Young hands are less likely to make their stroke all slide and no swing if they have at first only such length of slide as above indicated, When the slide of 3 inches has been mas- tered, it may be lengthened, inch by inch. In thns length- ening the slide, it is best to add, at first, more to the forward part of the slide than ta the back part, ie. say, for a q-inch slide, 24 inches before and 14 inch behind, the point of seat for fixed-seat work, to the same stretcher. This arrangement prevents the pupil from lacking leg-support at the end of his swing, and teaches him to fcel his legs well against the stretcher till the hands have come home to the chest. When 4 inches have been mastered, add another inch forward and about half an inch hack, and so on. fm time the beginner will reach the full range of his slide forward, while yet he is ‘blocked? from using the full distance back, When he be- comes proficient in this pose, his slide back can be increased by degrees unti] he attains a full slide. The great thing is to induce him from the first to combine his slide with his swing, and not to substitute the former for the latter.
When slides first came in shocking form was seen upon them, as previously stated. This was a venial result of oars- men being driven—by emulation to win prizes in races imme- diately impending—to attempt to run before they had learnt to walk, so to speak. ‘he year 1873 saw worse form among ama- teurs than the writer can recall in any season. In 1874 matters began to mend, The two University strokes of that ycur, Messrs. Rhodes and Way, had each been at pains to improve his style since he had last been seen in public at Henley. Each seemed to realise that he had been on a wrong tack, and set to work to alter his style radically. These same gentlemen were strokes of their respective U.B.C.’s in 1875, and the improvement was still more palpable. The Oxonian bad an exceptionally fine lot of men behind him; the Cantab had twe or three weak men in the bows who did not do justice to him. But none the less, when these crews performed at Putney, old-fashioned critics, who had been ull then prejudiced against the new
