How to Improve the Catch

Blade placement timing, front-end connection, and the biomechanics of the most critical milliseconds in the rowing

Noah Wickliffe · Founder, MyoSport Inc.
Cal Men’s Crew ’93 · M.S. Exercise Physiology

§ 01

The Story

Composite Portrait

He lunges at the catch, arms reaching, back opening early. His blade enters late

and shallow. By the time he connects, the boat has already decelerated. He works

harder than anyone in the crew but produces the least boat-moving force. The

problem is not effort — it is the 200 milliseconds before the blade enters the

This is a composite portrait. No individual is depicted.

Fig. 1 — The Catch Sequence

§ 02

Kleshnev (2020) demonstrated that elite rowers achieve blade entry within 50

milliseconds of reaching front stops, while club-level rowers average 120–180 ms of

delay. This catch delay — the time between arriving at full compression and blade

engagement — accounts for up to 15% of wasted stroke energy. The most efficient rowers

“The catch is not a moment — it is the consequence of everything that happened on the recovery. Fix the preparation and the catch fixes itself.”

— Noah Wickliffe, SportsFlow

The Story

What the Research Tells Us

milliseconds of reaching front stops, while club-l

§ 03

The Flowbase AI Coach analyzes your force curve data to identify catch timing deficits.

Using video overlay synchronized with telemetry, it measures your specific catch delay,

Evidence-based. Athlete-tested.

SportsFlow gives athletes and coaches the visibility they need.

joinflowbase.com

[1] Kleshnev, V. (2020). The Biomechanics of Rowing. The Crowood Press.

[2] Baudouin, A. & Hawkins, D. (2002). A biomechanical review of factors affecting rowing performance. Br. J. Sports Med., 36(6), 396–402.

[3] Nolte, V. (2011). Rowing Faster (2nd ed.). Human Kinetics.