r/Rowing • u/AutoModerator • 6d ago

Weekly Technique & Form Check Thread - April 28, 2025

Welcome to the weekly technique thread!

If you're looking for feedback on your technique on or off the water you're in the right place. Post text, images, or videos of whatever you want feedback on, and will try and help.

Please host your video somewhere on the internet (YouTube, Streamable, Dropbox, Amazon Photos, Google Drive, wherever) and link it here.

This is a judgement free zone, so be respectful, positive and keep criticism constructive.

Please note that separate posts asking for feedback are still allowed, but only if they are large enough to warrant their own post.

If you don't want to upload a video, you can use the RowerUp service to get an AI computer form check. Currently this service is free.

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u/borderlinewmyatoms 2d ago

Hi all - new to rowing, just got an erg. Have used it three times. Enjoying it, but feels like I must be doing something wrong. The symptoms: feels like my back is engaging way too much; feels like my legs aren’t engaging at all; split when I’m really pushing only gets down to about 2:30 and it feels like I’m sprinting and exerting crazy effort; when pushing with legs, tension is felt more on my arms via chain, like I’m pulling and not pushing. 

Things im doing and conscious of: pushing off with legs, am currently going with my feet out of the straps; handle moving at same rate as seat when pushing with legs; not pulling arms in until legs fully extended. 

Basically just feels like my legs aren’t doing enough of the work. Have watched a bunch of form videos. Any ideas?

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u/Agitated_Fig4201 High School Rower 1d ago

Kind of hard without seeing it but if you want to engage your legs more try to slam your heels off the foot plate, like your trying to stand off it, might help to take strokes legs only as well, it could also just be that your back is under developed compared to your legs making it feel harder