In high school my coach was a former coxswain and put a big emphasis on teaching the coxes. I spent 4 years learning how to cox from him, my fellow coxswains, countless recordings, clinics, etc. I am very much of the opinion that there is a right way to cox, and one of the things I learned from my high school coach that’s really stuck with me is to avoid the use of “filler”, i.e. meaningless encouragements, general yelling, and just general talking for the sake of talking.

Now that I am in college, I am working with a different group of rowers who haven’t ever known this philosophy of coxing. For the most part, their high school programs were less serious, and they learned to row in a “coxswains are cheerleaders” environment. When my coach has them fill out feedback forms, I get comments like “You are very organized and I always trust you at races,” “You make great technique calls,” “Great steering,” etc. Always followed by the “but you’re not aggressive enough during pieces.” When I’ve asked what they’re looking for, they pretty much define filler. They want me to yell stupid things about the crews next to us to get them fired up and essentially just scream from start to finish. At a small and inconsequential race in the fall, I decided to try it. I finished thinking that that was some of the worst coxing I had ever done. There was no coherent race plan, no useful information about the course, no technical focuses. However, the feedback I got was “That’s some of the best coxing you’ve ever done.” All I did was yell nonsense for 5k!

This spring, my unwillingness to compromise my coxing lost me the boat. (Granted, this was not a coaching decision, but a simple vote from the top 8). I am absolutely willing to work with the girls on specific calls that work for them and get them fired up within the scope of our race plan, but not at the expense of everything else I do well. How do you think I should deal with this? I learned how to cox around rowers who were taught the same things I was about coxswains, but now I’m stuck coxing in a “coxswains are cheerleaders” environment.

A few things to start:

Have you ever explained your style of coxing to your crew(s) and why it works, not only for you but for the boats you’ve coxed previously?

I’m a firm believer in not compromising what you know works and what you do well just to satisfy other people. I’ve been asked to do it before under threat of losing a boat and I willingly gave up that boat because I didn’t want to stop doing the things that I knew made me a good coxswain. I agree with and absolutely support you because I’ve been there and I know what it’s like. You definitely have to be flexible and willing to try new things but the line’s gotta be drawn somewhere.

Have you ever considered or tried coxing men? Your style, which I will now affectionately call “sugar and bullshit free coxing”, sounds like something they would really respond to.

I’d start by having a conversation with your coach(es). Explain to them that this was how you were taught to cox from the very beginning, this is why it worked for you, and this is why it’s a strategy you believe in (and it absolutely is a strategy). Help them to understand how the type of rowers you’re coxing now are different than the ones you’re used to coxing (and then further explain the cheerleader-coxing conundrum) and why it’s hard for you to adjust something that you know works to something that makes you feel like … not a bad coxswain, but an inefficient one. Just like how you and your crew have to “buy in” to your coach’s philosophy and the rowers have to “buy in” to your style of coxing, you also have to buy into your style. The rowers might buy in to your (fake) cheerleader style but if you can’t get on board with it, how good is your coxing really going to be? You’re not going to be passionate about it, which means that on some level there’s going to be a lack of intensity and aggression.

From there, have a conversation with the rowers and tell them the same thing. Try to avoid the “my coxing style is inherently better than your previous coxswain’s style” just because there’s the potential for a lot of issues to arise there. Tell them what you just said too about working with them on specific calls and being willing to compromise in that aspect but at the same time don’t be afraid to tell them that you can’t change your entire style because it’s something you’ve worked hard to develop and, if you were a recruit, most likely a very large part of why you’re part of the program you’re coxing for. Stick up for yourself and don’t feel like you have to cave to their requests/demands just because there are eight of them and only one of you.

I’d really encourage you to consider seeing if you can cox the guys for a practice or two just to see what it’s like. Talk to their coach about it and see if you could set something up. If you can’t get anything figured out before the end of the year, try coxing for a master’s program over the summer. The guys are older obviously, but they’re still guys. I actually heard a men’s masters crew last week telling this girl that was, I assume, filling in for their usual coxswain “We don’t care what your style is, just don’t do any of that cheerleader bullshit”. If coxing for the men isn’t an option at all, do the best you can to make it work with the women. If it means not coxing the top 8+ and instead coxing the 2nd 8+, embrace it. Explain to them right off the bat that this is your style, this is how you cox, you’re willing to work with them and throw in some calls they’d like to hear but on the whole, this is the kind of coxswain you are. Commit to making this boat fast by being the best coxswain you can be for your crew while still staying true to your style.