The drive is the work part of the stroke, and it runs in one order: legs, then body, then arms. On an indoor rower you press with the legs while your arms stay straight and your back holds its angle, open the back once the legs are about halfway down, then draw the handle in to your body. Studies disagree on the exact split, but the legs and trunk supply most of the power and the arms mainly pass it on to the handle.
Legs first
Start from a set catch: arms straight, body leaning forward from the hips with shoulders in front of hips, shins vertical or as close as is comfortable.
ready, not lunging for extra reach.
Begin the drive by pressing your legs down. Keep your arms straight and hold your back firm so the leg push travels up to the handle. Don't change your back angle yet.
hanging off the handle while the legs push.
Make the handle and the seat move together. Your shoulders should start moving back at the same moment as the seat, not after it.
the handle accelerating as you jump off the footplate.
Then swing the body
When your legs are about halfway extended, start prying open your back, swinging from the hips through vertical while the legs keep pushing.
the body swing joining the legs, not replacing them.
Finish the swing in a slight lean back, about 25 degrees past vertical. It should feel comfortable, with your abdominal muscles working. Don't lie back further; an extreme layback is a weak position.
abs switched on, not straining.
Arms last
Only now draw the arms in, pulling the handle in a straight line all the way to your upper abdomen, just below the ribs. Keep shoulders low and relaxed, grip light and wrists flat.
the arms finishing the stroke, not starting it.
At the finish your legs are flat, you lean back slightly and the handle is at your body. Then reverse the order for the recovery: arms out, body forward from the hips, then slide.
one smooth, continuous stroke with no stop.
Feel it
A strong push off the footplate that you feel at the handle straight away, because the seat and handle move together. The legs lead, the body swing joins as the legs pass halfway, and the arms finish. Concept2 describes the drive as a jump off the footstretchers, and the drive should be quicker than the recovery: about one count to drive, three to come forward. The positions blend into one continuous stroke. The app reads your leg-body-arm sequence from the side; it reads your motion, not your power.
Fix-its
- You 'shoot the slide': the seat moves back but the handle and shoulders lag behind Hold your back firm and keep your arms straight so the leg push reaches the handle. Think 'seat and handle move together'. A lunging catch makes this worse, so set your body angle before the catch.
- You pull with the arms early Start every stroke with the legs. Keep the arms straight until the legs are well down and the back has started to open.
- You open the back too early (lifting with the back) Keep your forward lean while the legs push. Start the swing only when the legs are about halfway extended.
- You lie too far back at the finish Stop at a slight lean, about 25 degrees past vertical, with your core engaged. Extra layback adds strain, not length.
Drill
- Legs-only rowing in your warm-up: arms straight, body angle fixed, push with just the legs to feel the big muscles start the stroke.
- Pause drill: stop at points in the stroke to check the order (legs, back, arms), then blend them into one fluid stroke.
- Rhythm count: finish the drive on count 1 and recover on counts 2, 3 and 4.
- Film from the side at 24 to 30 strokes per minute. Check that the seat and handle start together and the back opens only after the legs are about halfway down.
- Build up gradually: warm up with several minutes of easy rowing, row no more than 5 minutes on your first day, and increase time and intensity over the first two weeks.
Sources
- Concept2 — Indoor Rowing Technique
- Concept2 — Improve Your Rowing Technique
- Concept2 — Rowing Drills (warm-ups)
- Concept2 — Using the Indoor Rower (user manual, PM3 era; copy hosted by Pembroke College Cambridge)
- Nolte V — Introduction to the Biomechanics of Rowing, World Rowing (FISA) coaching manual, Section 3
- Kleshnev V — Rowing Styles, Analysis and Optimisation, row2k (2021)
- Kleshnev V — Power in Rowing, ISBS Conference Proceedings (2000)
- Tachibana K et al. — Relationships between partial motion power during rowing and muscle cross-sectional areas, Med Sci Sports Exerc abstract (2003), summary by Coaching Science Abstracts
Last checked 2026-10-26.