Day: June 9, 2015

Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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I have a question bouncing off of one you answered about losing the passion to row. I’m finishing my second year of college and I’m completely miserable. I loved rowing and I know this is what I want to do but rowing, school, and life are getting to be too much. I feel like I’m drowning. I talked to my mom how I feel and she suggested taking a semester off of school and rowing. I kind of want to but I’m afraid of what my coaches and teammates will think. I’ve never given up on anything before and I’m afraid to start now. I don’t want to be seen as weak or a quitter. I don’t even know how to start the conversation with my coach. Do you have any advice?

 If you’re genuinely miserable and have felt that way for awhile (as in you’ve felt like this for a few months, not just for a week or two because of general stress…) then taking time off might be the smart thing to do. I’ve said this a thousand times on here and I’ll say it again – at the end of the day you have to do what’s best for you. You can love rowing, love your coaches, love your teammates, etc. but if something’s going on that’s making you not enjoy what you’re doing, the smart thing to do would be to take a step back and work out whatever those issues are (either on your own or with help) so you can get back to having fun and enjoying rowing/life.

As far as your coaches and teammates go, they don’t have to like your decision but they should at least respect it. If they don’t and instead give you shit for it, well, that should answer your question as to whether staying on the team is worthwhile or not. I don’t want to say coaches should be used to having conversations like this with their rowers but they should expect it from time to time so the best thing you can do, for you and them, is to just be honest about how you’re feeling, why you think taking some time off will be beneficial, and then set up a time to talk at some point in the future … either in a month, when you get back to campus, etc. If you do end up deciding to take a break then the sooner you let your coaches know the better, simply because this will presumably have some kind of impact on their fall plans. Don’t wait until the last minute and beat around the bush though because that’s just annoying and frustrating.

You’re not really “giving up” so don’t look at it that way. If you made no effort to work on yourself and/or work out your issues before deciding to quit, yea that’s giving up. It doesn’t sound like that’s what you’re doing though so don’t put that kind of unnecessary pressure on yourself. Like I’ve said, do what you need to do for yourself but talk with your coaches and keep them up to date with what you ultimately decide to do. It’s only fair and if they’re like the coaches I work with and most of the ones I’ve had in the past, they’ll support you either way.

Coxing Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

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Hello! I finished my last race of the season yesterday and my coach and I were talking about what I can do to benefit the rowers more next season. She said that I need to have a couple of calls that come from my deep belly of coxing abilities, that the crews recognize as “shit gets done” calls. She gave the example of “hit the last nail into their coffin” and said that that was too extreme for my team, but that I needed something equivalent to that to finish out close races with. Do you have any favorites? or any good recordings I should listen to? thanks so much!!!

A call that I and most coxswains I know have used at least once in our careers is “stick the knife in” or “twist the knife”. It’s kind of along the same line as the coffin call you mentioned but they’re good calls that can be super effective when called at the right moment and in the right situation. I remember calling something similar with 100m or so left to go in a race once when we were even with another crew and by the time we got to our last few strokes we were up by just enough that “twist the knife” was the only thing I needed to say to get them across the line. One of my friends in college had this call where he’d say “light the fire” at the start of their sprint (instead of actually calling the sprint as a way to fake out other crews) and then with 15-20 strokes left he’d say “throw some gas on it” which would get them to bring the rate up another beat or two and just haul ass to the finish line. For situations like this though I think the best calls (and the ones your crew connects the best with) are the ones that come to you in the moment because then they don’t sound forced or scripted (which is how stuff like this can come off most of the time).

I do agree with your coach that it’s always good to have some calls in your back pocket that, when you use them, your crew knows it’s time to shift gears and get shit done. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve gotta come up with super special buzzwords or phrases though – sometimes just the way you say things will convey that message. I always love listening to coxswains, especially collegiate ones, say “NOW” when they want their crew to do something because even though it’s a really simple instruction, just the tone and raw power in their voice lets you know that they aren’t messing around.

I know I’ve pointed out calls I like for situations like this before (I’ve heard a lot of good calls so it’s tough to remember them all) so when you’ve got time definitely read through the recordings posts and listen to some of the recordings to hear how the calls actually sound. All of them can be found here.

Coxing Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

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Hi! So I’m going to youth nationals soon and the minimum weight is 110 lbs. I know that I’ll need weight, 8 or 9 lbs. What kind of weights are best to use and where can I get them? Thanks!

Go to Home Depot or Lowes and buy a bunch of sand. It’s weird that USRowing makes you provide your own weight but whatever. Weigh yourself and then fill up a plastic bag with sand with whatever the difference is between that and 110lbs. At Sprints, IRAs, etc. the coxswains would fill the bags, duct tape it into a nice solid block, and then write their names, schools, event, and weight on there. I’m not sure if USRowing requires you to do all that but I’d recommend it just because it’s easier to transport when it’s not flopping all over the place and if you misplace it it can easily be returned to you.

Also, just gonna take this opportunity to copy/paste this section from the 2015 Youth Nats entry packet. Coxswains, read and be aware of this.

“The weight of Coxswains shall be determined once each day during either the Weigh-in Window or Adjusted Weigh-in Window, but not both. In the event a Coxswain is weighed after the applicable Weigh-in Window or Adjusted Weigh-in Window but before the first Race in which the weight is relevant, the Coxswain may be subject to one of the penalties described in Rule 2- 602 (“Types of Penalties”); the presumed penalty for such infraction is a Warning. Failure to weigh-in at any point in time prior to the first Race in which the weight is relevant shall constitute a violation of Rule 4-105.1 (“Coxswain’s Weight”) and result in the Coxswain being deemed ineligible to race.

When an Adjusted Weigh-in Window is created due to a scheduling change, a Competitor may weigh-in during either the original Weigh-in Window or the Adjusted Weigh-in Window, but not both, provided the Competitor completes his or her weigh-in prior to the newly Scheduled Time of the Race and on the same day as the newly Scheduled Time of the Race.

“Adjusted Weigh-in Window”: Should Race Officials adjust or alter the racing schedule for compelling reasons, changing the amount of time between the Weigh-in Window and the newly Scheduled Time of the Race, an Adjusted Weigh-in Window shall be created. The Adjusted Weigh-in Window shall be no less than one (1) hour and not more than two (2) hours before the newly Scheduled Time of the Race.

An “Adjusted Weigh-in Window” is only created if an adjusted schedule is officially posted or published by USRowing. Commonly occurring delays throughout the day are not considered an official adjustment to the schedule.

Coxswains who do not comply with the minimum weight standard must provide their own materials to create deadweight in accordance with the USRowing Rules of Rowing. This weight must be placed in the boat as close to the torso of the coxswain as possible, and is specifically forbidden to be distributed throughout the boat. At any time, before or immediately after the race, the Referee, another Race Official, or a member of the Control Commission may require the weight of the deadweight to be checked.”

JUNE 2016 EDIT: New favorite solution – scuba weights. They’re small, easy to carry (and travel with), and there’s no mess. We bought some before IRAs and they worked great.

Q&A

Question of the Day

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Hi, your blog is really helpful! I have a kind of strange question, but should female rowers wear anything under their uni/trou? Thank you so much!

It’s definitely a personal preference. I know some women that do just because a) hygiene and b) they find it to be more comfortable but I also know some that don’t because they think it’s uncomfortable and/or awkward to be walking around with very obvious VPL. Under Armour, C9 at Target, etc. sell great athletic underwear (or at the very least have solid seamless options) if you want to wear something but don’t want it to be super obvious. Don’t forget Amazon too – you can find plenty of options on there for pretty solid prices. Thongs are definitely the way to go because then you don’t have to worry about everything getting all bunched up (hence the uncomfortable-ness) but you should go with whatever’s most comfortable for you.