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;[2] that the stretcher is properly set, and that the straps pass
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.
[2] The breadth of beam of an ordinary in-rigged fixed-seat gig for the use of novices may be stated at 3 ft. 10 in. A line drawn horizontally across the boat, at right angles from the rowing thole, would be from 11½ in. to 12 in. distant from the aft, or sitting edge of the thwart. Oars should measure 12 ft. over all, with an in-board length of 3 ft. 5 in. to 3 ft. 5½ in. Breadth of blades 5½ in. to 5¾, not more.
(1) 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 must 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
first efforts at swing very short. It is better that this should be so than that a man should prematurely attain length by bending his back, doubling in his stomach, and over-reaching with his shoulders, faults that, once acquired, it is extremely 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 preparation for a defined beginning of the next stroke."[3]
[3] From an article by Mr. S. Le Blanc Smith.
(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