The Most Horrific Ways to Get Rowing Blisters
Nobody escapes blisters. They are the bane of our existence, as rowers. But we row hard and proudly wear our callouses earned from sustaining blister after blister. We bleed through the pain, bandage the damage, and go on because there IS no other way!
1. When you’re a beginner.
Your hands are ON FIRE with a pain you’ve never, ever known.
2. When you swap sides.
You thought you knew what the pain would feel like because you’ve experienced it before. Not the case. All you know is sadness because you’ll have to feel it all over again, in the OTHER HAND.
3. When you get a blister under another blister.
Words cannot describe the hurt.
4. When you start learning to scull.
New hurts in different places. And it just keeps hurting.
5. When you’re in a training camp rowing 3 times a day.
You say this to your coach. Your coach does not care. Your coach thinks that sympathising with crew members experiencing the same pain will make you feel better. It does not.
6. The smug feeling you get when you own a pair of rowing gloves and you no longer get blisters.
Don’t get stuck with blisters when you can avoid them. Find Rowing Gloves. Buy them. Wear them.
This Post Has 4 Comments
Re blisters: It’s not just the hands… when I first learnt to scull, I couldn’t sit down for a week!
No, don’t wear gloves, learn how to hold the oars/sculls correctly. There’s also a fantastic German product called Hirschtalg (deer fat!) which forms a barrier over your skin and is very effective at preventing blisters. Because it’s antiseptic you can also use it afterwards to promote healing. Gloves are for wimps!
Now I’d like to try the deer fat solution – have you?
I think the solution to that is a rowing seat pad – professional variety, Andrew.