1898] 



SOME MORE BOWING EXPERIMENTS 



93 



The horizontal clotted line corresponds to a pull of 100 pounds 



and the vertical one to a stroke lensrth of 80°. 



Fig. 4. Some Characteristics — Sliding Seats. 



Four fixed-seat characteristics are shown in Fig. 5. The 

 results given in the table are generally deduced from a larger 

 number of measures than the diagrams, and in some cases additional 

 experiments have been introduced, so that the correspondence 

 between the figures and table is not necessarily exact. 



An inspection of the characteristics reveals the great individual- 

 ity in stroke-form that exists even among men who have rowed 

 together and undergone the same course of instruction, and using 

 the same boat and oar. Two diagrams could scarcely be more 

 different than B and F. The author has found that the form B is 

 rather typical of the heavy man's stroke — a powerful stroke, but 

 with a sluggish beginning, while F typifies the light man who has 

 a smart beginning, and quickly reaches his highest pressure, which 

 he lacks strength to continue through the stroke. 



A comparison of the sliding seat with fixed seat strokes, shows 

 that the latter generally have a much weaker finish, suggesting that 

 the chance of good leg-work at the finish is diminished on a fixed 



Fig. 



seat. As is to be expected, the strokes are some 8 inches shorter. 

 This shows — as an oarsman well knows — that a 14" slide does 

 not add its full length to the stroke, since the ' swing ' in sliding 

 seat rowing is rather shorter than on a fixed seat. 



