Author: readyallrow

Coxing Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

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Hi, so I’m coxing a race this weekend and its a bit of a funny course. Its raced 2 X 1800m stints so I am unsure how to cox it? As two separate pieces? Or as the full 3.6k? How tired should they be at the mid point, as they get a good few mins rest?? I am also racing the course later in a crew so it would be interesting to know your take on racing such an odd head. Sorry for all the questions, Thanks a lot! 🙂

Personally, I think I would try to cox it as a combination of a head race and a sprint, with the starts being head-race style and the bodies being sprint race style … ish.

A few things, first…

I’m assuming this is set up more like a head race course and less like a sprint race course. I’m also assuming that in between each 1800m you’ll want/have to keep the crew moving (meaning no one completely weighs enough). If you do get to weigh enough, pretty much everything I said in orange doesn’t apply (except for the park about making sure they all drink something).

Break the two pieces up like you would a head race – the first third is all about technique, pace, and rhythm, the second third is starting to incorporate in some motivational calls (sparingly), and the final third is mostly motivation while still keeping them on pace. With this race, your middle third is going to be the end of one piece and the beginning of another so you’ll probably end up doing calls that center around “clean strokes, finish out the first piece strong” and “let’s re-establish that rhythm we had in the first piece, *compliment them on something that felt really good that you want to carry over to the 2nd piece*”.

Make sure you and your crews stretch before you go out, drink plenty of fluids, and eat something small within 30min of your race. Also, don’t forget to go over your race plan one final time with them before you launch. Keep the warmup conservative but if you have room and time to spare, try to get at least one good practice start in at at least 3/4ish pressure. Don’t take too many hard strokes though, you don’t want to tire them out before you even get to the starting line.

You’re right, this is a really odd race but I think the key to racing it successfully is having a coxswain who knows how to pace his or her crew. The rowers also need to know how to pace themselves but I think it’s a lot easier to do that when you’ve got one person saying “this is when we’re gonna go hard, this is when we’re gonna stay relaxed, in 50m we’re gonna hit it, etc.” If you’ve got eight people that are rowing as eight people instead of one crew, you’re not going to be able to pace yourself and you’re going to burn out really fast.

I would say how tired they are probably depends a lot on their individual fitness and stamina but if I had to make a really rough guess, I’d say if they were working hard and you paced them properly they should probably feel like they just did a 2k at about 85-88%, give or take. They should be tired and feeling it but not so tired that they can’t do it again after 3-5 minutes.

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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Hey! So I’m a coxswain, and my coach always puts me in the top two boats with another coxswain. We are very alike coxing wise. Our rowers like us equally and so do the coaches. I’m sure they are having a hard time choosing who to boat higher, but I think they are leaning towards him, so I am wondering: would it be OK to go up to him and tell him “I want this boat and I think I can beat this other coxswain for it. What do you think I should do?” (or something like that). Thank you Kayleigh!

I’ll tell you a secret: coaches love when their athletes make it hard for them to make a decision because it shows that everyone is doing what the need to do. If the decision is easy … man, you done messed up. This quote sums it up nicely:

In the end, the coaches aren’t the ones who made the decision on what boat you would be in this season. You did. You made the decision on whether or not you were going to that optional practice, or whether or not you were going on that run, or giving everything you had on that piece. YOU made the decision. YOU picked your split. You decided your limit and either you passed it or you let it ruin you.  Remember that the next time you see the line-up.

If you have a good relationship with your coaches, which it sounds like you do, I would talk to them privately before or after practice one day and say “I know you’re in the process of making the decision as to who’s going to go the varsity boat and I just wanted to reiterate that I really want to cox this boat and think that I could accomplish a lot with them.” Give one or two serious, well-thought out examples of why you should be the one they choose and then leave it at that. Don’t even mention the other coxswain because it really has nothing to do with them. When I hear coxswains say they think they can beat the other coxswain, even though I know what you’re saying, a tiny part of me questions if they want the boat because they really think they deserve it or because they just want to prove that they can cox them better. I’d rather you not even mention them and instead tell me about why you deserve it, what you can bring to the crew, how you can make them better, and how coxing them is going to make you better.

It’s unlikely that you’re going to say anything that’s going to make them completely question their decision but you might end up making a point that they hadn’t fully considered or considered at all. At the very least you’ll remind them why you’re in contention for the boat in the first place and that is never a bad thing.

Q&A

Question of the Day

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Hi! The seats in my boat are really uncomfortable so I thought I would buy a seat grip because I saw that some people had them. However someone told me that you only need a seat grip if you are really tall and not if your seat is uncomfortable. Is this true? If so, what would you recommend to do so that I can concentrate on my rowing and not my seat.

I’ve heard that as well, that you shouldn’t use seat pads unless you need to get your torso up a little higher. I’ve also known people that have really bony butts that simply can’t row without using one. I say if you need it, use it. If you’re not someone that needs it for technique purposes then you can just adjust the height of your oarlock to compensate for the extra 1/4 inch in height you’ll get from using one.

Another thing that I’ve heard people do is wear padded spandex, like the ones cyclists wear. I don’t know how much it helps or how comfortable it is but it could be worth trying. JL makes a gel seat pad though that you might look into or if you wanna go the DIY route, just get an old yoga mat and cut it into the shape of the seat. Do this a few times, tape them together, and voila – you’ve got a seat pad.

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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Hi! I have been a competitive rower for the last three years (lightweight), and I have been trying to get my coach to let me learn how to cox for the last two. I always have been in bow seat and have even bowed a straight four and every time I try to talk to her about coxing she has given me the runaround. The men’s team at my club is in need of a cox, but she still won’t let me try. I just don’t know what to do anymore because I keep getting injuries when trying to continue to row, but love my teammates and want to stay for them. Is there any way that I can convince her to let me cox? Our current coxswain is taller than me, and I only weigh more because of weight lifting.

This is my take on this, which I’ve said on here several times before: if you want to cox for another team, you don’t need your coach’s permission. All you need to do is give them the proper notice (2-3 days sounds reasonable) and say “I heard the men’s team needs a coxswain, I’ve spoken to their coach and they’re interested in having me join the team so I’m going to go to their practice on Thursday.”

I only really advocate doing this in situations where you’re not happy with your current team (and have made that known to your parents/coach) or are trying to cox but aren’t being given the chance. If your team has plenty of coxswains and the other team doesn’t or you feel that you’d get a better shot at coxing the boats you want with them, that’s also legitimate I think. It’s really a case-by-case thing. Randomly just up and saying “Yea so I’m going to cox the boys today and maybe for the rest of the season” doesn’t fly and your coach is well within their right to be pissed at you.

Although bowing a four/quad is a little different than coxing, it’s pretty similar and something that I think would probably be a could indicator to see how well someone could handle the coxswain role if they were to switch from rowing. If you’re rowing though and consistently being injured, that’s a different story. I’m assuming from what you said about being a lightweight and rowing bow seat that you’re probably pretty small, so I’m guessing that most of your injuries come from trying to keep up with the other rowers or compensating for height/strength differences. You’re not an effective rower when you’re injured so it seems counter-intuitive to make you keep doing it, especially when you’ve consistently expressed interest.

Assuming your teammates are also your friends, they probably know all the injuries you’ve had and the fact that you’ve been asking to cox for two years now so hopefully they’d be supportive of your decision to cox the guys if that’s ultimately what you decide to do. They don’t have to be happy about it but they should at least respect your decision.

College High School Novice Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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My team is going to start a big/little program between the varsity girls and novice girls this spring. When we do the big/little reveal, we want to give gifts to our littles! Obviously this isn’t a sorority, so we’re not giving them paddles or anything like that, but do you have any suggestions for things we could put into gift baskets? Thanks!!!

That’s awesome!! We didn’t do this when I was in crew but we did when I was in band and it was so much fun. The big brothers/sisters would always write notes to our littles at band camp and before all our competitions, basically saying we were proud of them, making sure to touch on any big hurdles they’d overcome or major improvements they’d made, etc. It was one of the best traditions we had. I actually just found all the notes I got from my big sister from my freshman year and it was so fun going back and reading them and remembering all the silly inside jokes we had.

That could be something that all the varsity girls do for the novices – each varsity girl writes something for each novice and then you can compile them into individual book-like-things for each girl, that way they’ve got 10-15 (or however many) letters just for them. Keep it short, simple, sweet, and fun – let them know you’re excited to have them on the team, note something that you hope to see happen this year, recall a similar experience that you went through so she knows that she’s not the only one experiencing this issue, remind them that teamwork makes the dream work (or whatever other silly cliche phrase you wanna throw out there), etc. Bonus points for brightly colored construction paper, markers, stickers, and glitter. Bitches love stickers and glitter.

The other thing that we did that has been a tradition for like, 30+ years I think, is each new member of the band would get a brick. Our band was pretty big and with each member standing side by side we could nearly reach end zone to end zone during our shows. This resulted in our band being nicknamed “The Wall of Sound” (from Phil Spector’s wall of sound, if you know anything about music production/engineering) because when everyone would line up like that and then march forward it was a literal wall of sound coming towards you. Now, from that comes the bricks. Each member was considered a brick in the wall (a nod to Pink Floyd) in that without one of the bricks, the wall would crumble. So, during the summer after we’d started rehearsals, the upperclassmen would get together with a load of bricks, one for each freshman, and they’d stack them up on top of each other to create a wall-like formation. On one side they’d spray paint the band’s logo across all the bricks and then on the other side they’d paint each person’s name on an individual brick. We were then given our bricks by our big brother/sister and were “officially” considered to be part of The Wall. I still have my brick and consider it to be just as important as all the medals I’ve won from crew.

My point with that story is that you could also include something that shows them that they’re “officially” a part of the team. For us, it really drove home the message of how it’s about the bigger picture and how that bigger picture can’t be achieved without the contributions, dedication, and passion of each person. It’s the same with crew.

Another idea is if you’ve got a parent who knows their way around a wood shop or you’ve got some artistically inclined rowers, you could make each rower their own mini replica blade, sort of like this. If someone can make a bunch of plain ones from wood then the varsity girls can paint them with your team’s colors and then present them to the novices. Alternatively, you can make them out of modeling clay too. (I’ve done it, it’s super easy). Just draw out a template, roll out the clay, use a X-Acto knife to cut it out, and then bake it.

You could include something that you wouldn’t have survived without when you were a novice. I remember talking about this with my friends once. One wouldn’t have survived without a really thick, warm pair of wool socks, another wouldn’t have survived without the granola bars her mom had waiting in the car for her after practice (because she was always starving), another said DVDs for the 5+ hour bus rides we took every week when we’d travel … stuff like that. I’d have probably given my little a bunch of Hot Hands and an ear warmer. If someone has a coxswain for their little sister, get them a notebook and a pack of pencils. (Hint hint nudge nudge, this is a great present for novice coxswains.) If you’ve got stickers or car decals with your team’s logo on them, throw some of those in there too. Another thing you could get if you could find them relatively cheap enough is water bottles, that way everyone always has one and you can minimize waste by not having plastic ones lying around the boathouse. Don’t count out the practical stuff either, like rubber bands for their hair, band-aids, cough drops, etc.

Last idea: a blanket! My warmest, most favorite blanket that I own is one that I got from crew. It’s fleece and is orange on one side and black on the other (our school colors). They are literally the easiest things to make in the world and don’t require any sewing abilities whatsoever. I’m actually shocked that mine is still completely in tact considering it went to every regatta, then to college, and then everywhere else I’ve gone over the last twelve years.

Coxing High School Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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Are there rules about coaches making coxswains weigh in to check their weight? Obviously coxswains need to weigh in at certain regattas to make weight. I remember someone telling me that it was against some rule to have coaches require coxswains to report their weight, but I forget where I heard that/if it is actually true.

As far as I know there isn’t a rule that says coaches can’t require coxswains to weigh in and report their weight. When done correctly, I don’t think this is a bad thing. It’s when coaches go on power trips with it and try to shame the coxswains (and rowers) for their weight that I start having issues with it. I think it’s good though because it keeps you accountable and helps the coaches keep an eye on everyone (ideally for safety and general well-being purposes).

College High School Rowing

Help me out with summer camp stuff!

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One of the questions that I’ve gotten most frequently is about summer camps for this year. I’m going to start working on that stuff over the next week and hope to get it all up by mid-February-ish. I’d like your help though! Last year a lot of people (mainly parents) asked my opinion about various programs and for most of them, I knew nothing. I think it’d be good to include some anecdotes about the experiences other people have had, that way people can get a real idea of what the program is like and whether or not it’s worth the money.

If you’ve attended a summer camp at a university or done a summer-long program like Penn AC, Vesper, or the USJNT (dev camp included), send me an email (rowingandcoxing@gmail.com) and let me know the following:

Which program you attended, where it was held, and how long it lasted (i.e. One week-long camp at XYZ University in [city, state]).

Pros/cons – what did you like and/or not like (preferably one of each so as to keep it fair)

Was it worth the money?

Would you recommend it to other people?

What was your biggest takeaway from the program, i.e. what was the biggest/most helpful thing you learned

Extra special bonus points for programs aimed at coxswains, programs held outside the US for the non-US readers, and programs not on the East Coast. I always get questions for programs in the Midwest, on the West Coast, etc. and have a hard time finding stuff or knowing where to look since I’m on the East Coast. If you’ve gone to any of these email me!!

Everything will be anonymous as usual so no need to worry about your name being attached to anything once I get it up. There’s no limits on length either so don’t feel like you have to leave anything out. For the parents that read this, feel free to email me too and let me know from your perspective what you thought of the camp that your kids attended. Thanks for your help!