Oar is hitting me?

Question

So when im sculling the oar is coming back and hitting my chest pretty hard. I dont want to have it hit me out. What am i doing wrong that could cause this? Also how can i prevent my oar from going to deep underwater?

Answer 1

it could also be your rigging, you could lower either your locks or the entire rigger and that might help.

Answer 2

Your oars may be too long for the boat, or you may be sitting too close to the oars. I have a feeling that the oars are going in too deep because they are too long. Talk with someone at a marine supply store and find out if you have the right length.

Answer 3

There could be a number of reasons for this.  You may not be extracting your blades quick enough at the finish; when you finish your stroke, quickly cycle your hands down and away.  Practice this on an ergo; sitting at backstops, row arms only and at the end of the stroke, make the handle follow the contour of a tennis ball about 1 inch in front of your chest; in a boat, this will get your spoons out of the water before the handles have a chance to swing back and hit you.  To stop the oars from digging deep,  try keeping your hands moving parallel to the water during the stroke; the spoons will then stay at the same depth.  Ideally, the top of the spoon should just be poking up out of the water during the stroke.  If this doesn't work, try gearing your blades a little harder; move the button (the bit that stops the oar from slipping through the gate) closer to the handle of the oar by a few notches.  This will make it feel slightly harder to pull, but it should help stop you digging.  From your question, it sounds almost like you're catching crabs; oars hitting your chest, blades diving underwater....  I think that cycling your hands a little quicker and earlier at the finish will help the 'hitting' issue; with the digging, either lower your gates a little, change the gearing on your oars or change the pitch on your gate; experiment until it stops.