Month: April 2013

Coxing Novice Q&A

Question of the Day

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As a novice coxswain, I find it hard to ask for more of the rowers. I feel like I can’t push them other than asking them to stay at their stroke rate. All I say is, “great job,” “beautiful” “catch them” and other things about proving ourselves. How can I remedy this?

This is one of those instances where you just have to do it. There’s nothing else I can say other than get over whatever is holding you back and cox them. Your rowers are expecting you to tell them what their individual technique looks like, what they’re doing well, what they need to fix, what the boat as a whole is doing, how it feels, what’s happening in race situations, giving them general reminders on body positions, catch/finish technique, slide control, etc. and if you’re not doing that, you’re hurting the boat and your chances of improving as a coxswain. “Great job” doesn’t mean much if they didn’t actually do a great job, “beautiful” doesn’t mean anything if their technique is all over the place, and “catch them” is ineffective unless you specifically tell them how to do it.

Related: So, what did you see?

If you don’t know what you should be looking for or what to say that’s fine, but you need to go talk to your coach immediately and figure out what you should be observing when you do your drills, warmups, steady states, etc. and then determine how to translate all of that into effective calls for your boat. If you’re overwhelmed by all the responsibilities, that’s fine to admit too, but you’ve got to know that that will probably mean the coach will take you out of the boat in favor of a coxswain who has it under control and can push the rowers to their full potential. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though – it’ll give you an opportunity to sit back in the launch and observe while talking to your coach and finding out what exactly he sees and wants.

Navigating the Charles River (Boston, MA)

Coxing

Navigating the Charles River (Boston, MA)

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Below are a few maps that I found very helpful when I first started coaching on the Charles last spring. If you’re racing here in the spring, are around in the fall for HOCR, or just starting rowing here, check them out and familiarize yourself with the bridge arches, which ones you can use, which ones you can’t, etc.

Related: (Head of the Charles) Getting to the starting line || Steering through the bridges || Landmarks along the course || Steering around the turns || Race plans || My general race plan

CHARLES RIVER TRAFFIC PATTERNS (You can download a copy of the map in PDF form here.)

CHARLES RIVER BASIN 2K COURSE (You can download a copy of the map in PDF form here.)
Pay particular attention to the arches that are available to use on the Mass Ave. bridge – you’ll see there are upstream lanes on the far right Cambridge side and on the far left Boston side (the Union lanes). The Union upstream lanes are typically only used when the basin is horrific because of wind or there are races happening.

In terms of the 2k course, note where the starting line, finish line, and each 500m marker is. To see them more closely, download the PDF and zoom in. The starting line is at the end of the Memorial Drive ramp just off the Longfellow Bridge, 500m is just before the MIT sailing center, Mass Ave. is 1000m, MIT’s boathouse is 1500m, and the finish line is right before the Hyatt Regency Hotel. There’s a white pole in the ground on shore that marks the finish line and obviously, there will also be a race official with a flag to let you know when you’ve crossed. At the end of the course and across from BU are some large neon markers that give you your points to aim for.

In addition to all of that you’ll see the small blue arrows in the water that denote the traffic pattern on race days (and most other days too). Pay close attention to those and make sure you follow them.

To read up on how to navigate the river during HOCR, check out the posts linked at the top of the post and follow the “Head of the Charles” tag to stay up to date on all future HOCR posts.

Image via // @dosdesignsltd

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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Should I make corrections to my point (using bow pair) while the coach is speaking? I always feel rude but the boat sometimes drifts off!

You can as long as you’re not distracting everyone else. Most coaches won’t have a problem with this (and the ones that do are clearly clueless) so if you see that you’re drifting or being blown by the wind, go ahead and make the correction. Speak just loud enough to be heard but not so loud that you’re talking over your coach. Keep whatever you say short and to the point as well. “Bow, gimme two strokes…” gets the job done. If your coach is talking to your bow pair or bow four, wait a minute until he’s done so as to not distract them unless you’re in a potentially dangerous situation (drifting onto some rocks, being blown by a strong crosswind into shore, etc.). If he’s having a long conversation with them about something, speak loudly into your mic and say something like “hey coach, I’m drifting into the rocks so I’m gonna row it out…” and then have your bow 4 or whoever take you out and away from whatever the issue is. Do this quickly so as to not waste time and so he can get back to coaching.

Another thing I’ll do if my coach is talking to bow pair is have either stroke or 7-seat back it, which will accomplish the same thing. This is really the only time I use them to get my point though and it’s only if we’re in open water, not right on shore or anything. If I need a stroke from 2-seat then I’ll have 7-seat back it and if I need one from bow then I’ll have stroke back it. Sometimes this is the easiest way to do it because you don’t have to use your mic to talk to them, which means you won’t distract everyone else in the process.

Novice Q&A Rowing Technique

Question of the Day

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In a week’s time I have my first (of three) 2km scull and 2km ergo trials. I’m really nervous about the scull because I only just got off floaties (floats that sit under the oar gates for stability) and now every stroke at the finish I’m having a lot of trouble getting my blades out cleanly and together. Like my left is always on time and clean but my right always lags and such gets a bit stuck? How do I combat this?

My guess is that it’s one of two things: one, it might be a timing/coordination thing since you said your left is on time and clean but your right isn’t or two, your set is off and you’re leaning to port, which would explain why the starboard oar comes out clean (plenty of room to tap down vs. no room). Something I’ve noticed with the kids I see going from the stable boats to the less stable racing shells is that they’re afraid to lay back because they’re afraid of becoming more parallel with the boat. Since they don’t lay back, they don’t give themselves any room to tap the blades down which results in them having really sloppy finishes. That, combined with questionable handle heights to begin with, usually results in one or both of the blades getting briefly stuck in the water.

My suggestion would be to work on some release drills. Sit at the finish (laying back, sitting up tall, supported with the core), get your set, and then bob the oars up and down – all you’re doing is tapping down. This is obviously done on the square. Don’t go at a frantic pace but don’t go so slow that you’re losing your set on every stroke. Make sure you’re moving your hands at the same time, pushing the oars into the pins, and maintaining that pressure against the oarlocks. When you’re tapping down, occasionally look out at your oars to see how far you actually need to press down with your hands to release the blades from the water. If the blade isn’t at least an inch or two above the water, tap down more. Make sure you’re releasing them smoothly and not yanking or jerking the handles in and down. Once you’re comfortable with this, move on to the pick drill while continuing to work on the finishes. I’d do this on the square a few times before switching to doing it on the feather. Another drill you could do is work on the delayed feather drill. This one works to ensure that you’re coming out of the water square before feathering your blade (possibly another reason why it’s getting stuck, especially if the boat is offset). When you do this drill, you tap down and go to hands away on the square, then feather between hands away and bodies over, then square up again at 1/2 slide.

One final important thing that you’re going to need to work on is finding your balance and keeping the hands level throughout the entirety of the stroke. You don’t necessarily need to be balancing the oars off the water at any point other than the release just yet but the boat itself needs to be level. A couple weeks ago I heard some of the pre-elite scullers on the Charles being coached and something their coach said might help – I’m not sure if it actually works so scullers out there, feel free to correct me. He said that a “foolproof” way of keeping your boat set is to always have the knuckles of your right hand touching your left wrist. I didn’t hear the explanation but from thinking about it my assumption is that it would help you to keep your hands together and work on the timing to ensure they’re moving together.

How To Q&A Rowing Technique

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Tips on how to correct posture while rowing? Apparently I slouch a lot around the catch!

It all starts at the finish. Well, sort of. It’s kind of like the chicken-egg thing … which comes first? Finishes are affected by catches and catches are affected by finishes, but where does the problem actually start?

At the finish you’ve got to make sure you’re laying back while sitting up tall. The next most important thing after that is swinging while maintaining a straight back. Keep the core solid, almost as if you’re preparing to be punched at any second, without hunching the shoulders or stiffening the upper body. Make sure that you’re moving in the proper sequence – arms, back, legs – and not letting your butt slide under your shoulders. This is a huge reason why a lot of people slouch at the finish. Your shoulders should always be ahead of your butt. If you get to half slide and stop moving your shoulders but continue to move your butt, your body is going to go from being at a 55(ish) degree angle to being at 90 degrees, which you obviously don’t want and will cause you to curve your lower back, sink into your hips, and open your back early on the ensuing catch. Your stroke will also be very short. Focus on keeping your head and chin up and level – memorize every intricate detail of the back of the person’s head in front of you. This also tends to help with keeping your back straight because if your eyes are down, everything else tends to follow, but if your eyes are up, everything tends to stay up and supported (including the handle).

If your core isn’t well developed, sitting up tall and avoiding the slouch will probably be difficult for you. Having abs or any kind of 6 pack doesn’t count as having a strong core so don’t let your hot rower’s bod fool you into thinking your core is strong just because you’re ripped. Planks and side-planks are great core developers so if you find you’re still having issues sitting up at the catch after you’ve worked on the basic technique stuff I’d definitely recommend adding some planks into your pre-row warmup/on-land workouts.

Coxing Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

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What do coxswain seat races entail?

I think the same thing as regular seat races … do a piece or two, switch, repeat.

Personally I think coxswain seat races are a waste of time because I look at every practice as being a seat race. They should be going out and practicing like the coach was making the decision on who was going to cox the boat based on how well they did that day. It’s also impossible to do a seat race for coxswains. Some coaches might have come up with a way but nearly every coach I’ve ever had or talked to about this has said it’s just not possible. There are too many variables that can’t be controlled, unlike with regular seat racing. You’re getting switched into a boat that you’re not used to and who isn’t used to you.

In addition to that, you could be a not-so-great coxswain who gets switched into a good boat that can function fairly well regardless of the coxswain they have whereas the coxswain who is normally with that boat gets switched into a boat that isn’t as good, isn’t usually coxed very well, and is in a mental and physical hole before they even start the piece. The “good” coxswain is at a serious disadvantage and the “not good” coxswain is at an advantage. The only thing that I can even think of that would be worthwhile is seeing who steers a better line but you can do that anytime and even then it can be affected by who’s rowing, the weather conditions, the boat itself, etc.

Related: Coxswain evaluation tag

Instead of seat racing I’d suggest coaches do formal evaluations, listen to recordings, get feedback from the rowers, maybe actually coach the coxswains and pay attention to what they’re doing on the water from time to time, and then make a decision. There are a lot of things that go into coxing that can’t all be displayed or summed up in one practice 2k.

Coxing High School Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

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I’m a varsity coxswain for my high school team and we have 4 coxswains and 3 boats to race, so the younger girls are in competition for the 3rd seat. For the last 4 races, I won the “coxswain seat race” and raced the important ones. Today she coxed at an unimportant medals race and I was given the important one for next week and I’m so nervous and I know I’ll cox well but I need the boat to move faster then it ever has before so that it’ll guarantee I get to cox at Mid-Atlantics and Stotes –  HELP.

I get what you’re saying, I really do but I’ve gotta caution you on something. Don’t ever say you need the boat to do something in order for you to be able to cox. They have their job and you have yours. Neither person is obligated to do anything for the other. Obviously you want to row hard for each other but you can’t say “row hard so I get this boat” or “row hard because I want this boat” … that makes it all about you and SURPRISE it’s not all about you. As long as each person does their job to the best of their ability, that is what makes boats move faster than they ever have before.

Don’t be nervous or too cocky. You’ve clearly been doing something right if you’re consistently winning seat races and being given boats to race at the important regattas. Keep doing what you’re doing, work with your crew to come up with a solid race plan, and work your ass off during practice this week. Push your crew to work hard and let them push you as well. Stay calm, be confident, and let your goals motivate you to be the best coxswain for your boat. If you do all of that you’ll be making an undeniable contribution to the boat that will most definitely help it go fast this weekend.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

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What do you usually bring in the boat with you? It’s hard to bring a backpack when you’re in a bowloader and you can barely move your arms…

I coxed a few bow loader fours in high school and my bag then consisted of a drawstring Nike bag, which was easily contorted to fit whatever space I was in. I’d take a wrench or two, some extra spacers, one rigger’s worth of nuts and bolts, my recorder, my phone, a pen/pencil, a small notebook, Hot Hands (depending on the weather), sunscreen, and a LOT of band aids and tape. I’d generally sit in my lap so it wasn’t getting totally crushed and to prevent it from getting wet should any water get into the boat.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

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I need advice. I am a novice coxswain for my school’s rowing team but apparently the captains think I have a natural talent for it so I am not that bad. The boy’s first boat have expressed interest in having me as their coxswain next year and I’m really happy about that. However, I am studying abroad for 3 months in the fall and will not be able to cox during fall season. Do you think that will be a contributing factor in choosing me over other coxswains for the spring?

Do they know that you’ll be studying abroad? If they already know that and are still saying they want you to cox them, they must think you’re worth waiting for. If you haven’t told them yet, tell them as soon as possible so they know. If they have another coxswain in the boat for three months and then kick them out as soon as you get back, that could cause some unnecessary tension on the team, which obviously no one wants. I wouldn’t necessarily make any decisions now though as far as who’s coxing who next year. I’d wait until you get back and then do some kind of coxswain evaluation between you and whoever coxed in the fall, that way it’s at least fair to the other coxswain.