Author: readyallrow

Coxing Novice Q&A Technique

Question of the Day

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As a novice coxswain I still really struggle with the technical aspect of practices. This summer I joined a boat club and spent two weeks out on the water learning to row, hoping that the first-hand experience would help me understand how to fix some common problems. Now that I’m coxing again, I still get really confused when something is wrong with the set. I don’t know what other advice to give other than handle height suggestions and counting for catch-timing, especially when it doesn’t seem to be up or down to one side consistently (like rocking back and forth with every stroke). I was wondering what advice you would give to your rowers in a situation like this, and how you can recognize and remedy some common technical problems.

There are a lot of things that can mess with the set and all of them are exacerbated when the rowers you’re coxing are novices. The most common and obvious thing is handle heights and that tends to be what coaches point out the most, so it’s natural for that to be the go-to thing you call for when trying to get the boat to set up.

Calling for catch timing, even though it does cause the boat to go offset, doesn’t do anything to help with the set (at least in my experience) because it takes the focus away from one problem and puts it on another. People start rushing up the slide because they’re behind the count or sitting at the catch and waiting because they’re ahead of it. Any inkling of thought about handle heights goes out the window, which in turn can end up making the set even worse.

When the boat goes off set and I’m coxing, I usually…

Tell the side it’s down to to lift their hands. If that doesn’t work after a stroke or two I’ll tell the other side to lower their hands a bit.

Change how I say “set it up”. If you say “set the boat” too often it’ll start to lose it’s meaning and people will stop listening, so in addition to tell each side what to do I’ll say “stabilize it”, “level it out”, etc.

Remind them to adjust their handle heights only at the finish. Coming out of the turn at the finish is the only spot where their hands should move; too many people try to make adjustments in the middle of the stroke and that ends up throwing the boat way over to the other side (and pissing off the rowers who just had their fingers smashed on the gunnels).

Remind them to shape the finishes by pulling in to their targets and giving themselves room to tap down. So many people either pull into their laps and lift their hands up immediately after the finish or pull in too high and come away at the same height … and then wonder why the boat’s not set.

Make sure their weight is centered in the middle of the boat and that they’re not moving around unnecessarily while they’re sitting out.

Usually I’ll make general calls for technique and the bodies unless I hear the coach point out something specific, in which case I’ll try to focus my calls on that and incorporate the feedback they’re giving into my rotation of calls. For example, if they say something to 3-seat about getting the bodies set early so they’re not rocking over mid-recovery and diving down with the shoulders at the catch (resulting in their blade going up in the air, which leads to a litany of other issues), then I’ll make that (and 3-seat) the focus of my calls for a few strokes until the boat levels out.

As far as recognizing other general technique issues, that comes with experience, paying attention during practice, and hearing/seeing what your coach is pointing out.  If you hear them tell someone they’re washing out, look to that person’s oar and see if you can see it. (If you don’t understand what washing out is, for example, ask.) From there, listen to see what the change is that the coach wants them to make and then watch their blade to see if they actually make that change. See if you can spot the differences between before the change and after. Remember what the boat felt like during the “wrong” strokes so that in the future when the boat feels like that again you can look to see if anyone is washing out and then make the necessary corrections from there.

How To Q&A Rowing

Question of the Day

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A problem we always ran into with our boat that we stored down low – when we get the boat out, everybody is on the same side at waist and obviously can’t all bring it up to shoulders. Is there an easier way to do it than having the girls run around to the other side before shoulders or is that just how it is?

That’s kinda just how it is. The easiest way to do it is to have everyone lift it up off the racks at waist, side step to the middle of the boat bay, and then have all the ports or all the starboards go under the boat one by one until everyone is on the correct side. Going under vs. going around just saves time because you don’t have to bob and weave around riggers or other people. From there you can take it up to shoulders and walk it out.

For some reason every so often this confuses the hell out of people and no one knows who should be going under so make sure you specify, “Ports go under, starting from the stern … Annie, go. Maddie, go. Rachel, go. Alex, go.” You want this to be a quick process, obviously, because the boat gets heavier when someone lets go and it’s uncomfortable to hold the boat for too long when everyone is on the same side.

College Video of the Week

Video of the Week: The Social Network

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In honor of the Royal Henley Regatta that takes place later this week, I give you this Armie Hammer appreciation post.

Also, somewhat related, check out these posts by Dan Boyne, coach of Harvard’s recreational rowing program, on the making of the rowing scenes from the movie, including the Henley scene. It didn’t actually hit me until I read this several months ago that the rowing scenes from the beginning are from that stretch between N. Beacon Street and the sandbar (if you’re familiar with the river by CRI). There are nine parts and some are a little lengthy but they’re well worth the read.

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6 || Part 7 || Part 8 || Part 9

College Q&A Rowing

Question of the Day

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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

Question of the Day

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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

Question of the Day

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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.