INJURY PREVENTION

– INJURY FREE ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT

Rowing is simply forward propulsion of a boat created by pushing a mass of water backwards. The water is moved using the blade of an oar. The blade is being levered through the water by a complex co-ordinated contraction of the upper and lower limbs in combination with the pectoral and pelvic girdles. Virtually every muscle in the body is recruited during the rowing stroke. This stroke is repeated at least 1,680 times in any training session. This article looks at the injury risk and ways of preventing rowing injuries.

By Dr Ann Redgrave, MRCGP, Dip.Sp.Med

INJURY RISKS Even with ideal conditions and the perfect stroke the poten- tial for injury is high because the repetitive performance of a limited movement pattern compromises the tissues. The prevalence of significant injury, however, is low when com- pared to the number of people who participate in the sport.

Weather Inevitably since rowing is an outdoor sport the weather has a part to play in the risk of injury, rough water and strong head winds in particular significantly increase the prevalence of injury.

Timing Rowing is the ultimate team sport, each crew member needs to row in perfect time, all blades entering and leaving the water together as dictated by the stroke of the crew. When timing is perfect the load being moved is equally distributed throughout the crew, however, if the timing is inaccurate more load is taken by the blade that enters the water first.

www.sportex.net Inaccurate timing increases the risk of sustaining an injury.

Different strokes Every rower grapples to find the perfect stroke. In reality probably no two strokes are absolutely identical and minor technical variance cre- ates biomechanical compromise and ultimately injury.

Injuries within any sport are specific to that sport, the nature of the injury being dictated by the biomechanics of the actions involved. In sweep rowing the asymmetry is itself a cause of injury.

Getting fit Within the sport of rowing a large proportion of injuries occur while getting fit to row, not while actually rowing. Refer to the article on pages 9-13 regarding strength and conditioning for rowing.

ROWING SPECIFIC INJURIES There are rowing-specific injuries which broadly speaking can be classified as: ■ Traumatic injuries Direct: These injuries occur suddenly and are usually contact injuries such as collision occurring with another boat or obstacle in the river.

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