Month: October 2013

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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Hey! I’m a sophomore coxswain in high school and I’m in the 2V. We only have 2 varsity 8s because our team is a bit small. The 1V cox is a junior. (It’s a girls team). A lot of people have been saying that I am good enough to take her place, but I’m not sure if I am! She is a bit full of herself and thinks everyone likes her … but they don’t. She always gets confused but I am always alert and know what I’m doing. She is like my mentor and taught me a lot of the things I know. When I move into her spot (definitely by spring) how should I approach her since I will be the better coxswain? I’m just not sure if she will take it well, and I don’t want to make her angry or upset. This is difficult for me because I don’t want her to be sad that I took her place.

Here’s the thing. I don’t want to say that you shouldn’t care about the other coxswains because they’re your teammates and in most cases also your friends but when it comes to vying for boats … they’re the competition. I don’t give a damn about your feelings. I have a very “dog eat dog” philosophy when it comes to stuff like that. If having the 1V is important to you I expect you to have been working for it from day one just like I have been. If you haven’t been doing that and then end up losing your seat, well, sorry but you shouldn’t have assumed it was safe simply because of seniority or whatever. Keep personal feelings out of it.

If she’s been mentoring you, in theory I would think that she’d be at least a little proud that you’ve taken her advice and make improvements to the point where your coaches consider you skilled enough to handle the 1V. But, since not everything is rainbows and puppies I would suggest this:

Do not assume that you are the “better” coxswain, regardless of whether you are or aren’t. That just sounds stuck up and pretentious. If you act like that you can/will for sure turn her off and lose her as a mentor, which you probably don’t want.

Continue asking her for advice if/when you need it. Again, don’t assume that you have nothing left to learn just because you’re in one of the top boats. When you feel as though have nothing left to learn, that’s when you should quit.

Don’t assume you’re going to get the 1V. Even if it seems like a sure thing at this point, remember the saying that “the only sure things in life are death and taxes”.

Like I said before, if she’s upset, angry, or whatever about losing her seat, assuming your coach makes that decision, then that’s her issue to deal with, not yours. If she treats you like crap afterwards then that should be confirmation enough for your coach to know that they made the right decision by taking her out of the boat. You’ve just got to accept that that’s how she’s acting and move on.

I would also suggest not letting the rowers talk shit about her (or anyone else) to or around you. Regardless of whether you all get along with her, I don’t think it’s OK to do that to someone you’re on a team with. I’m a little torn on whether or not this is a self-serving ulterior motive or not but you can also make yourself look good in situations like that by shutting that kind of behavior down immediately and telling them to stop if you hear them saying something about her. Obviously you shouldn’t tell them to stop JUST to make yourself look good because that is shitty – I mean it in more of a “kill two birds with one stone” kind of way. In the long run if you’re known as the coxswain/person on the team who doesn’t tolerate stuff like that, you’ll be seen as more of a leader (obviously good for someone who’s a coxswain) and as someone who upholds a high standard of behavior for the people on the team. THAT is the kind of person I want coxing all of my boats, but I would depend on the coxswain in the top boat to be the one setting the example for everyone else. I’m definitely the kind of person that will take stuff like that into consideration when I’m thinking about lineups. Whether or not other coaches do that, that’s up to them, but one thing you should assume is that they are watching you to see how you react to and handle situations like that.

Erg Playlists

Music to erg to, pt. 12

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If you’re looking for a solid song to listen to while you’re erging, “Smoke on the Water” is it. Such a classic song, not to mention a perfect description of those foggy morning rows. It’s a “must-have” for any erg playlist. M83’s “Midnight City” is one of those songs that you would swear is in every rowing video on YouTube ever so it seemed like an obvious choice for a playlist. The other “must-haves” on here are U2’s “Vertigo”, The Black Keys’ “Gold on the Ceiling”, and Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me”. You haven’t experienced a real erg test until you’ve been in a boathouse with guitar-heavy music blasting at full volume with the whirr of the ergs in the background. The PR potential in conditions like that are high.

https://play.spotify.com/user/1241641027/playlist/2Maednd3uxY2vgRhi2Xksf

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

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How did you know when you were ready to go back to rowing? I am in a similar situation; I was burned out and took a few months off. During my time off I realized I wasn’t coxing for the right reasons and I think I’ve discovered what the right reasons are. Now I miss it like crazy but I’m worried about going back too soon.

After living in Boston for a year I was looking for jobs and decided to check row2k on a whim (for the first time in awhile). I saw that one of the local high schools was hiring and I figured why not try coaching. I don’t think I ever came to the conclusion that I was “ready” to get back into it (after a five year break), I just kind of … did.

I think the biggest thing that has helped me not get burned out on rowing again was that it wasn’t (and isn’t) my life 24/7. I go to practice and when I’m there, that’s what I’m focused on but when I’m not I try not to think about it (unless I’m doing blog stuff). That was part of the problem when I was at Syracuse – it consumed every aspect of my life and far too many hours in my day than it should have.

Related: How did you balance crew, classwork and a social life while you were in college?

The other thing is that I’ve really liked nearly everyone I’ve worked with. I’ve learned something from all of them and in one way or another, they helped me figure out what I want and don’t want in a team/coaching environment. Both of those things are things you should consider when you decide you want to get back into coxing. One, how much time is it going to take up and is that too much and two, who are the people you’ll be working with, are they people you want to be working with, and are they going to help you get better. If you figure out your responses to those and end up settling for something less, you might end up feeling burned out again.

In addition to that, like you said, knowing the reasons you’re doing it are also a pretty big part of it all. Once you’ve figured out what the right reasons are and are actually honest with yourself about why they’re right and the previous ones were wrong, you’re setting yourself up for a solid, productive return to the sport. Looking back, I don’t actually know if I was coxing at Syracuse for the right reasons. I knew I wanted to do it and that I wanted to go far with coxing but I was also partially doing it because it was what was expected of me. I think pretty early on in high school, maybe around the start of sophomore year, it started being assumed by my friends, family, coaches, and teammates that I was going to cox in college. My junior year it was pretty much expected of me since I’d had a successful career up to that point . By the time spring season had rolled around my senior year I’d already been accepted to Syracuse, so that combined with the insanely successful season I ended up having meant there was no backing out of it even if I wanted to. Part of the reason quitting was so hard for me was because I felt like I was letting down all these people that expected me to go do great and wonderful things, but those expectations, while good most of the time, contributed to why I stuck with it longer than I should have and why I was so miserable. When I started coaching and coxing again, I didn’t have to worry about anyone else because I was doing all of it for me.

Novice Q&A Technique

Question of the Day

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Hey! I am a novice and today our cox said to check our “hand height” … what does it mean? Is it at the catch or on the recovery? Thank you.

He/she was referring to your handle heights, which is the height above the gunnels that your hands and oar handle are. This applies to the entire stroke but where discrepancies are felt the most is on the recovery when the blades are out of the water. Your handle heights, for the most part, are what help to stabilize (aka “set”) the boat. If the handle heights of the rowers are all the same, the boat will sit perfectly level. If one side’s hands are up high (between your shoulders and mid-rib cage) and the other side’s hands are down low (between their belly button and hips), the boat will be offset.

When you pull through the drive, the handle should be hitting you somewhere between your mid-rib cage and belly button at the finish. For girls, a good reference is about where your bra line is. That might seem high when you’re just sitting normally but when you factor in the layback, it’s just about the right spot. At the finish it’s important to remember to tap down to get your blade out of the water before moving the hands away, which you should do in over smooth, level movement. The best way to think about it is like you’re gliding your hands across a flat surface. You don’t want your hands bobbing all over the place because that’s going to decrease the stability of the boat. If your coxswain says to check your handle heights or set the boat you should think about where your hands are (too high, too low, or just right) and then make any necessary adjustments at the finish (never in the middle) of the stroke.

What to wear: Official visits

College Recruiting

What to wear: Official visits

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When dressing for a college visit, you don’t have to get all dressed up like you’re going to a job interview but you shouldn’t look like you’re running to Wal-Mart either. You are here to make an impression, after all. It’s obviously not going to be the most important thing people care about but you would be surprised how often it gets brought up.

The most important piece of advice I can give you is to dress appropriately for the weather. I can’t even begin to tell you how hard we’ve been judging some of these recruits that show up in chinos, t-shirts, sandals, and a windbreaker and then spend the entire practice on the launch freezing their asses off because shocker they didn’t check the weather before they left home and didn’t know that temps were only supposed to be in the 50s. Factor in the fact that it’s cooler on the water, plus wind, rain, etc. and you’re setting yourself up to be pretty miserable. Of course the coaches will offer you survival suits and jackets but don’t expect that to do much for you if you aren’t wearing the appropriate clothes to begin with.

When packing, choose casual, nice clothes that you can wear around campus since you’ll likely be going to a few classes and to practice but avoid wearing stuff that’s going to be out of place, like a dress or jacket and tie.

So, what should you wear? Just keep it simple – jeans, a casual shirt or sweater, and close-toed shoes. Sperry’s are a universally good choice, regardless of the season. Avoid sandals if you’re going to a morning practice and/or it’s after mid-September otherwise your feet will freeze. Top wise, a sweater or pullover of some kind would be good because it’s always cooler on the water, so you’ll definitely want the extra layer of warmth. Even if you don’t wear it the whole time, having it available to throw on while you’re on the launch would be advisable. In addition to all of that, you can never go wrong with a hat or sunglasses. Don’t forget other obvious stuff like coats, rain jackets, gloves, etc. if necessary.

As far as what to wear when you’re not at practice or on campus, you’ll most likely be spending the rest of your time at the house of the athlete(s) you’re staying with so that’s up to you.

Image via //Men’s Journal