A lot! Naming a person, a dog, a website, or even a car can be a significant moment. The name you use helps to describe the thing that is named. For example when I tell you my car is named Piglet, you probably get a thought, a picture and you form an opinion about what my car must be like...inside and out.
Bend the Blade speaks to me on a number of different levels.
First, as a rower and a coach it's evocative of power placed correctly and efficiently. A rower bending the blade means she's applying her technique and her legs in a way that results in moving the boat. As a coach I can rely on her to do the work, the heavy lifting as it were, to put her whole self into that stroke in order to lift the boat up and push it forward.
In the case of this endeavor Bend the Blade is about YOU. It's about bending your perception of how you see yourself in relation to the athlete that you are and can become. It's about bending your approach to your rowing, your training, your perception of what you are capable of. It's about putting the work in with support and guidance in order to lift yourself up and push forward.
I placed this picture in this post because these women, the women of what was once Willamette Rowing, bent their blades as rowers and as advocates of their team. They motivate and inspire me everyday, whether they know it or not, to bend my blade and to push forward.
I hope this concept of bending the blade speaks to you. It takes time and experience for rowers to understand how to bend the blade, but once you do, there's no stopping you.
Here's to YOU and now go Bend the Blade!
Row hard, row well, compete, have fun!
Coach Knickerbocker