Day: January 26, 2013

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

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#1 Did you ever sing to your boat at practice for fun? #2 did you ever bring say iPod/phone in the boat and put it low volume to the speaker so rowers could row to it? #3 What does it mean when one of my rowers say in the boat that I sound “exactly like how a coxswain should sound.” It was meant as a compliment I think but what should coxes sound like?

Did I ever sing to my boat – uh, no. I did bring my iPod once because they asked me to and I didn’t know any better (I was a novice). We were going for distance that day and although my coach didn’t mind when he found out, he asked me not to do it again because it’s more distracting than anything else. I’m all for listening to music on the erg but in the boat there are too many things to focus on and outside distractions are usually what I’m trying to get them to ignore.

I’ve had people say that to me – it’s definitely a compliment. Put simply, it means you sound authoritative, concise, intense, and in control … all things a coxswain should be.

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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Would coaches make good coxswains? Assuming they’d fit in the seat, they know the technique, run practices, are motivational, and know how to communicate to the rowers…

Ehhh … debatable. Personally, I think coxswains have more potential to be good coaches than coaches do to be good coxswains. For the record, I thought coxswains made good coaches before I started coaching because my best/favorite coach in high school was a coxswain and he was incredible.

The only reason I say coaches wouldn’t be good coxswains is because if coaches knew anything about coxing, I wouldn’t be writing this blog. Most coaches I know and have had have said “I don’t know anything about coxing … just go out and don’t hit anything”. I think that even though we both know the technique, how to run practice, etc. the delivery of that information is what makes the difference.