Crew (coaches mainly) Please?

Question

How do you decide what rowers are better at, sculling or sweeping. When you do decide, how do you decide where they will sit, especially in bigger boats such as eights. I know that stroke pair sets the pace, seats 3-6 are the "engine room" and seats 1 and 2 are more technique, but can you be a little more specific, especially about how you choose scullers vs. sweepers. Thxs

Answer 1

Oar technique and balance are more critical in sculling, than in sweep rowing.  Raw strength can keep someone in an eight with adequate technique.  But in a scull, that just lets you bet on how soon and how often the guy will flip the boat.

In 8's and 4's, you occasionally see left/right motion as of a zipper moving back and forth as the rowers move up and down the slide.  This would flip a scull.

A sculler might not be able to break into an 8 due to lack of total power, but his technique may be so good he can put 100% of his power to the water, manage his race strategy, and be highly competitive.

The 8 tractors in the eight may make it go, but their bad habits for which they cross compensate would ruin a scull for however many people are in it, 1x, 2x, 4x.

The big guys are in the middle of an 8 where they have a little less leverage to turn the boat if one side is stronger than the other.  

The bow pair can be notorious for having trouble hearing the cox, and so must be most aware to follow everything by eye and feel in the boat.  In a bad cross wind, the leading oar on the windward side, 1 or 2, may need to take a longer stroke or harder stroke more often to help keep the boat steered correctly.

Stroke and seven have to be consistent, almost mechanically perfect in technique,  and able to keep time/rhythm like a metronome so the rest of the boat can follow them easily.  They function more like the distributor and accelator on a car, so it runs smoothly.

The most coachable, self-motivated athletes can be trained to scull. Eight bulls can be taught to row sweeps, and frequently do.  So can eight great athletes, but some of them are more likely to end up sculling.

Answer 2

"What kind of technique do you need to be good at sculling?"

I'm not really sure what this means, the technique is basically the same, just one you have two oars and the other only one. You need more precision for sculling I think is what you want? I don't really understand the question, because, to be good at anything, you need to practice is all

I'm not a coach, but I was a coxswain for a really long time.

Sculling v sweeping, I suggest trying both and seeing what you are better at. Sculling takes more time to learn proper technique, but a lot of people really prefer it.

Okay, in eights: Person with the best technique sits as stroke,  and also 7 seat always, are usually not the biggest in the boat, because in the shell, it is wides in the middle seats and gets thinner towards the ends. The bow also has to have really good technique because if they mess up, the boat can really get off set. The power is in the middle four and these rowers are usually the biggest. The people with the least amount of power are in the bow.

Anyways, I hope this helps. Just remember, sculling takes a lot more time and patience to figure out. I suggest starting with sweep and then learning how to scull