How to decrease my erg score.

Question
I have been decreasing my scores at a well rate so far but I want to have my score in the low 6:1st. As of right now my score sits at a 6:56 my sophomore year. I have only rowed for one year on a varsity level I am among the top three on my team at TC Williams High School. I am as of right now 5 foot 8 inches and 150 pounds. Do you have any advice for me?

Answer
Hi Jeffrey: 6:56 is a very good time for someone your age and weight.  You are doing better than 75% of the lightweights between ages 15 to 17. you stay on track, you are going to be a very formidable lightweight rower for many years to come.

Your question states you want to low in the "low 6:1st".  Don't know what that means.  You can mean 6:10s.  That's a world's best time.  A good goal for you is to shoot for the 6:40s would get you into the 90th percentile.  As you well know, you got to come off the start smoking and row a portion of the piece at a 1:40 or below split.  

Since I'm not a coach or anything (and I couldn't touch your times in the prime of my rowing days), I'm just able to give you some very general advice.  The first recommendation is that you should add between 5-10 pounds of muscle through a weight training program.  The extra weight will help lower your time based on the physics of the rowing ergometer itself.  The added muscle will give you power to help you cut those seconds off at the start and final sprint.  You may have to adjust you diet to add the poundage.  But if you feel that the weight is slowing you down, you can back off that.   

The other thing you can try is to read this article about "The Wolverine Plan." It's a program developed by the U. of Michigan and you may want to incorporate some or all of it into your routine:

http://www.concept2.com/forums/wolverine_plan.htm

But to be honest with you, there's an old saying I used to hear when I was in the Navy: "Don't fix something that isn't broke." In other words, what you are doing is working.  In the end, it's what you do on the water, not on some contraption sitting on a gym floor, that will determine how good of a rower you are.