the pull through

Question
even though my erg times are much better than the strokeman in my boat, i cant seem to keep up with him on the pull through. i have no idea why, and was hoping you could give advice or a solution

Answer
Hi Mark: The most intuitive answer is that while the erg is a good measure of rowing potential, there are numerous cases of rowers pulling great erg scores but not helping a boat move faster.  Rowing in the erg and rowing in the water are different.  I'm not saying you are hurting the boat any, but you can't blindly assume that Rower A is better than Rower B because his 2K time is lower.

Many factors come into play when you are on the water that don't matter on the erg: experience, quicker catches, the ability to pull hard when the set is off, etc.  Also, technical flaws in rowing stroke may not hurt you on the erg, but affect you significantly in a racing shell.  

I'd say that with added on-water experience and conditioning, you will match your strokeman.  And that's really all you want.

Good Luck/AP