Author: readyallrow

College Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By

Any words of advice for making the transition from coxing at the high school level to coxing in university? I had my first practice this week (the uni has a club program in the summer) and it’s safe to say that the practice was a little … rocky. Is this normal for the first practice? My coach was really great about it all, saying I have the whole summer to get up to speed and I made sure to take full responsibility for any errors or spotty bits in my communication so as not to start off poorly with the rowers (I’m a girl coxing the men’s team, by the way). But I guess I’m just worried about all the usual things … gaining respect, executing the workout and drills properly, meeting the rowers’ and coach’s expectations, etc. I could rant all day to you about this but I suppose it just comes down to: do I have too high expectations of myself in wanting things to go smoothly right off the bat? How long do you think it will take to get in the swing of things? Sorry if this question isn’t quite coherent.

It is normal I think because you’re coxing people that you don’t know (that well) and haven’t ever coxed before. There’s going to be that initial period in the beginning where things will be a little “off” because they’re getting used to your style, which is probably different than the way their previous coxswain did things, and you’re trying to figure out eight new people in addition to how to manage practice with a different coach. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Once you get to know them and vice versa things will be fine. It’s great that your team has this summer program because, like your coach said, you’ve got all summer to hone your skills and get up to speed which means in the fall you’ll be 100% on top of your game.

Gaining respect comes with time. It can’t always be earned on the first day but it can definitely be lost there. Treat your rowers like you want to be treated, carry out your responsibilities appropriately, effectively, and diligently, own up to your mistakes when necessary, and remember that there are people around who are always willing to help you – all you have to do is ask.

Related: Respect

If you’re worried about the workouts or drills, see if you can meet up with one of your coaches one day to go over the drills they like to do. This would be great to do for two reasons – one, you find out what the drills are, how to do ones that you aren’t familiar with, and can get some basic insight on what the coach is specifically looking for with each one and two, it shows your coach you’re committed to the team, you want to be the best coxswain you can be for your boat, and that you’re willing to put the time and effort in off the water to get better on the water. I feel like people are afraid that something like this would make them look like a kiss-ass but from a coach’s perspective, my respect and level of trust in him/her would skyrocket.

Related: Do coaches generally like it when novice coxes go into their office asking questions about last practice/tips on what they could have done better coxing wise, etc? Or does it make the novice, look like a nervous, needy, annoying cox? That’s what I’m always worried about going into coach’s office. Thanks! I love that you’re a cox/coach and you answer all our questions!

In terms of expectations, wanting to meet the expectations of the rowers and coaches isn’t a bad thing. Just know that right off the bat, they have little to no expectations because they don’t know you. The coaches know you from recruiting (if you went through that process) so they have expectations based off what they’ve seen on paper but that’s all. In the fall, yea, they’ll have some that are more established but I don’t think it’s something you need to seriously concern yourself with right now. I don’t think wanting things to go right immediately means you have expectations that are too high but just remember that the expectations you consider to be reasonable may be considered too high by others. Your expectation of the boat has to be a combination of fifty other minor expectations, which I don’t think is something most coxswains realize. For now, you should have one expectation and that’s of yourself to go out each day and execute practice well. If you can get off the water saying that today was a good day, consider your expectations met. If you can’t say that, don’t necessarily chalk one up in the loss column right away. Instead think about why they weren’t met, what happened, what you can do differently, and then apply your realizations to tomorrow’s practice.

Depending on how often you’re practicing, I’d say give it a week or two. It’s not like you’re a novice learning how to cox for the first time – you already know how to do that. What you’re doing is getting used to coxing a new group of people while being coached by a new group of coaches. That takes time but it sounds like your coaches are really encouraging and I would assume willing to help you should you need it. For now, don’t stress yourself out over anything. The summer is supposed to be relaxing, regardless of what you’re doing. And crew, hard as you might/should be working, should always be enjoyable. Don’t ruin it by over-thinking things. Been there, done that, was 10x more miserable. Use this time to get to know your rowers and don’t be intimidated by them. Like I said earlier, treat them like you want to be treated, be friendly and approachable, spend time with them outside of practice, etc.

Coxing Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

By

Hello! I’m not great at estimating distances but I’m learning and getting better – but my coach told me and the other coxswains on the team that it is better to call the sprint early and then ask for 10 more strokes than to call it a little late and wonder what could have been (strokes used in the race). However, I always feel bad if I tell the rowers we have twenty strokes left when we actually have thirty. What do you think? Is my coach wrong or do I just need to suck it up? Thanks!!

I don’t think your coach is explaining this properly. He’s taking two separate things and explaining it like they’re one in the same. The sprint doesn’t have to do with a certain number of strokes – you’re calling it for a certain number of meters, like the last 250m or something (which is the start of the red buoys to the finish line). Some teams do X strokes at 36, X at 38, etc. for their sprint but they still start it when they cross the last 250. The “10 more strokes” thing comes in if you say “last 10 to the line (regardless of whether you’re sprinting or not)” but it ends up being not the last 10 to the line.

Related: Judging distance

As far as wondering “what could have been”, you’re going to wonder that after every race that doesn’t result in a gold medal. If you aren’t paying attention or “forget” to call the sprint at 250m, don’t call it until there’s 100m left, and then lose by a seat, yea, you’re going to really wonder what could have been.

There’s nothing for you to “suck up”, really. Just keep practicing. At some point or another every coxswain has said “last X strokes” and it’s actually be a few more or less than that. If you can nail it and have the last stroke happen just as your bow ball crosses, rock on, but it’s not an exact science and most of the time you are estimating and hoping you’re within a stroke of what you call for. If you say “last 10” and it ends up being the last 11, it’s not a huge deal. If you say “last 10” and it’s actually the last 20, that’s a bigger issue because by now you should have an idea of how far your boat travels in ten strokes and be able to guess when you’re that far away from the line. Plus, your rowers are trusting the fact that you can see where the line is since they can’t, so they assume that when you say “last 10” you really mean last 10. Like I said though, it comes with practice and consciously making an effort to gauge the distance you’ve traveled in ten strokes, twenty strokes, etc. when you’re out doing pieces.

Coxing Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

By

This kind of relates to the not being first off the start but my coxswain would always tell us not to walk, even if we could, until the sprint so that we would be sure we could hold it. She thought it made more sense and the majority of my boat agreed with her. I however think that if you can walk then you should walk, where ever you are in the race. We kind of saved it for the first thousand and then just went crazy in the second thousand and won our regional final but I think it would’ve been a much more clean and firm win had we walked in the first thousand like we could have. What do you think?

I disagree with her because I think if you don’t walk you’re potentially digging yourself into a hole that you might not be able to get out of by the time the last 250m rolls around. I assume by “hold it” she means to conserve your energy throughout the race so you can apply it all to the sprint. That reminds me of this scene from The Incredibles.

I’m the guy at 0:17.

I guess in the end the hardware is all that matters but I agree with you, it probably would have been a smoother race overall if you hadn’t held back at the beginning.

It’s OK to not be in first place…

College Coxing Racing

It’s OK to not be in first place…

By

…coming off the starting line.

I was watching the NCAA Championships yesterday morning and was pleasantly surprised to see Ohio State dominate the V4+ and 2V races. (You can watch the full replay of yesterday’s races here. The V4+ race is at the 89:51 mark and the 2V race is at 109:11.) When I’m coxing, something that I like to do with my crews is get out ahead immediately. I would much rather defend a lead than work towards it – psychologically I just think there’s less hurdles to overcome when you start in the lead. Plus, it was just one of those things that all the coaches I’ve ever had have taught me. Both of Ohio State’s boats though, despite winning by 3 seconds and 2 seconds respectively, started behind. The V4+ started in fourth place and the 2V started in 3rd. As I was watching the races I noticed something: it seemed like both coxswains were content to not be in front off the line, like not being in first was OK … or something.

This got me thinking – both boats started behind but then dominated the field the rest of the way down the course. Maybe not being in first off the line is OK. By the time the 2V had reached the 500m mark, they were sitting in 3rd place, 0.65 seconds behind first. Right around the 1000m mark (2:45ish into the race), the coxswain made a call that resulted in the boat walking about a deck length in five(ish) strokes. From there, they were gone. Same with the V4+. They started back, worked their way up (effortlessly), and then refused to relinquish the top spot. I’m still a huge proponent of getting your bow in front right away and keeping it there but I also enjoy a good challenge. Being in front means you have a target on your back which only makes it easier for me to hunt you down, one by one by one.

The point is this: patience is everything. Be content to not necessarily be in front but don’t settle for that. When you’re coxing you want to give your crew small, achievable goals throughout the race with the ultimate one being to cross the line first. After the start (the full start, no sooner than 3ooish meters in), find out where you are in relation to the other crews and go from there. If you’re sitting in third, forget about the first place crew. Set your sights on second place and start taking the strokes you need to walk through them. Once you’ve absorbed them, put your focus on the first place crew. Once you’ve gotten through them, put your focus on pushing everyone else back and reeling the line in. Part of the reason why coxswains get frantic at the start when they’re behind is because they put all their energy into walking on the crew that’s way out ahead in first instead of the crew that’s only three seats ahead in second. If you maintain an aggressive composure, your boat will too.

Don’t panic if you don’t start quick off the line. Instead, focus on rowing smarter than the rest of the field and giving your crew all the information you have so they can put together the right combination of solid strokes to get their bow out front. And, like the announcer said during the V4+ race, it’s all about strategy. Some crews just aren’t good off the line but they’ve got a killer middle 1000. This is another spot where knowing your crew’s tendencies will be of huge benefit to you. If I had to throw out a guess, I think this was part of Ohio State’s strategy; come off the line solid but conserve the bulk of their power for the middle, which was where both crews started to break the rest of the field.

Image via // @rbcmsweeps

College Coxing Q&A Recruiting

Question of the Day

By

I’m a coxswain for my high school club’s men and women’s boats but since I’m closer to the men’s minimum weight I’ve been thinking of trying to get recruited as a coxswain for men. When I go on college sites to fill out recruitment questionnaires, since I’m a girl should I fill them out for the women’s team or the men’s team? So far I’ve just been filling out for women’s teams because it feels weird to do it for the “men’s crew”.

If you want to row for the men you need to fill out the recruiting questionnaires for the men’s team. If you fill them out for the women they’re going to assume that is who you want to cox for and might be annoyed when they say “yea come cox for us” and then find out you really want to be with the guys.

Coxswain Recordings, pt. 8

College Coxing Recordings

Coxswain Recordings, pt. 8

By

Marin Rowing Alumni 8+

This is just a short little snippet of what I assume was a practice row or something but I wanted to share it for two reasons. The first is how he calls the crew back down a beat at 0:14. Instead of saying “bring it down” or some other annoying phrase like that, he says “let’s relax together one beat…”. I like this because it just sounds more effective than “bring it down” but also because when you’re only trying to come down one beat, you don’t really need to change that much with the slides or speed through the water – all you’ve gotta do is relax a little.

The second reason is for how he calls the crew up two beats to a 32 (0:33) and 34 (0:54), especially the 34 one. I like how he calls “legs down boom” and “pump it” (or whatever he says … initially I thought he said “bop it” which made me think of that toy from the 90s) as they bring the rate up and then “sustain it” once they’ve hit it.

2012 University of Tennessee Practice

I can’t embed this video so you’ll have to click over to YouTube to watch it. It’s from one of Tennessee’s morning practices and has some good clips of warmups, steady state, pieces, etc. in it.

During the warmup/steady state at the beginning, one of the calls she makes is “distance per stroke by 6s”. This is usually what you’re going for when doing low-rate stuff and an easy way to see if you’re gaining or losing distance per stroke is by watching the puddles. Usually steady state pressure is when bow seat’s puddle is somewhere near the stern deck by the time you take the next stroke (it’s all relative based on the strength/experience of your crew) so it’s important to make sure you know the baseline for where your crew’s puddles usually end up after each stroke so you can gauge how the boat’s running.

For about 20 seconds between 2:20 and 2:40 she’s making some aggressive-ish calls related to the catch but a lot of the rowers are rowing it in and not matching up with what she’s asking for. This is largely on you – you’ve first gotta have a good understanding of the stroke and how what happens on the recovery (i.e. roll up timing) sets up the catch so you can make the necessary calls to ensure the catches are actually on point before you start making calls for how powerful they should be. Driving before the blade’s in the water is just wasted energy and speed.

At 4:55ish when she realizes there’s something on her skeg, she tells bow pair to drop out to stabilize the boat and then sticks her arm in the water to clear the skeg while stern six is still rowing. They’re not gonna be able to take good, clean, effective strokes when you’re throwing the set off by reaching under the boat so you might as well weigh enough for 10 seconds, clear the skeg, and then pick it back up. You should also not try to grab stuff out of the skeg while the boat’s moving anyways (you run the risk of hitting another piece of debris that smashes your fingers against it and slices them open – I’ve seen that happen and it is not pretty).

Overall I think this was some decent steady state. I think her tone was good but could have been a little more chill for the majority of the pieces; not every call needs to be so punch-y. I think as you’re coming into the end of a piece it’s OK to transition to a more race-y tone/style of coxing (even though you’re still doing steady state) but you should be building into that rather than this being your baseline tone throughout practice.

Other calls I liked:

“Every inch out of that finish…”

“Simple strokes, simple movements…”

You can find and listen to more recordings by checking out the “Coxswain Recordings” page.

Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By

So literally our best rower got booted off the team due to bad behavior (questionable substances, among other things). Not only are we DAYS away from our biggest regatta of the season but I am particularly devastated because I always looked up to and admired this person. When I was pushing myself during workouts, it was them I wanted to push myself for, it was them I wanted to be as good as. I’m dumbfounded that I completely missed that there was a problem.

Oh man … that’s the worst. For the time being and especially since you’ve got a huge regatta coming up, abstain from letting this become a distraction. Assuming this person was a good teammate (aside from putting the team in this position, obviously), they probably are feeling guilty over the fact that this is a distraction and it’s coming at the worst possible time. What you can do is focus on what’s important – your boat, your teammates, yourself, and getting some good rows in before this weekend. Try to avoid any communication with them until after your races are over. I know that sounds like a really rude thing to do but assuming you were friends with this person, they’ll probably try to text you or message you on FB to see how things are going, give you their side of the story, etc. Hold off on talking to them or anything like that until Sunday or Monday, that way you and your teammates can keep your heads clear and focused on what’s in front of you.

You should never assume that you could have prevented what happened. It sucks not knowing there was an issue ahead of time, especially if you were close with them, but don’t beat yourself up over it. If you’re comfortable enough talking to them about it and they’re willing to share, ask them what’s up. Were/are they going through something, was it just a series of stupid mistakes, etc. Don’t be pushy or prying or anything and respect their privacy if they don’t want to share. Offer to lend an ear if they do need someone to talk to in the future and leave it at that.

In addition to all of that, be the bigger person amongst your teammates as well. No doubt some of them are probably really pissed at this person (rightfully so…) but don’t let it get to the point where they’re badmouthing them or being flat out rude to them. Chances are no one knows the full story so, like I said earlier, ignore it for now and don’t let it become an unnecessary distraction.