Author: readyallrow

Ergs Q&A

Question of the Day

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I am a little wary of doing a 2k soon, since I really haven’t done one since May of last year. We are starting to move into sprinting pieces, so I assume that the 2000m is coming within a week or two. Would it be smart to do a “pre-2k” where I go in on my own and try to hit just my PR from last year and see how it feels? Or should I just train super hard the next few weeks and hope that the test pops up on a good day? I don’t really mind doing 2ks but I just want to do the best I can. Thanks!

I think doing a base 2k or a 2k-predictor workout like 8x500m with equal amounts of work and rest would be a good measuring tool to to see where you’re at. I’d keep in mind what your PR was from last season but also when you achieved it. Was it in the middle, at the end, during winter training, etc. Go out and do this practice one and obviously go at it like it’s a real one but use it just to see how your time compares and to get your mind and body back into the swing of things. Don’t specifically go out with the goal of hitting your PR because if you don’t you’ll just unnecessarily beat yourself up for it. If it happens naturally, great. If not, it’s only February. There’s plenty of time for a PR to happen this season.

Related: 2k test strategy

I don’t like when people “hope” they have a good test … hope isn’t a strategy. The goal with winter training is so that by the time the first 2k rolls around you aren’t hoping for a good test, you know you’re going to have a good test because of all the work you put in during the winter (and building upon previous seasons if you’re an experienced rower). Don’t hope for it, just do it.

Coxing Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

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I never know what to say at the beginning of a head race. I know what to say once we get going but not before, any ideas/tips?

This past season with my eight, I think the only thing I consistently said to them while we were staging was “we’ve got a plan, let’s get after it” or something like that. I tried not to talk too much before the starting line (with the exception of telling people to row) because I wanted them to focus in and not be distracted and I needed the quiet time to focus on getting us lined up in the chute.

Coxing How To Novice Q&A

Question of the Day

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How long did it take you to learn how to dock correctly? It’s taken me this whole month, still trying to learn and it’s always a 50-50 whether or not someone on the dock has to pull our boat in.

It took me about 2-3 weeks to feel comfortable doing it as a novice (with our coach on the dock to pull us in and give hints on what to do if I needed it) and maybe a week or so after that (when it was just us with no one to catch us) before I felt like “OK, I got this”. My coaches were great because they’d have us dock, push off, row up a few hundred meters, turn around, dock again, and repeat the whole process until we’d gotten it right a couple times (like, at least five times) before the end of practice.

The trickiest part was coming in at the right angle. We practiced this in all kinds of weather – wind, rain, snow, etc. – so that I could practice coming in when I’ve got something working against me. Doing it over and over and over really helped me pick it up fast. The rowers were always super patient too (or at the very least they never let on how bored/annoyed they were), which was actually one of the most helpful parts of learning to dock.

Related: Any tips on how to properly dock an 8+?

One thing I realized pretty quickly is that you don’t need someone on the dock to catch you. Sure, it’s convenient when they’re there but it’s not at all necessary. What I would do is point my bow as close to the dock as I could and then when we landed, I’d have my bowman hop out and grab 6’s oar to get the stern of the boat in. Or, I’d just hop out and pull the boat in myself. Once the boat has stopped, for the most part, it’s not hard for the coxswain to stand up and step over on to the dock; you’ve just gotta be aware that it’s probably a foot to a foot and a half (if you docked right) of water you’re stepping over. I’m experienced enough with it now that I tend to bound right out of the seat while we’re still moving and think nothing of it.

It’s helpful to have someone on the dock but it’s really not necessary and definitely not something you should rely on. I think it’s way better for you to learn how to dock with no one there than it is to only learn how to dock when you’ve got someone to pull you in. I guess the only time I’d say it’s really necessary is if you’ve got a strong crosswind that’s hitting you from the dock-side and making it hard to get as close as you normally would. In those situations though, hopefully it would be common sense for the people on land to come down and help the boats that are coming in.

The key is to have control of the situation and to not get visibly frustrated. There were many, many times when I got frustrated but even when it failed miserably my rowers and coach always said that I seemed pretty calm. If you get frustrated and it’s obvious that you don’t know what to do or something’s not going the way you want, your rowers will be less likely to listen to your instructions and more likely to start telling you what to do. Stay calm, assess the situation, take your time, and be smart about it.

How to Avoid Getting Sick

How To Teammates & Coaches Training & Nutrition

How to Avoid Getting Sick

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Previously: Steer an eight/four || Call a pick drill and reverse pick drill

I’ve had a really bad cold for about two weeks now and while I didn’t get it at crew, it got me thinking about all the times I have gotten sick while participating in sports or marching band or other activities. It’s not fun and puts a wrench in training and rehearsals but 20/20 hindsight reminds me that it’s almost always preventable.

Clean the equipment

Common sense, right? After a rower ergs, the first thing they should do is clean if off – the tracks, the slide, the monitor, and most importantly, the handle. Most boathouses will have a bottle of antibacterial spray lying around for this exact purpose. The handle should be obvious why it needs to be cleaned, but you should also clean the rest of the erg because sweating, coughing, bleeding, hacking up a lung, etc. can all lead to bodily fluids being spewed all over the place.

Don’t forget about the oars either, especially if you bled on them. You can easily clean these off after practice using water and bleach.

Minimize high-fiving

After a hard work out or an erg test there’s usually some high fives going around and I’m all for it but in the winter, especially post-erg, I’m all about the air-five … followed up with a generous amount of hand sanitizer.

Wear the appropriate clothing

There were numerous times in high school where one of my parents would say “you are not leaving the house wearing that!” in response to me wearing shorts and a t-shirt in late fall to marching band rehearsals or leaving without a coat in the middle of January (while it was snowing) to head to the boathouse. I rolled my eyes every single time because I knew I was either going to be inside the majority of the time (crew) or I’d get hot while on the field (with band) and end up shedding the extra layers anyways but regardless of what activity you’re doing, whether you’ll be inside or out, you have to wear the right stuff if you want to avoid getting sick.

Related: What to wear

If you’re inside and you want to wear your uni while you erg or lift, go for it but make sure you’re wearing something over it so you don’t freeze when you leave. The guys I rowed with in college would frequently wear their unis, a hoodie, and nothing else when going to and from the weight room and if you know Syracuse weather, you know that’s a bold choice between November and March. Similarly, if you’re going for a run during practice, wear the right stuff so your body stays warm. You’re more likely to catch a cold from being indoors where germs can fester more easily but keeping your hands, ears, neck, feet, and extremities warm will go a long way in preventing you from picking something up while outdoors.

Stay at home if you’re sick

Seriously, if you’re sick just stay home. If you didn’t go to school that day or you went home early, definitely do not go to practice. If anything, stay home out of respect to your teammates. No one wants a walking cesspool of germs walking around coughing, sneezing, and hacking on everything. Literally no one will appreciate you “toughing it out” and coming to practice if they end up getting sick as a result. If your body is fighting a cold, do you really think it’s in any position to do a 2k or lift weights? It needs time to rest and ultimately it’s better to miss an erg test and make it up when you’re at 100% than to do it when you’re at 50% and potentially screw yourself.

If you miss a few days of practice from being sick, yea, it sucks but your teammates will appreciate you keeping your germs to yourself and just getting over whatever you’ve got. Stay home, catch up on Netflix, eat your chicken noodle soup, and get healthy before you return to practice. Also, go to the doctor. Don’t prolong your illness (and waste valuable time) by not going.

All of this is common sense but it’s easy to get caught up in the rigor of training and forget or ignore these little details. The more diligent you are tough about keeping the equipment clean and taking care of yourself, the better off you and your teammates will be.

Image via // @jdcsss

College Ergs Q&A

Question of the Day

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My team only ergs once a week but we are still an extremely well known competitive team. I am wondering if this is normal as most people seem to erg multiple times a week. And also will going from a once-a-week erg to a multiple times a week erg in university be a hard transition? Thanks!

I wouldn’t say it’s totally abnormal. In the winter my team would erg every day but once spring season rolled around we’d only erg once every two weeks for their 2k test. If you’re only erging once a week during winter training that’s definitely unorthodox but if your team isn’t suffering any ill effects (I assume because you’re rowing the rest of the time?)  I wouldn’t worry about it.

Regarding making the switch in college I would say this: just because your team right now only ergs once a week doesn’t mean you only have to erg once a week. You can erg as many times a week as you want. It might be an adjustment switching to a more “normal” erg schedule in college but I don’t think it will be that difficult. It’s like when the semesters switch and your class schedule changes – it’s weird for the first few days but then you get used to it after the first week and that becomes the new normal.

Coxing How To Q&A Rowing

Question of the Day

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If the wind pushes the boat into the grassy reeds, how do you get out of it without being pulled out by a coach? Do you have the side that’s not stuck back? Thanks!

First things first is to tell your boat to be quiet. Everyone is going to have an opinion on the best way to get out of there and there’s a good chance that someone or everyone will be annoyed at the situation. It’s your job to tell them to listen to your instructions because the more at-attention they are, the faster and easier it’ll be for you to get out of there.

The biggest thing here is making sure your skeg doesn’t get broken or bent. If it’s shallow or the weather’s been bad lately (and there’s a lot of debris in the water), you’ll need to listen for any bumps or noises that indicate you might have hit a log. Sometimes they can get caught up in the reeds too which makes it hard to avoid them. Make sure you don’t push it straight down because it’ll just pop right back up and do more damage (possibly catching your fingers in between it and the skeg, which would probably result in some form of bloodshed). If you don’t here any bumps or anything but still find it hard to steer with the strings, you might have to stick your arm under the boat and pull off anything that’s gotten caught around the skeg and the rudder.

As far as actually getting out of the reeds, if you’ve been blown in from the port side, for example, would require some backing mainly from the port rowers. You can have the starboard side assist but it could be hard for them to row if their oar is in the reeds. As soon as rowers (starting from bow pair) start getting clear though, have them row.

To clear your the blades if you’re really stuck in there, I’d feather the blade and just hack back and forth a bit to cut the reeds down a little. I saw a crew do this at a regatta once on the way to the start line and they were out of there in about two minutes. Unless the wind is really bad and negating anything you try and do, I wouldn’t do more than arms and body rowing. This is to avoid swinging the boat to quickly and sharply, which could cause damage to it if you hit something under the surface.

I’d start out with 6 and stroke backing to get your bow pointed towards open water and then have bow and 3 row to swing the bow out. Once your bow pair or bow four are clear of any visible reeds, have them row full slide to get the rest of the boat free. Once you’re clear, quickly put your arm back in to pull off any lingering reeds on your skeg/rudder, get your point, and row on. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen a crew get out of a situation like that only to sit idle once they’re clear and then get blown right back into the reeds. You have to get away from them if you want to avoid getting stuck again, so row up a few hundred meters to a spot where it’s clear and then stop if you need to.

Coxing Novice Q&A

Question of the Day

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Is there some sort of quote/song/inspirational thought you have to help boost your mood when you’re depressed/after a bad practice/race? And how do coaches “pick” novice coxswains? Is it initially by size, then trait/abilities? Or do they actually take the time to “watch” who they’re thinking of coxing before deciding? I think last year on my team our coach chose the two smallest people but for the first two weeks (on land) watched us interact with each other.

I don’t have anything specific, I just turn the radio up and try to use the music and the drive home to help clear my head. It’s a good way for me to zone out and let everything else go.

Related: What do you like to do to cheer yourself up after a lost race or tough practice?

I think coaches do both of what you said; some choose by size, some by traits and abilities, and others look at both. There are way too many coaches that pick coxswains based purely on how small they are which they then come to find out has no bearing whatsoever on how skilled they are. Ultimately, I think a coach would rather have a slightly taller coxswain who has the personality and affinity for coxing vs. a small person who has neither. I know I would.

During winter training I think they do watch the coxswains to see how they interact with the team, if they’re capable of taking charge and leading them through a circuit, do they show up on time (or at all), etc. Once they get out on the water, he/she will watch to see how quickly they pick up steering, how confident and trustworthy they are, how safe they are, do they follow the rules of the river, etc. If they put a novice in the varsity boat to get some experience, he might ask those rowers for a quick opinion on how they thought he/she did. In the end they’ll take all that information and make a decision from there.

Related: Why would a coach put novices with varsity rowers in a boat for training? What benefits would that get the novices, and wouldn’t that be very frustrating for varsity rowers? I’m not one of those novices and I really wish I was but I don’t really know in what parts of my rowing it would help, if you know what I mean.

That might not be how every coach does it but it’s how I’d do it. If you’re curious why you weren’t boated or why you were put in the boat you were, ask your coach. Unless you have seriously messed up somewhere along the line and know that that’s probably the reason why you’re not in a higher boat, the only person who can give you that kind of insight is the person who made the lineups.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking why you were put in certain lineups either as long as you aren’t petty or accusatory about it – “Why did you put me in that boat? Those rowers suck!” or “I am such a better coxswain than Emily (with zero evidence to backup that statement)” are two easy ways to get on your coach’s (and teammates) bad side. Done correctly, it’s a great way to get feedback on how you’re doing so far and what you can improve on so that the next time lineups are made, you can possibly move up a boat.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

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I know a coxswain’s number one job is to steer straight but one of my fellow rowers decided that sounding aggressive and making good calls is what MAKES a cox. There’s a girl who she says “just sounds like a cox” but hasn’t perfected steering/navigating yet. The view is that you can teach a cox to go straight/proper channels with time but you can’t teach them to sound passionate, aggressive, motivating, etc. What do you think?

Yea, I mostly agree. It’s very easy (well, not easy, but easy by comparison) to teach the basic skills – steering, what to say, etc. – but it’s damn near impossible to teach a coxswain how to be passionate, encouraging, assertive, intuitive, self-aware, etc. if they aren’t already all of those things.

Related: I was reading on a rowing forum a commenter said that good coxswains are born not made. They can be guided to be successful but not much more than that. Is there any truth to it?

When I was a novice people told me I sounded exactly like a coxswain should before I’d picked up any of the actual necessary skills because the majority of the personality traits of a coxswain are my part of my natural personality. It’s just who and how I am so already having that foundation in place made coxing come very naturally to me. My coaches could focus on teaching me how to steer, spot technical inaccuracies, etc. and know that I had everything else already covered.

Related: The “Three S’s of Coxing”

What makes a coxswain is both set in stone and completely flexible. As experienced coxswains, we all just kind of know what makes a good coxswain in the general sense but what makes a good coxswain to each individual crew can be completely different. The basic stuff (steering, execution, leadership, etc.) is all a given – you just cannot be a good coxswain if you aren’t strong in those areas – but your individual style is what makes you good for your crew.

An Introduction to Rigging: Spread and span

Rowing

An Introduction to Rigging: Spread and span

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When I was in high school I went to a coxswain clinic where Mike Vespoli taught us the basics of rigging and talked about how to measure each variable, what it meant, where to measure from, why it was important, etc. That’s what I’m going to post in this series so that you can get a basic idea of what rigging entails beyond just taking the riggers on and off your boat.

So, why is rigging important? Its main objective is to accommodate all the different bodies in the boat so that when they row, regardless of their size, the oar still moves in the same general arc through the water. The more similar the oar’s trajectory, the more efficient the boat will be.

Here’s what this series will go over:

Part 1 || Spread and span, with videos included that show how to measure them

Part 2 || Oar length and inboard

Part 3 || Pitch, with videos included on how to measure it in your boat

Part 4 || Rigger height and work through

Part 5 || How to rig and de-rig a boat

Part 6 || The tools you need to rig a boat

Going back to physics, when you row you’re using leverage in a lot of different places. One of the reasons why tall people are appreciated in this sport over their vertically challenged counterparts is because the longer you are, the farther you can reach, and the more leverage you can get on the oar to power it through the water and move the boat. Leverage in rigging comes from spread (in sweeping) and span (in sculling), as well as from the inboard and length of the oar, which I’ll talk more about in Part 2.

Spread

A fulcrum is the point about which a lever is supported and pivots. A lever produces force on one end (the load) while pressure is applied on the other (effort).  So, when effort is exerted on one end, the lever pivots about the fulcrum to produce a load on the other end. Thinking in terms of an oar, you create leverage by pushing off the foot stretchers, pushing with your legs, pulling with your upper body (to an extent), and driving the oar through the water. The pressure you put on the handle allows it to rotate around the oarlock and move the blade through the water. The “load” is the pressure you feel against the blade from the water. You are moving the load as the oar goes through the water.

So, how does that relate to spread? And what is spread? Spread is the distance from the middle line of your boat to the pin of the oarlock. If you increase the spread it will make the boat feel lighter but your rowing will be less efficient because the fulcrum will be farther from where you’re exerting your effort.

The best analogy I can think of is to think of it like you’re holding a broom strick when you’re sweeping up something on the floor. If you could balance the broom on your hand, the point where your hand sits on the handle when it’s perfectly level would be the fulcrum. Keeping your hands there is where your sweeping will be the most efficient. If you move your hands one way or the other (towards the top of bottom of the handle), the broom will feel lighter and maybe easier to move, but you’re movement isn’t nearly as efficient because you’re not generating enough effort to move the load on the other end. Make sense? Kinda, sorta?

The spread of your boat will be determined by the experience level of your crew, how skilled they are, the size of the boat, etc. It is adjusted by moving the pin either closer or farther away from the boat. If you look at the this picture of an oarlock and rigger, you can see that the oarlock is in a slot that allows it to move back and forth when the bolts are loosened.

Typically, the spread is somewhere between 80-88ish centimeters. To take it’s measurement using a standard tape measure, this is what you do:

Measure from one gunnel to the other and find the middle of that measurement. If it’s 10 centimeters, the middle would be five. Simply divide by two.

Move the tape measure so that the number you just determined, the middle (5, in this case), is sitting on the gunnel. The end of the tape measure should be hanging out over the center of the boat.

Extend the tape measure out towards the oarlock’s pin and measure. That measurement, from the center of the boat to the pin, is your spread.

Mathematically it’d look something like this:

[(Distance from G1 to G2)/2] + (Distance from G2 to pin) = spread

…where G1 = one side of the boat and G2 = the other side, the side that the rigger is on.

Here’s a quick video demonstrating how to measure spread. Remember, spread only applies to sweep boats, not quads, doubles, or singles.

Span

The difference between sculling and sweep rowing is that instead of one fulcrum, there are two. The spread then goes from being from the center of the boat to the pin to being from the starboard pin to the port pin. Similarly to in sweep rowing how moving the pin farther from the boat decreases the efficiency of your stroke, the same is true with sculling. The average distance between pins is usually something like 157-160ish centimeters and is adjusted in the same way (moving the oarlock closer or farther from the boat by loosening and moving the pin).

Measuring the span is fairly simple, but after thinking about it for a second I realized that the “simple” way I was thinking of was wrong. This is something that Dr. Davenport touches on in the video below, which I was actually internally very excited about (“yay, my thinking is on the right track!”). I was thinking that all you’d have to do would be to take your tape measure and measure from one pin to another – very “keep it simple, stupid”. However, that only tells you the distance the two pins are apart – it doesn’t tell you their distance from the center of the boat. They could be 160cm apart, but the starboard oar could be two centimeters further from the center than the port oar, which can mess you up when you get out on the water. So, as Dr. Davenport suggests, to get your span, first determine the spread (distance from the center of the boat to the pin) for each oarlock and then add the two together.

Mathematically it’d look like this:

{[(Distance from G1 to G2)/2] + (Distance from G1 to pin)} + {[(Distance from G1 to G2)/2] + (Distance from G2 to pin)} = span.

And here’s another video showing how it’s done.

Next week: Oar length, inboard, and blade profile

Image via // @ruderklubamwannsee