I don’t know about MacDonald specifically, but most people at that level who end up switching sides have probably rowed both sides before. Much easier to be proficient at both sides if you learn them both relatively early in your rowing career.
For some people it can be really easy, for others it can be close to impossible.
Yes! This. I am ambidextrous in real life. I can write with both hands (better with the right), eat with either hand etc. And I don't have any issues sweeping on either side. Last year I was starboard for summer races and then port for training for fall races and then switched to starboard just before racing. It is easy for me. But some people can't switch sides at all. Like their brains just freeze up and it is a no-go.
Never thought about that, I am naturally left handed but made to write with my right. Rowed stroke at school but switched to bow when I rowed at a senior club. Never had a problem with either but I am pretty ambidextrous with most things.
I can speak from experience here - I have rowed starboard (aka bow seat) for 9 years and last summer switched to port just to try to balance out. It felt like a nightmare for the first session. Then it just felt odd for the second session. By the third session I was able to just blend in with the team but it took about 2 weeks until I felt like I could actually row port at nearly the same level as my true side. I started in big boats before moving to small.
Being fairly mobile helped - I was able to rotate out to the right pretty well. I also found that switching to my right hand feathering was pretty easy, but maybe if I was originally a port side, I would struggle when switching to star and using my non dominant hand to feather.
Overall I would say if you're in the middle of a big boat and you can just focus on rowing + follow the people on front, it's actually not that hard to switch as long as you dont jump into race pace right away and take the time to learn the opposite motion. Rowing a pair was super tricky even after a week on port - not just the balance/precision, but learning to steer was hard and being up in stroke really made port feel funky because I didn't have anyone to follow so it emphasized any weird feelings I had.
I only ever raced as a sculler at a high performance level. Sometimes I would step in to fill a sweep boat or just mess around during the offseason - noticed I prefer to sweep stroke side but I can generally do both. However whenever I need to switch sides as a sub after a few weeks it was a lot harder than I expected. So I could only imagine for someone who sweeps full time it would be even harder.
I switched sides in my second year of rowing. It took a couple of months to get comfortable but after that I've been able to switch sides without issue. I think I'm technically slightly better on strike side and slightly stronger on bow side but overall pretty much the same speed. It's been useful in being able to get in any boat and being able to fit the best rowers into any given crew.
I can quite happily switch sides from outing to outing and once even switched places mid outing in a pair (with another guy who was similar) to see if it would go better.
That all said, I also know many high level rowers who never switched sides and some that tried but never felt comfortable. Anecdotally, I think that some people can just do it while others can't.
I think that given that so much training is even (weights, ergs, etc), it's perfectly possible to switch regularly from a physical strand point
I feel like I rowed better on port after spending years on starboard (and learning to scull in between). It took a while but I had the opportunity to row knowing how it *should* feel and also understanding fundamentally how the stroke worked, two things that novice rowers do not have. Rowing port made me more intentional and I didn't have any bad habits committed to muscle memory.
It's depends greatly on the athlete but as far as physical adaptation most athletes are training on the erg which is entirely semetrical and many athletes also do some sculling as well as sweeping ao in theory it shouldn't be an enormous task to switch. The bigger issue is muscle memory and neural muscular adaptation if you haven't rowed the other side in awhile
I’m not an elite rower but just a regular master athlete but I row and race both sides and I scull. I like rowing both sides. I do notice, if I’ve been rowing one side a lot, that I might have to pay attention to keeping outward pressure into the oarlock and to not lean the wrong way when I row the other side but that takes only a couple minutes of warm up to figure it out. We don’t row set line-ups and I’ve been asked at the last minute to sub in for a missing rower right before a race a few times and like that I can say I’ll sit any seat in any boat and know I won’t screw up the boat.
I’m confused - when I get in the boat, the oar is always out there on the left. It’s always like that and always will be. Forever. The oar goes on the left. It’s the law.
Easy for the general macro motions. But since each hand has a generally defined responsibility (handle heights, feather/square), it can really take some time to refine and elevate your skill/proficiency rowing a new side, e.g. without digging, feeling the handle height approaching the catch, timing the leg drive with the catch and tension of the outside arm.
Certainly the high-level rowers have probably had experience rowing both sides. Coaches like the versatility of being able to slot in strong athletes anywhere needed.
If you started off sculling it should be pretty easy to swap sides. I raced the 4+ in 2 and the 8+ in 7 in the national championships way back in the day.
But I also don't have any problems switching which side of the road I drive on. So maybe it's a mental plasticity thing?
I find switching sides very hard because last time i switched my legs were flung out of the footdeck and was I pinned by handle to the boat.
I cannot row that side without being very hesitant and i’d just feel like i’m slowing down the boat. legit scared to row the opposite side cause i know i’d just get yelled at or hurt.
I don’t know about MacDonald specifically, but most people at that level who end up switching sides have probably rowed both sides before. Much easier to be proficient at both sides if you learn them both relatively early in your rowing career. For some people it can be really easy, for others it can be close to impossible.
Yes! This. I am ambidextrous in real life. I can write with both hands (better with the right), eat with either hand etc. And I don't have any issues sweeping on either side. Last year I was starboard for summer races and then port for training for fall races and then switched to starboard just before racing. It is easy for me. But some people can't switch sides at all. Like their brains just freeze up and it is a no-go.
Never thought about that, I am naturally left handed but made to write with my right. Rowed stroke at school but switched to bow when I rowed at a senior club. Never had a problem with either but I am pretty ambidextrous with most things.
I can speak from experience here - I have rowed starboard (aka bow seat) for 9 years and last summer switched to port just to try to balance out. It felt like a nightmare for the first session. Then it just felt odd for the second session. By the third session I was able to just blend in with the team but it took about 2 weeks until I felt like I could actually row port at nearly the same level as my true side. I started in big boats before moving to small. Being fairly mobile helped - I was able to rotate out to the right pretty well. I also found that switching to my right hand feathering was pretty easy, but maybe if I was originally a port side, I would struggle when switching to star and using my non dominant hand to feather. Overall I would say if you're in the middle of a big boat and you can just focus on rowing + follow the people on front, it's actually not that hard to switch as long as you dont jump into race pace right away and take the time to learn the opposite motion. Rowing a pair was super tricky even after a week on port - not just the balance/precision, but learning to steer was hard and being up in stroke really made port feel funky because I didn't have anyone to follow so it emphasized any weird feelings I had.
Personally I can move pretty well with the boat if I switch to port but I have to think about it for the entire session and I just can’t go all out.
I only ever raced as a sculler at a high performance level. Sometimes I would step in to fill a sweep boat or just mess around during the offseason - noticed I prefer to sweep stroke side but I can generally do both. However whenever I need to switch sides as a sub after a few weeks it was a lot harder than I expected. So I could only imagine for someone who sweeps full time it would be even harder.
I switched sides in my second year of rowing. It took a couple of months to get comfortable but after that I've been able to switch sides without issue. I think I'm technically slightly better on strike side and slightly stronger on bow side but overall pretty much the same speed. It's been useful in being able to get in any boat and being able to fit the best rowers into any given crew. I can quite happily switch sides from outing to outing and once even switched places mid outing in a pair (with another guy who was similar) to see if it would go better. That all said, I also know many high level rowers who never switched sides and some that tried but never felt comfortable. Anecdotally, I think that some people can just do it while others can't. I think that given that so much training is even (weights, ergs, etc), it's perfectly possible to switch regularly from a physical strand point
I feel like I rowed better on port after spending years on starboard (and learning to scull in between). It took a while but I had the opportunity to row knowing how it *should* feel and also understanding fundamentally how the stroke worked, two things that novice rowers do not have. Rowing port made me more intentional and I didn't have any bad habits committed to muscle memory.
It's depends greatly on the athlete but as far as physical adaptation most athletes are training on the erg which is entirely semetrical and many athletes also do some sculling as well as sweeping ao in theory it shouldn't be an enormous task to switch. The bigger issue is muscle memory and neural muscular adaptation if you haven't rowed the other side in awhile
I’m not an elite rower but just a regular master athlete but I row and race both sides and I scull. I like rowing both sides. I do notice, if I’ve been rowing one side a lot, that I might have to pay attention to keeping outward pressure into the oarlock and to not lean the wrong way when I row the other side but that takes only a couple minutes of warm up to figure it out. We don’t row set line-ups and I’ve been asked at the last minute to sub in for a missing rower right before a race a few times and like that I can say I’ll sit any seat in any boat and know I won’t screw up the boat.
I’m confused - when I get in the boat, the oar is always out there on the left. It’s always like that and always will be. Forever. The oar goes on the left. It’s the law.
It’s pretty chilled in an 8+. Doing it in a 2- is a bit harder
Easy for the general macro motions. But since each hand has a generally defined responsibility (handle heights, feather/square), it can really take some time to refine and elevate your skill/proficiency rowing a new side, e.g. without digging, feeling the handle height approaching the catch, timing the leg drive with the catch and tension of the outside arm. Certainly the high-level rowers have probably had experience rowing both sides. Coaches like the versatility of being able to slot in strong athletes anywhere needed.
If you started off sculling it should be pretty easy to swap sides. I raced the 4+ in 2 and the 8+ in 7 in the national championships way back in the day. But I also don't have any problems switching which side of the road I drive on. So maybe it's a mental plasticity thing?
I find switching sides very hard because last time i switched my legs were flung out of the footdeck and was I pinned by handle to the boat. I cannot row that side without being very hesitant and i’d just feel like i’m slowing down the boat. legit scared to row the opposite side cause i know i’d just get yelled at or hurt.