> slide forward slowly It's an efficiency thing, the linked page partially covers this in section 5. Going forwards slowly impacts the same momentum, but as it

> slide forward slowly It's an efficiency thing, the linked page partially covers this in section 5. Going forwards slowly impacts the same momentum, but as it is done gradually it results in a greater overall boat speed because you avoid sudden speed jolts. And remember that going forwards quickly also means you must decelerate your body quite a bit at the catch! When a coach is telling you to slide forward slowly they are trying you to move forward at a constant speed, not so much a slow speed. That being said, it is better to do slower and longer strokes. You're trying to move the boat, so all the moving of your body is wasted energy. Moving your body really quickly is very tiring, whereas you can sustain slower and longer strokes a lot longer. At an elite level you simply can't make the stroke any longer, and you can't get more power out of a stroke either because there are limitations to oar length. The only way for an elite rower to put more energy in the boat is to do more strokes, which means they have to speed up. > pushing with your legs first Your legs are a lot stronger than your torso and arms. If you do arms first, the power being put into the boat by the legs is limited by your arm strength. When you leave the arms extended, you are simply hanging on them without the muscles engaged, allowing you to go full leg strength. This is 100% still the case at an elite level, but it is harder to see due to the higher stroke rate, and the fact that they engage the arms/torso before the legs are completely flat.