Maybe it is a useless dream — I don’t know — but I always seem to be searching for an unknow idea of rightness that will forever elude me.

This afternoon I experimented with lifting my chin. I wanted to see what would happen if I exaggerated the lift. What if I threw my head back and raised my chin higher? Voila! I was able to erg 30 minutes without experiencing a sharp pain in my right shoulder, and the pain I had in the second 30 minutes was comparatively marginal.

So what does lifting my chin as I drive off the stretcher accomplish? The first thought that leaps to mind is that it forces me to use my lats instead of my traps. If I am right about this, then could it be that the sharp pain I have been feeling in my right shoulder can be attributed to tightening the trapezius muscles as I get into position to take the catch? Even now, as I am sitting in a chair and writing, I can feel my trapezius muscles untighten as I relax my arms and lift my chin.

Another realization that I stumbled upon in this workout is that to be in the correct position to use my buttocks to start the drive off the stretcher all I need do is make sure that my knees over my ankles. Don’t worry about how close the heels are to the seat, or if my chest is against my knees. Just keep the knees over the ankles, keep the center of gravity inside Dr. Dubousset’s cone of economy, and then lift the chin up. Lift high! Drive!

I also need to remember that I can row as hard or as easy as I wish. As Steve Fairbairn says, “It all has to come from inside you, laddie.” Row slow to row fast.