Choosing Rowing Blades: Shape, Loading and Evidence
Listen to the conversation: #117 Blade Shape, Efficiency & Speed - Dr Valery Kleshnev
#120 Rigging and the Impact on Technique - Dr Valery Kleshnev
Choosing blades involves more than deciding which design looks fastest. The useful question is how a particular setup works for the athlete, at the speed and rate they actually row.
In our blade-design conversation, Dr Valery Kleshnev explains how he investigates that question. His account is valuable for both its findings and its limits: testing a small number of athletes is not the same as proving one design is best for everyone.
Ask what has been measured
A rower may describe an oar as feeling connected, light or powerful. Those impressions matter, but they do not identify every force involved.
Valery discusses blade slippage, forces acting along the blade and energy involved in rotating it through the water. His analysis asks where energy goes, not simply whether the spoon appears to hold a large amount of water.
This helps explain why “bigger must be better” is too simple. A design can have advantages in one aspect of the movement and costs in another.
Keep the findings in their testing context
Valery describes comparisons involving Concept2 Smoothie, Fat2 and Comp blades. In the tests he discusses, the relative results varied with rate and speed.
He also makes clear that the number of rowers tested was small and that the differences were modest. That is an important limit on turning the results into a shopping recommendation.
Listen to the discussion of the tests. The explanation is more useful than extracting one model name or a percentage and assuming it applies to your crew.
Include the athlete's power and control
A small efficiency difference does not settle the question if the athlete cannot produce or sustain effective work with the setup.
Valery discusses how a blade that suits a rower's power production may remain useful despite another design showing a small mechanical advantage under particular test conditions.
That places equipment selection inside a broader question: can you apply power, maintain your intended rate and control the blade consistently?
Comfort is not conclusive evidence of speed, but discomfort or loss of control deserves investigation rather than being dismissed as the price of faster equipment.
Consider the whole rig
Changing blade design while also changing oar length, inboard or other settings makes the comparison harder to interpret.
Record the complete setup. Discuss with your coach or equipment adviser how loading should be matched for the comparison. Equal overall length does not necessarily mean two different designs will feel identical.
The rigging conversation with Valery is useful companion listening because it explains how geometry, loading and movement interact.
Test before making a large conclusion
If you can borrow or trial equipment, agree what you are testing. Use repeatable pieces where practical, record conditions and allow enough familiarisation to avoid judging only the first few strokes.
Combine performance information with observations of technique, rate and effort. One faster outing in a favourable current does not establish a winner.
For a club, also consider the rowers who will use the equipment and whether a specialised choice makes sense across that group.
The podcast's strongest contribution is a better way to ask the question. Look for a setup that produces useful, repeatable rowing, and be cautious about equipment claims that promise to solve a complex performance problem on their own.
