The influence of stretcher height on posture in ergometer rowing

The aim of this investigation was to determine the effect on rower posture of raising the stretchers. Nine male university rowers completed a single 30-s trial at each of three stretcher heights on an ergometer, at 30 strokes min-1. The first ten strokes with complete data were averaged and data for four time points during the stroke extracted: catch, mid-drive, finish, and mid-recovery. Ankle angle was shown to increase significantly at all points during the stroke (P<0.01) as the stretchers were raised. Knee angle was only significantly increased into a more extended posture at mid-drive (P<0.05) and mid-recovery (P<0.01) for the higher stretcher positions, hip angle was significantly reduced into a more flexed posture at the catch (P<0.05) and at mid-recovery (P<0.05), and the trunk was significantly extended at the catch (P<0.01), finish (P<0.01), and mid-recovery (P