Page:Boating - Woodgate - 1888.pdf/156

 a left-hand one, usually scull left hand over. The first difficulty which an embryo sculler has to contend with is that of attaining uniform pressure with square body and square legs upon a pair of arms which are not uniformly placed. One arm has to give way to another to enable the lands to clear each other when they cross ; and yet while they do this the blades which they control should be buried to a uniform depth. How to attain this give-and-take action of the arms is better shown by even a moderate performer in five minutes of practical illustration than by reams of book instruction,

The aspirant to sculling honours had hetter, when com- mencing to learn, take his first lesson ina gig. A wager boat will be too unsteady, and will retard his practice ; ‘ skiffs* are nsnally to be obtained only as teach boats with work at sixes and sevens. A dingey buries too much on the stroke, and spoils style, The beginner should find a stiff pair of sculls, true made, and overlapping about the width of his hands. He should ask some proficient to examine and to try his sculls, and to tell him by the feel whether they are really a pair. The best makers of oars and sculls too often turn out sculls which are not ‘pairs,’ and when this is the case the action of him who uses them cannot be expected to be even on both sides. of his frame. Having got suitable sculls, let the sculler arrange his* stretcher just a shade shorter than he would have it for rowing. He can clear his knees with a shorter stretcher when sculling than when rowing, as he can easily see for himself. A stretcher should always be as short as is compatible with clearing the knees.

Whether or not the pupil is proficient in sliding, he had better keep a fixed seat while learning the rudiments of sculling ; it will give him less to think about ; he might unconsciously contract faults in sliding while fixing his mind elsewhere—in the direction of his new implements.

He should sce that his rowlocks are roomy. In most gigs there is a want of room between thowl and stopper. A sculler requires a wider rowlock than an oarsman, because his scull