Month: June 2013

College Q&A Rowing

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What is Radcliffe? Is that another rowing team? I’ve heard they also row under Harvard’s team?

Radcliffe doesn’t row under Harvard’s team, they are one of Harvard’s teams. They’re the women’s program that rows out of Weld Boathouse, which is on the Cambridge side of the river beside the Anderson bridge.

They’re called “Radcliffe” instead of “Harvard” because in the 1880s (I think) Radcliffe College was established, which was the female counterpart to the men’s Harvard College. Sometime in the mid-70s Harvard’s athletic department took over the Radcliffe athletics program and all the women’s teams took a vote as to whether or not they should become “Harvard” or remain “Radcliffe”. Only women’s rowing decided to not change their name which is why they aren’t known as “Harvard” and still have black and white colors instead of crimson.

Coxing Q&A

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I used to cox women for all four years I was in high school. I’m in college now and on a men’s team. In an eight or a stern loader four I have a hard time seeing things in front of me since my rowers are so much taller than women I’m used to coxing. This had led to close calls with logs floating in the water and other obstructions. HELP!

I’ve had similar problems coxing men’s eights a couple times. I’ve had a few close calls with singles and pairs because they sit directly in front of my bow so I have no idea they’re there until the coach says something and I steer around them. (Although why you’d sit right in front of an eight and stare right at them as they walk up on you instead of just moving is beyond me.)

Whenever I’m on the water, regardless of who I’m coxing, I’m never trying to look at what’s directly in front of me; instead I’m looking at everything that is 100ish meters in front of me. That way if I see something and know I can’t completely maneuver the boat out of the way in time I can say “ports, watch the log under your oars”. If I see something like another boat then I’ll obviously do whatever’s necessary to avoid them, either by using more pressure from one side or just stopping and readjusting my point. Stopping is a last resort though. I move my head to the left or right every couple of strokes just to check where I am but the key is to limit how far you move your shoulders and lean out. If I have to lean a little farther than normal I will and most of them will see you doing that and just know that you’re trying to see what’s ahead but I’ll still usually say something like “sorry guys, just checking what’s ahead…” if the boat really crashes over. If there’s a lot happening up ahead then sometimes I’ll sit up on the back of the stern for a stroke or two just to give me a broader view of where I can go. Talking to my coach and asking him what’s ahead of me when there’s a lot of traffic is also helpful on occasion.

You can’t avoid everything but you can always make an effort to try. One universal thing with my crews is that I always tell them that if they hear something, like a log bumping under the boat, just yell up to me so I can try to push it away. Same goes for if we pass really closely to a piece of debris and it’s right up against the hull (which has happened a few times). Having taller/broader rowers in front of you can be tough sometimes but there are plenty of ways to work around it as long as you communicate and pay attention.

College Coxing Q&A

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There are many excellent coxswains, especially at the D1 level. But what do you think separates an Olympic level coxswain from the many excellent D1 varsity coxswains?

I agree, there are a lot of excellent D1 coxswains. I think one thing that separates them is nothing more than a desire to go to that next level. Some coxswains/athletes want to push themselves harder and compete at the elite level and some are content finishing out their college careers and moving on to grad school, jobs, life, etc. Pursuing the Olympic team requires a lot of sacrifice, physically (obviously), emotionally, socially, financially, etc. so it takes a certain kind of personality and mentality I think to commit oneself to that.

The other thing, just in terms of skill, how well you’re able to execute the basics (i.e. managing practice, executing a race strategy, etc.) is another thing that separates the two. Obviously the top collegiate coxswains are great at this but if you look at trying out for the Olympic team as “leveling up”, the coxswains that are doing that are just so on point with everything they do. Their focus is even more lasered in, their execution is even more precise, etc.

Coxing Novice Q&A

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Hi today was my first day coxing and my coach told me I had to talk the whole time. I tried but I felt really silly and I had nothing to say. I would really appreciate just some things to say! Thanks!

You really shouldn’t be talking that much on your first day out, let alone the entire time on your first day out. You should be more focused on learning to steer and getting a feel for the boat. You haven’t even learned that much (or anything, potentially) about the stroke, what’s right, wrong, etc. so I don’t understand why he’d be telling you to talk the whole time. I’d talk to him and ask what he wants/expects you to be telling the rowers, just to get an idea of what he’s looking for. If you’re comfortable calling the warmup on your own, counting them in, etc. then by all means, go for it, but I don’t think there’s any way he can expect you to be saying anything about the bodies, technique, etc. yet. I’m hesitant to tell you anything specific to say because a pet peeve of mine (and most rowers) is when coxswains call things because they think it’s what they’re supposed to say instead of saying it because they have an actual reason to. You can look through the “calls” tag to get an idea of some stuff but about 95% of it most likely won’t apply to a true novice.

Related: So, what did you see?

Feeling silly doesn’t have to do with the calls, it’s more of a confidence thing. You’ve got to be confident and sure of yourself when you tell the eight other people in the boat what you want them to do. For some people that comes naturally but for others it comes over time as they get more comfortable with their crew.

Related: Hi! I’m a novice cox and I don’t think I talk enough during practice. I call the drills and I call people out when they are digging their blades. I try to keep them together and I let them know if they are rushing the recovery but that’s about it. Most of the time I really don’t know what to say and I don’t want to undermine or talk over the coaches.

Talk to your coach. Find out what he expects you to say and then ask him to go over all that stuff with you so you can understand what he wants. I really disagree with having you talk the entire time on the first day but he’s your coach, not me, so you just gotta roll with it. If you get too overwhelmed though and are having a hard time grasping everything, definitely speak up and say something. Ask to focus on just one thing at a time to start (starting with steering) and then after a couple practices of hearing what he’s saying, how the drills are called etc. then you can start easing into talking to the crew.

Coxing Q&A

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How long can a cox box go without dying? (If it’s fully charged to start with.)

If it’s fully charged you can probably get around 3-4 hours out of them with normal use. Not having the volume turned up all the way for an entire practice is a great way to save battery – you shouldn’t need it more than half to three-quarters of the way up anyways. The older the batteries in them get though the harder it will be to hold a charge so some older cox boxes might not last as long compared to newer ones.

Coxing Drills Novice

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Hey, This past spring season was my first season and I am a novice coxswain. Now I am training with mostly varsity kids for the summer. I want to be be able to get them to respect me but I am really short and weak. I have already tried working out with them. Is there any other way to get their respect? Also, what are some drills that I can do on the water when I am waiting for my coach so my rowers aren’t just sitting around? Thanks for the help!

Don’t use being “short and weak” as an excuse. I’ve been trying to break that stereotype my entire life and it really irritates me when other people use that to justify why people don’t respect them. I’m 4’11” and 95lbs – I am short and I’m definitely weak compared to rowers but what I lack in strength I make up for in leadership skills, meticulous attention to detail, and just working my ass off to be the best coxswain I can be for my crews. If you want their respect, do those things instead of making excuses.

Related: How a collegiate coxswain earned her crew’s respect

Two of the drills that my coach has me do are catch placement drills (by 4s, 6s, or all 8 using just the outside hand or both hands – there’s lots of variations you can do) and pause progressions (by 4s, 6s, or all 8, 5 strokes pausing hands away, 5 at bodies over, 5 at 1/2 slide, 5 full strokes).

Related: I’m a HS coxie, and I’ve been a long time fan of your blog. I’ve been training during the summer and recently my boat has transformed from a coxed 4+ to a coxed 4x+. One of our members has summer school so we’re out on the water fairly early, ~30 minutes before most of the coach boats come out. What are some useful drills for some guys who are transitioning from sweeping to sculling? These guys have done both but it’s obviously a bit of a change. Right now, we’ve been doing fairly basic stuff, SS with a few pause drills, square blade, etc. Any ones that you think could really help shape up the crew? I’d appreciate any advice that you could give. Thanks a lot and keep at what you’re doing!

Catch placement drills, which I talked a bit about in the post linked above, are stationary and the pause progressions will let us row for a bit but not get too far away from him. I wouldn’t go more than 200m or so before spinning, rowing down the other side of the river, and then spinning and going back up, similar to what you do at regattas. Talk to your coach too and ask if there’s anything specific they’d like you to do that day if you’re on your own for a bit. They’ll almost always give you something to do and they’ll appreciate the initiative.

Coxing Novice

Question of the Day

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Hi I’m a novice coxswain (like really novice, my first day of actual coxing was today) and I have a steering question. Should I steer when the rowers are on the drive or on the recovery (blades in or out of the water)? I have looked it up a couple places and found conflicting answers. Today I just steered during both because I figured for my first time it was more important not to hit anything than to have perfect “steering technique”. And I have one more question actually – I found it practically impossible to talk or run drills while steering today. That will get easier as I master steering right? For now do you have any tips for focusing on both talking and steering especially while running drills that involve calling pauses and counting strokes? Thank you so much and I LOVE your blog!

You’re right, the first few times you go out it’s more important to figure out how the steering works and just avoid running into anything. I tend to make small steering adjustments on the recovery. Sometimes I’ll adjust on the drive when we’re doing pieces since that is when the boat is most set (when the blades are in the water) but I find that I often get a better response from the rudder if I do it on the recovery. Turning the rudder effects the set a little though so you want to avoid doing anything that’s going to throw it off even more, especially if it’s already wonky. The boats I’ve been coxing in the last few months have really good steering and the crews I’m coxing are pretty experienced so it doesn’t mess with the set too much. Coming around a corner, if you make that small adjustment right at the finish you can just coast around it. If you’re not used to steering though and/or have an inexperienced crew, just stick to steering on the drive and keep your adjustments to a minimum (both in number and duration).

One thing that you’ll learn as you get more experienced is that steering both is and isn’t something you’re doing all the time. It’s kind of like when you’re driving – sometimes you’re making tiny adjustments with the wheel and sometimes you’re good to just leave it alone. The boat is the same way. You should always be aware of where you are, what’s ahead, etc. and always be keeping your hands on the strings to keep the rudder straight but you don’t always need to be moving the rudder around. Once you get a point you want to steer as little as possible.

As you get more experienced multi-tasking will become second nature. Most coaches are OK with running practice from the launch for the first few days though to let you get the hang of steering. If you’re doing both right away and feeling overwhelmed, tell your coach. It’s more important that you pick up steering than it is for you to call drills right now. Pay attention to the drills and what’s going on so you’re ready to do them when it’s time though.

Related: The other day I was stuck in the center lane. Let’s just say it didn’t go so well. How do you concentrate on boats on either side of you/your point, your rowers, making calls and stroke rate? Ack, overwhelmed!

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If counting the strokes in your head is too overwhelming right now just use the stroke counter on your cox box. In newer models (like the one in the picture) it’s in the top right corner of the screen whereas in older models it’s in the lower right corner of. As long as your stroke is rowing you’ll be able to get a count of the strokes since the sensor is under their seat. If they aren’t rowing you’ll have to count the strokes yourself since the cox box won’t pick them up.

Don’t be afraid to try counting, steering when necessary, talking, etc. at the same time (in small doses). You’re going to have to do it sooner or later. As a novice, no one expects you to be perfect right away so now is kind of your one and only chance to “test” things out. If you keep avoiding it though because you think you’re going to mess up, that’s just irresponsible coxing (in my opinion, at least). In the beginning coxing is uncomfortable but embracing the discomfort and not letting it distract you or make you scared is what makes good coxswains.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

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Do you think you can cox so much where you start to not want to do it anymore? I don’t feel that way but I’m basically dedicating my entire summer to crew (and I’m perfectly happy with that) but I don’t wanna burn myself out, you know? I love coxing and right now it’s my favorite thing in the world to do so I don’t want to make myself hate it.

You definitely can. That’s partially why I quit in college. Even if you enjoy doing something, you’ve got to give yourself a break every now and then. That means getting completely away from crew for a few days, a week, a month, whatever and just focusing on yourself, doing the other things you enjoy doing besides crew, sleeping, catching up on TV shows, etc.

Related: How do you know it’s time to throw in the towel with coxing?

If you’re OK with coxing all summer (after having coxing in the spring and fall, I assume) then go for it but just make sure you give yourself a week or two before school starts back up to unwind and relax before the season rolls around again.