Cox: “What’s that thing you’re doing with your wrist?”
Me (at stroke): “What thing?”
Cox: “I don’t know. You’re doing a thing.”
Me: “Yeah, but what thing?”
Cox: “Just … a thing.”
Me: “Sigh. Thanks, cox.”
Maddening as this conversation was, though, I knew that the cox was right. I was doing a “thing” with my wrist. I know because on the next erg session after that outing I noticed it myself. What I was actually doing was cocking my wrist at the finish, which was neither good for power, nor style nor, indeed, my wrists.
Happily, when I mentioned this on Twitter, someone put me in touch with the lovely Emily Webb at Oarsome Grips. She’ll be able to help, they promised me. And she was.
I knew Emily indirectly both because her dad used to teach my kids, and because she’s a bit of a celebrity round these parts, having introduced her Oarsome Grips to the world on Dragons’ Den a few years ago. Emily kindly gave me a set of Oarsome Grips to try out on the rowing machine – particularly welcome as we headed into a summer that, unusually for us, involved long, hard sessions on the erg.
You slide the grips on to the handle and – hey presto – your wrists magically flatten out. They also provide a bit of cushioning which is useful if you’re prone to getting blisters on the erg. As I swapped sides this summer my hands were an unholy mess so needed all the help they could get. The wider grip took a bit of getting used to, but was worth it for the newly flat wrists. I was no longer doing the Thing.
Oarsome Grips are, by the way, brilliant for anyone on crutches. If you’ve ever been unlucky enough to have crutches you’ll know how quickly your hands become so sore they eclipse the pain of whatever you did in the first place. With the grips you get a handy bit of cushioning and won’t suffer from hand blisters, either.
There’s just one more thing, though. If Emily could just come up with a gadget to stop me rushing the slide, I – and the zero tolerance cox – would be delighted. That’s not too much to ask, is it?
Oarsome Grips cost £24.99 per pair and are available directly from the Oarsome Grips website.
Disclosure: I was given the Oarsome Grips as a gift for review purposes.