The hardest part of rowing is the mental component. Your physical abilities are what they are, but the mind controls the body. It tells the body what to do and how to do it. When something is hard, it’s the brain that needs to overcome the initial understanding. After that, we can allow the body to go to work via the brain.
It’s so important, we created a video to reinforce the positive mindset needed when rowing. And yet again, here we are talking about keeping your eyes open when you row.
Why the eyes? Because they’re an indicator of someone’s attention to the task at hand. Why the eyes? Because they allow us to see and interpret what’s in front of us.
Why the eyes? Because you need to know where you are in relation to the rest of the work you need to do.
Keeping your eyes open is an indicator of your attention to what you are doing. If you read “The Invictus Mindset” it discusses positions of success. One of those is standing tall and keeping your eyes open because it keeps you connected to what you’re doing.
When discomfort starts to set in, it’s easy to use that as an excuse for taking it easy. Doing something despite the discomfort is the real challenge. But to stay connected is to embrace the purpose behind the work. As the saying goes “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.”
From a rowing perspective, it helps you stay focused on your desired split, strokes/minute, and more at a detailed level. The level needed to learn and get better.
