Month: March 2015

Q&A Rowing

Question of the Day

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I’ve been rowing for six years and since my novice year I have consistently been in the V8. Our coach told us that in order to win we need to want to win more than the competition and in order to want it more we need to work so hard we can’t stomach the thought of losing. I’ve gotten to that point but it appears that this will be my first season in 11 that I will be rowing in the JV 8. I feel like a failure and that I’ve let myself down. It’s gotten to the point where it’s affecting other parts of my life. I’m taking it out through practice and working harder than ever. I feel like I’m being over dramatic but it’s so upsetting because I’ve made PRs on multiple erg tests (all are within the top 5 scores on the team) and I can feel that my stroke has significantly improved and it’s still not good enough. I know I’m being over dramatic but it hurts a lot and don’t know how to get over it. Do you have any advice?

This is why I have an issue (albeit a minor one) with coaches really pushing that whole “you have to want it to so much you’ll do XYZ” mindset because if it gets pushed too hard then people end up in the situation you’re in where they feel like failures because they’ve essentially been conditioned to think that not winning or being in the top eight or whatever is the worst thing ever. That’s just my opinion obviously but I think it’s important to keep in mind that there’s a fine line when it comes to stuff like that.

Erg scores aren’t everything. Most boat movers are good on the erg but not all those who are good on the erg can move a boat. I’m assuming that if you talk to your coach they’ll probably say that something about your technique is what put you in the JV8 which is encouraging since  fixing your technique is easy. Well, it’s not easy but it’s something you can easily commit to working on and improving, even in a short amount of time. Find out what it is you need to work on (it might be something specific or it might just be general…), commit to making and incorporating small improvements into your rowing, talk with your coach regularly about how you’re doing, and then after a couple weeks (like, two-ish minimum) ask if you can seat race for a spot in the V8.

I don’t necessarily think you’re being overly dramatic (maybe a little but not overly), I just think you’re being  harder on yourself than you need to be. Does getting put in the JV lineup after consistently being on varsity sting a little? Yea, it does but it’s the decision your coach made so you’ve gotta go with it (for now) and move on. Don’t throw yourself a pity party over this. My take on all of it is that if you’ve been rowing in the V8 for 11 seasons then whoever took your seat must be a really, really strong rower (either power wise, technique wise, or both), which means your coach probably had a really tough decision to make. This is a good thing. You want to have more than eight people competing for your top eight otherwise it’s a “top eight” in name only but if you’ve got ten people competing to be in it then you actually do have to narrow your lineup down to the eight best of those ten. Having a good 2nd/JV8 is good/important because it means the V8 is gonna have someone to push them during practice and vice-versa which in turn means everyone is going  to get faster.  This. is. what. you. want.  Right now whoever took your seat is (indirectly) saying “come and get me” so ultimately it’s your decision whether or not to put the time and work in to reclaim your spot.

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches Technique

Question of the Day

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My coach who used to cox used the phrase “tuck up those finishes” when we were out on the water and I was wondering what that meant?

I’ve never heard that specific phrasing before (it sounds British…?) but my guess is they’re saying to make sure you’re pulling in high and tight, meaning you’re pulling into the right spot on your ribcage (the high part) and that you’re pulling the handle all the way in (the tight part, aka you’re not going down and away when the handle is still six inches away from your torso). That’s total speculation though so I’d ask them before/after your next practice what they meant by that. It’s always better to ask the person who said it (if/when you can) since they’ll be able to tell you exactly what they mean and how it applies to whatever was happening when they said it.

College Q&A Recruiting Rowing

Question of the Day

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Hey! I’m currently a sophomore in high school and I really want to get recruited into a D1 or D2 college rowing program. I’ve been rowing for 3 years and the only problem is my height. I’m 5’3-5’4. My best 2k time is 7:44.2 and I plan on dropping about 14 seconds by senior year. My coach said that I have really long reach. How much is my height going to hinder me from getting recruited? Will I be better off switching to coxing?

I’d look into lightweight programs since you could definitely get some looks with that 2k time, even more probably if you go below 7:40. If that’s the route you go then I don’t think your height will really be that much of an issue. Just thinking about the lightweight women on our team, I feel like the ones I see most often around the boathouse are in the 5’3″ to 5’6″ish range. Obviously your height can be a disadvantage (especially if you’re rowing in a heavy/openweight program as a shorter person) but since lightweights are naturally shorter than heavyweights it’s not as big a deal to be a few inches shorter. I definitely wouldn’t switch to coxing though since you’ve already got a really good 2k and could potentially make for a good lightweight recruit.

Video of the Week

Video of the Week: What makes an Olympic rower, 1948

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This week’s VOTW is a continuation of the one I posted two weeks ago and is about the state of Olympic rowing post-WW2, which you can watch here.

This one features an interview with a “rower” who talks about the competitors at the 1948 London games (Germany and Japan being understandably absent), the training regime for athletes just returning home from war, what his daily schedule was like, and what it was like trying to maintain an athlete’s diet when so much food was still being rationed.

Erg Playlists

Music to erg to, pt. 80

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On Tuesday I posted the link to the 2015 Summer Camps spreadsheet and have since added about 10 more programs so definitely check that out if you haven’t already and are starting to think about your plans for the summer.

I’ve also “highlighted” on the main page the ones that U23 rowers and coxswains can do, that way you don’t have to wade through all the junior programs to find something applicable to you. I also posted several questions on Tuesday (which you can read here), as well as this post on things novice coxswain should know as we head towards the start of the spring season.

Coxing Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

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Hey! I am a women’s coxswain. I weigh like 116ish pounds depending on the day. I want to lose a couple pounds and I know I can do it healthily. The problem is that I can’t find a way to lose it. I eat very healthily and I exercise pretty regularly, but I always stay around the same weight. Any suggestions?

That’s your body’s way of telling you to stop because you don’t have any excess weight to lose. If you already eat a fairly well-balanced diet and work out on a regular basis then your body fat is probably at a reasonable enough level that there’s nothing extra to get rid of. The minimum is 110lbs, you’re at 116lbs … your weight is fine if that’s what your concern is. I honestly wouldn’t worry that much about trying to lose a few pounds and instead just keep eating healthy and working out when you can.

Coxing Novice Q&A

Question of the Day

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Hi, I have never experienced rowing before and I would like to be a coxswain. I’ve done a little bit of research on what a coxswain does. I would like to know what you think is expected at tryouts.

Is there such a thing as coxswain tryouts? I don’t think anyone really “tries out” coxswains (mainly because it’s kinda hard to do due to logistics) so I can’t really say what you should expect. I would just show up, indicate you’re interested in being a coxswain, and plan on spending a good amount of time observing what the varsity coxswains are doing and how the coach(es) run things until it’s time to get on the water. The more you can educate yourself now on how the team does things, the basics of coxing, etc. the easier it’ll be once you’re actually in a boat.

Has anybody ever actually gone through coxswain tryouts? Did you have to do anything or did your coach just say “you’re invited to join the team, you’re not, etc.”?

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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Hi – I was wondering what you thought about motivating rowers outside of practice, such as making healthy choices or attending practice more often. Sometimes when I try this I feel pretentious or nosy and even though I have respect from my teammates in the boat and at practice, they might not take me seriously or say something along the lines of, “thanks Coach”. Thanks for any advice.

Eh, I think this is one of those things where you have to know your audience and understand the culture of the program. If you’re a fairly casual team then having someone suddenly trying to inject in a level of enthusiasm and personal responsibility that isn’t typically there can come off as you being that “eager beaver” type of person that we all know and roll our eyes at. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to try to up the level of your team but … it doesn’t always work. It also depends on your experience level too. If you’re a novice and you’re walking down the hallways at school saying “make good choices!” to other people on your team then it can’t be hard to see how that would get annoying.

Personally, I really don’t like when people do this because it’s rare that it actually comes off as intended and not as coming from a place of superiority. It’s just one of those things that (maybe irrationally sometimes) really pisses me off, regardless of whether it’s happening to me or people around me. Making healthy choices, showing up to practice, etc. are things that people need to decide for themselves that they’re going to do and it can be really annoying to have someone in your ear telling you to do something that you aren’t fully committed to doing. It’s kind of like telling an addict that they need to get clean – most of them know that’s what they need to do but they don’t want to do it because someone’s telling them to, they want to do it because it’s what they want and choose to do. It’s a weird analogy but one of my coaches said that to us in college and it’s just always kinda stuck with me.

Ultimately I think you can go one of two ways here. One, just back off because this approach isn’t working. Two, talk to one person (your stroke seat or the person who seems to be the most committed out of the group) about why you’re doing this and get them to buy into it. It’s a lot easier to get other people to buy in if you’ve already got someone (influential) on your side. Think about how you’re communicating this too – if you feel like you’re coming off wrong figure out why. Is it just because people aren’t responding the way you want them to (you can communicate fine and still have people not respond) or is it because you actually do sound pretentious when you talk to them? This is a good skill to develop in general so I’d encourage you to do it regardless of what you end up deciding to do. Every situation is different but in this one I’d say it’s probably best to just let it go because it sounds like you’re (unintentionally) annoying your teammates more than you’re motivating them. I wouldn’t take it personally though, especially if you still get along well and they still respect you in general.