After a break of over four months, I have finally got myself back on the river, and jolly nice it is, too, even if it’s still on a fairly part time basis.
One of the most daunting things about my first outing after the break, though, was the fear that I might have forgotten everything I knew. Would I be able to tell one end of the blade from the other? Would I thrash up and down, making the Learn To Row newbies look like Grainger and Reed? Heck, would I even remember where the club was?
Happily, along came a new book that was able to provide a complete refresher course (and much more). Rowing and Sculling, The Complete Guide by Bill Sayer is into its third edition and is even more comprehensive than ever.
Written by an experienced school rowing coach who has coached youngsters up go World Championship level, it goes through pretty much everything a rower (and cox) needs to know about the sport. Sayer offers instruction in technique, training, nutrition, psychology, equipment and competing, and provides useful illustrations (including some very pleasing photographs of how NOT to row – how I feel for those chosen for that particular humiliation).
Most of what the book covers, needless to say, you ought to learn at your club, provided you have a decent coach and crew-mates, but there’s no harm in having it there in one place, and I defy anyone to say there was nothing in there they didn’t know. It’s an excellent reference book that would be particularly useful for novices who wanted to look up things they had been taught but weren’t sure about, and great for parents whose children had taken up the sport and wanted to learn what on earth all the fuss was about. There’s also a lot of up-to-date stuff on training methods and nutrition that might be news to ancient mariners.
It is, I have to say, rather earnest and doesn’t convey any of the fun and camaraderie that our beloved sport involves. It also won’t tell you what not to wear or the river, advise new rowers on how to get on with their club mates, or even explain the mysteries of the rowing nymph. Luckily you have me to fill that gap – see here, here and here. Sounds like a winning combination.
Rowing and Sculling: The Complete Guide by Bill Sayer is published in paperback by Robert Hale and costs £19.99.