why cant rowers wear gloves

why cant rowers wear gloves

Post by st942.. » Tue, 25 Apr 1995 04:00:00


Hi im  a novice rower and a friend recently asked why, in the winter colds we
new englanders are subjected to, we are not allowed to wear gloves.
I understand contact of the oar could diminish, but if we wore leather gloves
the amount of contct would be relativly the same.
my coaches have no idea, they say mostly tradition
feel free to email the answer instead of post.
this is more an interest question than a pressing dilemmna, luckily we are
heading into summertime.
and besides, next year we can always tear some socks into pogies

thanks alot, yay novice crew!!!!!!!!

lexi
brandeis novi women

 
 
 

why cant rowers wear gloves

Post by Miles B. Coope » Tue, 25 Apr 1995 04:00:00

        For the same reason we row.  It builds character.

Miles B. Cooper


Quote:
> new englanders are subjected to, we are not allowed to wear gloves.


 
 
 

why cant rowers wear gloves

Post by Lucas Murr » Tue, 25 Apr 1995 04:00:00

Lexi,
How are ya?  Interesting question you pose.  Why can't rowers wear
gloves?  Well the only thing I can think of is that the coaches want
you to get blisters so that you look like "real rowers" come race time.
 Let those calises build up before race season begins.  I never really
understood either.  The only thing I recommend is picking up some
profesionally made pogies before next year.  I highly recommend them,
they keep your hands really warm.  Well good luck in your quest to find
the answer.  By the way I hope you had a god time when you came to URI
to race.  We look foward to next years races against your team.  Good
luck on the rest of your season!
                                        LUKE/ URI NOVICE

 
 
 

why cant rowers wear gloves

Post by BStuck » Wed, 26 Apr 1995 04:00:00

When I was first considering rowing I asked a guy who had formerly rowed
for my school if I should invest in a pair of gloves.  He replied "No,"
and the reason he gave was that gloves would interfere with my "feel."
Since then I've developed some opinions of my own.  Primarily, I agree
with the argument that a glove deadens your ability to sense what's
happening on the blade's end.  I also feel that keeping equipment to a
bare minimum reduces the possibility of something going terribly wrong in
a race.  It would be a very unfortunate occurrance if your glove popped a
critical seam during the final sprint of a close race, likewise if your
sunglasses slid halfway down your nose, or your hat blew off into the
guy's face behind you.  These things do happen.  A little callous never
hurt anyone, and the *** flow generated by a good workout will keep your
hands from freezing even though you may genuinely feel miserable (that's
the character building part; it even makes for good drinking stories
later).
Bob Stuckey
George Mason Crew
 
 
 

why cant rowers wear gloves

Post by Sunil Sopr » Wed, 26 Apr 1995 04:00:00

: Hi im  a novice rower and a friend recently asked why, in the winter colds we
: new englanders are subjected to, we are not allowed to wear gloves.
: I understand contact of the oar could diminish, but if we wore leather gloves
[snip]

You could always cut holes in socks and feed them through the oar
handle. That way your palms are on the oar handle but your
outside skin is covered.

--
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
no fear=no hope        Sunil Soprey              no fear=no hope

_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

 
 
 

why cant rowers wear gloves

Post by Nick Buffinge » Wed, 26 Apr 1995 04:00:00

Quote:

> Hi im  a novice rower and a friend recently asked why, in the winter colds we
> new englanders are subjected to, we are not allowed to wear gloves.

[snip]
Quote:

> lexi
> brandeis novi women

I've tried wearing full finger gloves in the winter, which works to a
certain extent.  Thetwo things I noticed were: 1) my homemade fleece
pogies were much warmer (the full finger cycling gloves I was using
had thinsulate on the backs, but thin leather on the palms and
fingers) mostly (I think) because the oar handle stayed cold and
transmitted the cold through to my hands; and 2) I had to grip the oar
more tightly, which, IMHO, is not a habit you want to encourage in
novices (or in anybody else, for that matter).  

Nick
Stanford RC

 
 
 

why cant rowers wear gloves

Post by DDELSOB9 » Wed, 26 Apr 1995 04:00:00

Lexi:

There is no law against it. But, you lose some sensitivity. If you can
suffer through  a week of blisters, and try not to squeeze the oar to
hard, you will be okay, and not look like a glove wearing ***. Also,
cold hands in the winter are mostly due to poor circulation in the fingers
caused by squeezing the oar too tightly. If you have a light grip on the
oar, it's not that big a deal.

Dan del Sobral
Harvard B-School Boat Club

 
 
 

why cant rowers wear gloves

Post by Brendan Sheeh » Wed, 26 Apr 1995 04:00:00

Besides the drinking stories and the red badges of courage that callouses
give to a rower, not wearing gloves allows to you put your hand more
around the handle.  You know how it is when you row with a handle that is
too thick for your hand, well wearing gloves, in essence, increases the
thickness of your handle and that sucks.

If you want to wear gloves because your hands are cold, buy pogies that
cover both your hand and your handle so that your hands are still in
contact with the handle.  They provide little houses of warmth for your
hands and you will be happy while being able to keep your handles fully
around the handle.  Anyway...

                                                        Brendan

 
 
 

why cant rowers wear gloves

Post by Scott D McLe » Thu, 27 Apr 1995 04:00:00

Quote:

>Since then I've developed some opinions of my own.  Primarily, I agree
>with the argument that a glove deadens your ability to sense what's
>happening on the blade's end.  I also feel that keeping equipment to a

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever actually worn a pair of gloves who
can attest to the fact that gloves deaden the feel of the oar?  Or do we all
just not wear gloves because more experienced rowers tell us not to?  
Incidentally, I don't wear gloves because they would deaden the feel of the
oar, and the fact that my coach would never let me... :-)

Scott

--
                            *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*  
                            #* Scott Douglas McLean  *#  

                            #* 502 Grace Watson Hall *#  

 
 
 

why cant rowers wear gloves

Post by Roger R. Hsi » Thu, 27 Apr 1995 04:00:00



|> >Since then I've developed some opinions of my own.  Primarily, I agree
|> >with the argument that a glove deadens your ability to sense what's
|> >happening on the blade's end.  I also feel that keeping equipment to a
|>
|> Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever actually worn a pair of gloves who
|> can attest to the fact that gloves deaden the feel of the oar?  Or do we all
|> just not wear gloves because more experienced rowers tell us not to?  
|> Incidentally, I don't wear gloves because they would deaden the feel of the
|> oar, and the fact that my coach would never let me... :-)
|>
|> Scott
|>
|> --
|>                       *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*  
|>                             #* Scott Douglas McLean  *#  

|>                             #* 502 Grace Watson Hall *#  

I wore a glove on my feathering hand sometimes in the beginning of the fall
quarter, but I found that I could not get a good grip if the oarhandle got
wet.  For me, sweaty hands don't affect my grip on a wooden oar handle, but
I'm thinking of tying them for sculling.  The grips for these oars are ***
and get kind of slippery when my hands start to sweat.

I recall that even when I had thick skin on my fingers and palms by spring
time I'd still get blister during the twice daily workouts during spring
break.  After my first year, I just went ahead and wore gloves every other
workout during the spring breaks.  I'd rather wear the glove that row
with a torn blister.
--
Roger R. Hsieh

 
 
 

why cant rowers wear gloves

Post by AdMa » Fri, 28 Apr 1995 04:00:00

Quote:


> > Hi im  a novice rower and a friend recently asked why, in the winter colds we
> > new englanders are subjected to, we are not allowed to wear gloves.

I realise that over here in old england it doesn't get as cold as it does
over your way but it can still get pretty chilly. I've found that if I wear
gloves right up to the point where I start rowing I hardly ever get cold
hands.

As someone else has said, when you row there should be lots of ***
flowing through your hands so they should keep warm. By wearing gloves for
carrying the boat etc they never get a chance to get cold before you start
rowing.

Just my experience, hope it helps.

Ad.
--
Adrian Johnson
OASiS Group Ltd, Maidenhead, UK
and
Upper Thames RC, Henley, UK

 
 
 

why cant rowers wear gloves

Post by William J. Wadswort » Fri, 28 Apr 1995 04:00:00

Quote:

> > Hi im  a novice rower and a friend recently asked why, in the winter colds we
> > new englanders are subjected to, we are not allowed to wear gloves.

> [snip]

> > lexi
> > brandeis novi women

        basically you have much less controll over the blade handle if
there is a layer of glove between your hands and the blade.  However you
have no controll if your hands are freezing off!
        There are two solutions.  My prefered one is to wear lots of kit
so that my body and arms are really hot.  The only way left for it to
loose heat during intense exercise is to pump hot *** to my hands to
cool it off.  The other method is to wear gloves over the outside of both
hands and handle.  They are called Pogies, and I believe orriginate in
Canada.  Old socks with extra holes cut in work well and are cheaper :-).
        Experiment.

        W.W.    

 
 
 

why cant rowers wear gloves

Post by ROSS,JANE,M » Sat, 29 Apr 1995 04:00:00

Quote:


>: Hi im  a novice rower and a friend recently asked why, in the winter colds we
>: new englanders are subjected to, we are not allowed to wear gloves.
>: I understand contact of the oar could diminish, but if we wore leather gloves
>[snip]

The easy answer to cold weather--and far superior to snipping up a good
pair of woolen socks--is to don "pogies".  These will run you about
$10 to $15 Can. and are AMAZING as weapons against the nip.  If you
row between November and March in Canada they are almost as essential
as long underwear.  Some self-proclaimed "macho" crews have banned them,
but they just row around with white knuckles.
Ben Storey
Montreal Rowing Club
Quebec.
Quote:
>.
>.

 
 
 

why cant rowers wear gloves

Post by PMckeon5 » Tue, 02 May 1995 04:00:00

As a fellow crew-mate of mine once replied when asked about wearing
gloves:  "It's kind of like trying to have sex with your clothes on:  you
can do it, but it's not a lot of fun".
On a more serious note though, there are 2 good reasons to NOT wear
gloves: 1) the leather in the gloves will bunch up and give you blisters
in entirely new areas ( I can personally attest to this), and 2) leather
is a wonderful breeding ground for all kinds of micro-organisms that can
give you terrible infections through any open cuts or blisters you may
have.  Pogies are really the way to go.  My theory about cold hands states
that your hands get cold because you generally are not warmed up when you
shove off, and the oar/scull handles are generally very cold when you
start out.  This combination tends to rob your hands of any heat they may
have had.
Just my 2c.
-Pat McKeon
 
 
 

why cant rowers wear gloves

Post by Kirsten A. Fri » Tue, 02 May 1995 04:00:00

  I recently read that gloves on already blistered hands will increase the
potential for infection that your hands are exposed to since the gloves
trap all the sweat and any river/lake/seaway water that splashes them.
Not just the sweat from one workout, but from however many workouts you
have between glove-washings.  Just think about all that bacteria
incubating .... ewww.