The Great Sport of Rowing - A Collection of Classic Magazine Articles on the History of the Oarsman

By Read Books Ltd.

Carefully selecting the best articles from our collection of classic magazines we have compiled a series of informative publications on the subject of sport. The titles in this range include 'Correct Technique for the Great Sport of Golf,' 'A Traditional Guide to Swimming and Diving,' 'The Gentleman's Sport of Hunting,' and many more. Each publication has been professionally curated and includes all details on the original source material. This particular instalment, 'The Great Sport of Rowing', contains information on the history of the oarsman. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Sep 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781473359192

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Sculling for Girls

By C. E. THOMAS

Illustrated by Fry’s Magazine

TO the girl of athletic tendencies the river offers several varying forms of exercise, all of which supply admirable methods of combining grace with skill in health-giving recreation. Sculling, punting, and canoeing all have their good points; but I must confess to a strong prejudice in favour of sculling, while fully recognising the attractiveness of proficiency in the other directions.

On the Thames the punt and canoe have deservedly attained a high standard of popularity; but sculling is the form of river exercise to which nineteen out of twenty people are first introduced, and the one possessing the greatest all-round utility for those who dwell in or visit riparian towns. The sculling boats in ordinary use are the dinghy, the gig, and the skiff; the first is most handy for pottering about at regattas and elsewhere, the second is an admirable family boat, and the third—when it is a well - built and fairly light double-sculler—is the best craft for general use on the Thames, or any river where the conditions are similar.

Incidentally the Thames skiff is a boat in which many races are rowed, and the question of the advisability of racing for ladies is one on which opinions are divided. Personally I advise that all ladies who wish to race in skiffs should first visit their doctors. If certified fit, they may then safely commence preparations for the events of the season, not forgetting that, in addition to going over the course each day and practising starts, attention should be paid to the ordinary rules of training, sweets and pastry being the feminine substitutes for tobacco and casual drinks, which are barred to men who row. On the question of racing I may say that an experience extending over the chief skiff-racing period has not shown that any harm has come to the ladies who race judiciously. Some have given the sport up while still in their racing prime, but the reason has generally been that they have undertaken partnerships of a more lasting character than double-sculls.

But even if a lady does not race it is worth learning to scull well, and it is a deplorable fact that although many people go on the river, only a small proportion are proficient in the art of propelling a skiff. The most glaring faults are, of course, shown by those who make erratic progress up-stream at holiday periods, happy in their ignorance, and with no aspirations for perfection in style. These we smile at pityingly, and in no Pharisaic mood, but with proper consideration for our varnish, pass by on the other side. To the expert, however, it is irritating to see how many faults are developed by people who are constantly on the river, and who, with a little coaching, would soon show good form. A man does not look elegant when he is sculling badly, however spotless his ducks or delicately tinted his shirt. Much more does a perfect river costume lose its charm if the wearer makes snatchy dabs at the water with her sculls, instead of pulling that long, clean, and pretty stroke which the lady enthusiast endeavours to attain. Perfection is worth striving after for ordinary river work as much as for racing; for good style means less effort.

1.—Good position for the start.

2.—Bad position for the start.

I have been able to illustrate some good and bad points in sculling by the kind assistance of a photographer and of two ladies who at present hold the Double Sculling Championship of the Thames. They are capital examples of the result of practice and coaching, for in the early part of 1904 neither had ever entered for a race, and one was quite a novice at sculling. I am particularly grateful for their willingness to illustrate bad style for the benefit of others. The boat is one of three regularly used for racing, and built by Turk for the Skiff Club; it is somewhat lighter in build than the regulation skiff, of perfect dimensions for comfortable sculling, about 26ft. long by 4ft. beam; it is, of course, without cane rails, cushions, and other of the luxurious appendages of the mere pleasure boat, but their absence makes it easier to show the points of a stroke. The stretchers are fitted with straps, useful to an advanced pupil but not recommended to a novice, and the rowlocks are strung, an impossibility for the proper enjoyment of a pleasure craft, but very valuable when racing.

Some of the illustrations are of what a certain number of enthusiasts who may claim to be experts consider a good skiff stroke, such as should be cultivated by all ladies who scull, not necessarily for racing purposes, but for the better enjoyment of their river trips. Others show the chief sculling faults exaggerated. It is much easier to sit in a boat and instruct a pair of willing novices than to tell them exactly what to do on paper; but I trust that the pictures and a few hints may serve to turn the attention of ladies to any point in which they may consider their sculling fails.

I have given some idea of the dimensions of a good skiff, but novices need not be too particular about the length until they obtain a boat of their own. The average boat-builder does not believe in length for letting-out craft, but you can learn a good stroke in a short boat. It is impossible, however, to learn to scull properly with bad sculls, and considerable care should be devoted to the selection of a good light pair, in which the buttons are sound and not too much worn, which are neither too heavy to be burdensome, nor too narrow in the handle to cramp the forearm when doing a spin. Sculls which are too short inboard are an abomination. Some people seem to be content with sculls which do not overlap at all at the mid-position of the stroke; but the best scullers believe in a decent overlap, and a reasonable one may be considered the width of the hand when grasping the scull, shown as the hands cross about the centre of the stroke. The passing of hand over hand looks puzzling to the novice, and may at first result in a barking of knuckles, but the sacrificing of a little skin in the early stages will be repaid by subsequent results. When the novice has reached the stage of requiring sculls of her own she should buy, for real hard work, but not for knocking about in a regatta crowd, a pair of Ayling’s box-loom sculls, which seem to me excellent for ladies, as they are both strong and light.

3.—A stroke well finished.

4.—A stroke badly finished.

Straps to the stretchers should be avoided in the early stages, for they have a tendency to make a sculler swing back too far, so that the recovery is made by pulling with the feet on the straps, and by too great an exertion of body muscle.