interested in participating in the Spring Training program, please contact Frank Biller at fbiller@nkhome.com to place your order.

For more information regarding the new Cox Box, expected to be in full production in April, please visit our website.

T-Shirt Design Contest

Got Skills? Style to spare...and share?

Then show it off in the NK T-shirt design contest!

We’re looking for the hottest design for the new NK spring rowing t-shirts!

Send us a graphic or sketch of your vision of NK rowing. The winning design WINS $250 NK gift card and the chance to see YOUR design sported by rowers all over.

Entries due by March 1, 2009

Accepted formats include: eps, indd, jpg
E-mail submissions to Monica at mdevlin@nkhome.com

Time Trial: How It’s Done Right

By Frank Biller

Time trials in rowing are tricky since the result depends on several significant factors, such as environment (water, wind and weather), athletes (fitness, technique, motivation) as well as quality of execution. Regardless of the purpose of the time trial (selection, testing of equipment or rigging), there are a few rules and a simple procedure to follow for better results:

Goal: Comparable results! It is not the absolute value you are after but the best result. In order to be able to compare several time trials, even throughout the seasons, and to draw conclusions, you need comparable results. Therefore you must apply the same procedure every time you do a time trial.

Here is a good way to go:

You need:

• SpeedCoach Gold or XL, wiring and impeller for boat
• Communicator Interface to download data to PC
• Kestrel Wind Meter (if possible)

What the boat needs to know:

• Purpose of time trial (selection, equipment testing, performance testing, etc.)
• Procedure (warm-up, Start/Finish land mark, rate cap/effort)
• Set memory recording to “Stroke” and “1” so the SpeedCoach record every stroke

Procedure:

1. When the boat starts the time trial you keep even with them with your motorboat. Start measuring “AVERAGE wind speed” at the start.
2. Hold the Kestrel outside the motorboat in direction of the course and don’t change position.
3. When the boat crosses the finish line you note the displayed value in meters per second.
4. Download the SpeedCoach data for the piece, e.g. average speed from start to finish. Here is an example:
   
   Dist: 995.4m (real time trial distance was 1,000 meters landbased)
   Avg Pace: 1:49.6
   Normalized 1,000m (2x 500 meter split 1:49.6) = 3:39.2
   
5. Calculate wind speed, assuming the Kestrel showed an average wind speed of 2.8 meters per second at the finish line:
   
   Boat Speed in m/s - Wind Speed in m/s = Net Wind Speed; that gives us:
   4.56 m/s (same as 3:39.2) - 2.8 m/s = 1.8 m/s TAIL wind
   Note: if the wind measured while going along with the boat is less than the boat speed, we had a tail wind. Therefore, if wind speed measured is higher than boat speed we had a head wind.
6. Adjust boat speed for wind speed, using for example Valery Kleshnev’s wind adjustment formula (www.biorow.com) will give me the following time adjustment for the 1.8 meter per second tail wind:
   
   Avg Tailwind 1.8 m/s ~ 7 sec to add
   and therefore: Time Trial Score: 3:39.2 + 7 sec = 3:46.2

You may say that the boat’s SpeedCoach time of 3:39.2 already “contains” the tail wind and that if measured at zero wind, the boat would be slower. That is correct, however, it is more accurate in respect to actual wind effect while going along with the boat. Remember we want comparable data, hence we must apply the same procedure each time. Alterntively you could measure wind conditions stationary, but that will be only accurate for the precise location of measurement, not the boat. Also comparing data taken under similar conditions is more accurate, however you will find a high correlation of trends in head and tail winds.

Although this method may not appear perfect, it is much better than just using a stop watch, especially if you have any kind of current or tide. In addition, this time trial can be run by a single coach without helpers on shore or other motorboats.

Sweep: Cross-Over, Sculling: Wide Grip

By Frank Biller

SWEEP: Cross-Over

Although I came across this drill on my travels in New Zealand the first time, I would like to credit the new US men’s coach Tim McLaren, as he brought it up last at the US Coaches conference in December.

Goal:
Proper shoulder position and body position = connection

How to Do:
Cross-over hands on handle, outside hand to inside hand position and vice-versa. To begin to it by pairs or fours for better stability and little pressure, when more advanced try it with the entire boat.

Key Points:
Although very awkward in the beginning, the athlete will find a “grip” on it and feel more comfortable. The body will now automatically be stable with shoulders even (no dropping for inside shoulder) and upper body properly positioned. It is one of these drills where as a coach you don’t need to guide much but rather let them find the feel.

Sculling: Wide Grip

This is another “classic” that’s being done by literally any sculling coach and worthwhile doing.

Goal:
Feel the “hang” of upper body and arms due to increased load (less inboard)

How to Do:
Hold sculls just outside the grip and row normally with little pressure in the beginning.

Key Points:
Really hang hang hang from catch to mid-drive. Feel how the boat picks up speed and how you need to increase handle speed in order to maintain resistance. Great to feel the difference of catch (slow handle speed, patience) to mid-drive (full body engagement) to release (fast hands).

How Do I Use My SpeedCoach?

By Captain Harry M. Robinson, United States Navy

For over 26 years, I’ve served on active duty with the U.S. Navy. Seven years prior to embarking in this career, I had enlisted in another navy, the Schuylkill Navy. I was fortunate to attend one of the Pennsylvania high schools to offer crew. In subsequent years, I transitioned from school sweep programs to mostly club or independent sculling. As the Navy moved me to new duty stations, I’ve been able to row out of many sites: Norfolk, Southern Maryland, Virginia Beach, Port Hueneme, and now Orlando.

Like any single sculler, I spend much of my time on the water in self contemplation. How’s my boat running? Are my puddles strong and straight? How far until my next turn? Does my boat speed and stroke rate match the exertion I am feeling? Regardless of rowing before or after sunrise, my direct feedback comes from my NK SpeedCoach Gold. Relentlessly it evaluates my performance. Every now and then, I might be able to avoid the gaze of the coach in an adjacent launch, but the SpeedCoach does not blink.

Often the self contemplation is not only focused on my performance. Family, friends, work, calendar, and house projects creep into my consciousness for reflection. Recently, in mid-execution of a “do-it-myself” home construction project, I was thinking through in advance cutting some lumber to the correct dimensions. Like most of us, I use a tape measure to determine the appropriate length. The specific distance is then transported to the waiting boards and marked for cutting. There, mid-row as the meters passed, a revelation began to form.

We use measurement equipment to compare a specific dimension to a known standard. The standard can than be transported to another circumstance for comparison. This epiphany enabled me to experience a new way to enjoy my rowing.

While I row on a mostly circular lake about 4,000 meters in circumference, I beat back the monotony by mentally imaging my row on other courses. My default association takes me back to distances rowed on the Schuylkill River, replete with the bridges, skyline, Art Museum, and Boathouse Row. At other practice sessions, I picture myself out on the Lafayette River, Broad Bay, or Channel Islands Harbor with the appropriate adjacent scenery. As a master aged oarsman, 1,000 meters is my training standard. My SpeedCoach enables that comparison.

I “slip the surly bonds” of my current confines on Lake Fairview when training for head races. The SpeedCoach takes me down the course of the Potomac, Occoquan, Charles, and St. Johns Rivers. On days when the fog has rolled in, I have used my rowing computer to navigate my way through the inclement weather back to the boathouse.

After watching this year’s Olympics, it is easy to visualize myself on the course at the Shunyi Rowing Park. I prefer rowing the last 500 meters as the overhead camera zips diagonally across the course and the lane marking buoys transition from white to red. Just a few strokes to go as I pass over the bubbles and the horn sounds.

Where will your SpeedCoach transport to you on your next row? Anywhere you desire.

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