Feathering hides bad handle height. Square-blade rowing exposes it.

Equipment needed: A boat (single, double, or four), calm water.

Setup: Standard rowing position.

How to run it:

  1. Row at low rate, around 20 strokes per minute.
  2. Don’t feather the blades on the recovery — keep them square (vertical).
  3. The blades will catch the water if the handles are too low. They’ll fly high if the handles are too high.
  4. Twenty strokes. Build the muscle memory.

What to look for: Blades stay an inch or two off the water through the whole recovery. If they’re scraping, handles need to come up.

Variation: Square-blade only on one side at a time. Forces the rower to balance the boat with the feathered side.