Category: Coxing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow May 12, 2014

I am coxing our V4 at regionals soon and realized that I have a lot of trouble coxing in bow loaders. I have trouble getting enough air in my lungs between words and feel like I can’t project my voice and can’t use my abs to cox. What would you recommend?

I’ve been waiting for someone to ask this – it seems like it would be a pretty standard problem with coxing bow loaders. Have you tried sitting up more? Obviously not so far up that you’re in your bow man’s way but just a little more than you have been? If you’re down so far that your chin is practically on your chest then that’ll definitely inhibit your ability to take in the amount of oxygen that you need, as well as decrease the range of motion you need to have in order to be able to contract your abs to help with projection.

Outside of strengthening your core (which will help a lot) I think experimenting with how you lay in the boat is going to be your best option. Talk with your bow man and let him/her know that that’s what you’re planning on doing over the next couple of practices and ask them to let you know if you’re sitting too far up and getting in their way (since doing so would affect their ability to lay back).

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow May 8, 2014

I just read your post on power 10s and it clarifies a lot – but a quick question. I know a power 10 means a burst of pressure. So does that mean usually, but not always, bringing up the stroke rating a few beats? Or what?

No, power tens don’t typically coincide with bringing the stroke rate up. They can but that usually only happens with 20s when you’ve got more strokes to work with. That’s rare though too. It’s not something I’d call for unless you’d specifically practiced it as part of your planned “big move” in the middle of the race. I think if you tried to bring the stroke rate up for just ten strokes you’d end up spinning your wheels. Trying to bring it up for anything less than that would be negligible anyways. If you’re just taking a normal 10 though, you wouldn’t do anything to the stroke rate. Speed doesn’t equal power – you can still pull hard and not increase how fast you’re moving.

Coxing Racing Rowing

Race skills: All about Power 10s

By readyallrow May 8, 2014

As I’ve been talking to coxswains and listening to recordings I’ve been thinking that it’d be worthwhile to explain power tens in a bit more depth so you have a better idea of what they are, what they aren’t, what their purpose is, etc. Having this understanding will, hopefully, make them a more efficient part of your race plan/strategy as we head towards the peak of racing season.

What power 10s are

Power 10s are strategic bursts that you take during a race. 99.8% of the time they should be called for something if you want to achieve maximum effectiveness. Giving each one a purpose gives the rowers something to latch on to, for lack of a better term, whereas just calling a plain “power 10” isn’t likely to make them do anything different than they were before.

Power 10s are also one of (if not the) biggest misnomers in the sport of rowing. We call things “power 10s” even when they’re not strictly about power because there aren’t really any other words for them. I’ll also call them “bursts” if I’m taking a 5 or something short and sweet like that. I’ve actually been trying to get away from calling them “power” 10s and instead just say “gimme 10 for…”, “let’s take 5 for…”, “get ready for our 20 at 750m…”, etc. The reasoning for that is because when I take a 5 or 10 for leg drive (i.e. power) I don’t want the word “power” to be diluted because I use it for every other move/burst I take even when they have nothing to do with power.

What power 10s aren’t

Power 10s are not something you should just randomly call during a race because you think that’s what you’re supposed to do because you’ve heard other people do it. You’re less likely to get a response from your crew in terms of power, effort, etc. if you just yell “power 10” and start counting.

Does a power 10 have to be 10 strokes?

No. Obviously if you say “power 10” then you should call 10 strokes but you can do other variations too, like 5, 15, or 20. If you call anything more than ten strokes, make sure you’re separating them into chunks of ten rather than counting the whole thing sequentially – i.e. a 20 would be two sets of 10, counted out “…8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3…” rather than “…8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13…”.

Similarly, a 15 (also known as a “5 and 10”) would be counted out as five strokes followed by ten strokes. Usually if I call something like this I’ll actually count the five strokes down as a way to build into the ten strokes, which I’ll count up like normal – i.e. “…3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3…”.

Do all of those have the same purpose/mean the same thing?

No. This is how I usually (not always but ~90% of the time) treat each burst:

5-stroke burst

I tend to call a 5-stroke burst for things related to technique (i.e. sharpening up the catches, holding the blades in through the finish, smooth/even power on the drive, body swing/length at both ends), posture (i.e. supporting the bodies, staying tall, relaxed upper body, eliminating the tension), internal focus (i.e. rowing our race, establishing/re-establishing the rhythm, individual responsibilities), or other miscellaneous things like breathing, commitment, legs, etc.

10-stroke burst

I call 10s when I want to take seats (no more than two, maybe three) or walk on another crew.

15-stroke burst

15s are the overlooked middle child of power bursts. I don’t call them very often but when I do it’s because I’m trying to kill two birds with one stone. Like I mentioned before, I almost always count the five strokes first (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) followed by the ten (1, 2, 3…) because I like the “prep/build” period that those five strokes give you.

The only time where I would do the opposite is coming into the sprint where you would typically build for a few strokes coming into it anyways. In that case I’d count the ten first followed by the five, which would act as the “five to build” where you’d be bringing the rate up.

20-stroke burst

20s are strictly for making big moves on another crew or walking on/through the field. These should be used sparingly during a sprint race (once is sufficient, twice is enough, three is too many) but you can usually get away with maybe three or so during your average-length head race.

How do you count out each one?

This is mostly a personal preference thing with some input from the rowers on what they like best. This is what I was taught and also what makes the most sense to me so it’s what I do and teach. During a normal 10 or 20 during a race, I count up (1, 2, 3…). If I’m building into the sprint or prepping them for a big move/shift, I count down (5, 4, 3…). If I’m counting down the last [however many strokes] to the finish line I count down (10, 9, 8…). If I’m calling something “in two” I count up (1, 2…). Occasionally I’ll say “in two … in one…” but normally if I’m not just saying “on this one” I count up.

How do you call each one?

Again, this is mostly a personal preference thing but this is how I try to call them in race situations. During practice you can be a bit more lax if you want unless you’re doing a piece or something simulating your race, in which case you’d want to call them like you do during a race. This helps familiarize the crew with how you do things so there are no surprises on race day.

5-stroke burst

“Aaron, blade in right at the front end, direct to the water. Let’s take 5 to sharpen ’em up together, ready, now. Sharp, send … sharp, send … sharp, yea Aaron … together … sharp, yea there we go! Grab the water and send…”

10-stroke burst

“Alright, two seats down on UVA, I got Adrienne on their 3-seat. Let’s take ten to get even, get it on the legs and through the water … on this one. Power through, power through YEA TIGERS, 3 walking, 4 1 seat down, 5 here we go, jump send, jump half a seat, 8 reel ’em in, 9 big legs, 10 EVEN! Sitting coxswain-to-coxswain, stay solid with the legs and move now…”

15-stroke burst

“Coming up to the bridge, 400m to go, let’s sit up, take a deep breath, and get ready to take 15 into our sprint – first 10 for commitment on the legs, last 5 to build the rate up – ready to go in 3, in 2, in one, COMMITTTTTT … 1 together, 2 drive it down, 3 send it out, 4 send it out, legs keep the length, legs BOWBALL, legs push ’em back, 8 ready to build 9 we move together, 10 here we go, NOW on the legs, together 34.5, together 35, punish them 36, last 250 breathe … go now!”

20-stroke burst

“Sitting in second, 8 seats up on Cal, 3 seats down on Stanford coming into the third 500. Let’s get our minds ready for the 1000, shift that focus internal and get ready to move. We’re taking seats – no mercy. Ready to go in 3 … in 2 … in 1, get on it and ATTACK! Gimme that bow ball, 2 yea Tigers, 3 chaaa, 4 chaaa, jump send ’em back, jump send ’em back, 7 BOWBALLLLL, 8 finish them, ready to move we’re one seat down, up 2 to get even, HERE WE GO NOW, send it out, 2 walking, 3 YEA, 4 half a seat, get it yea, EVEN yea, stay on it send, leeegs send it, 9 half a seat up, 10 YEA TIGERS! One seat of open on Cal, got the stroke of Stanford. Sharp with the catches, our bow ball stays in front. Stride it out to base … on this one, length and power, length and power…”

Where and how often should you call for a burst?

Read the post linked at the beginning on where to call them (there’s a bit of strategy definition in there too) and the post linked below for some thoughts on frequency. If you twisted my arm and made me give you a number of how many bursts you should take over the course of 2000m, my gut reaction would be to say a max eight. That includes one 20 (your “big” move), two or three 10s, a couple of focus 5s, and whatever build you do into your sprint (if you do one).

For 1500m, I’d say six total (one 20, a couple 10s, and maybe one or two 5s) would be sufficient. You don’t want to burn your crew out by calling ten after ten after ten and you most especially do NOT want to that coxswain that counts every single stroke of the entire race.

The bottom line is to call and use these bursts responsibly. Rowers, don’t be afraid to talk to your coxswain too if you have concerns over their use of them since feedback on stuff like this is much appreciated.

Image via // @ryanjnicholsonphoto

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow May 7, 2014

Do you know which lanes are “better” and which are “worse” with regards to the bend in the course on the Schuylkill?

Philly coxswains, feel free to weigh in and/or correct me on this since I haven’t spent a ton of time on Schuylkill and am not as familiar with its quirks. There’s a staggered start to account for the bend so there’s not really a “good” lane or a “bad” lane to be in as far as I know. Pretty much what makes one lane better or worse than another is gonna be more related to the condition of the water than anything else. If you/your coxswain is competent at steering you can easily gain a few seats coming through the bend but at the same time you can also lose some too if you mess it up. Waiting too long to turn will cause you to swing wide and if you cut it and swing early you’ll end up crossing over into another lane as you come under the Strawberry Mansion bridge.

I thought I had some video of the coxswains taking the turn through the bridge but if I do I can’t find it. A good example of how to do it though is to watch this video (also included on the “coxswain recordings” page) starting around 1:37. The way he called it was pretty solid, as was the line he took.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow May 6, 2014

I’m a masters coxswain, with experience primarily on lakes in the Pacific Northwest. This past Saturday at a very hectic and busy race in this area, I was told by a Marshal to execute a “river turn” as I was crossing the warm up area. I realized with all the races that I have done over the years, I have only actually coxed on a river ONCE, and have no idea what a “river turn” is. Could you explain this maneuver and describe how to execute it without flipping your shell? Typically when we need to turn in a tight area I have the side I am turning towards back, and the opposite side row in alternating strokes. So if I need to rotate clockwise I have starboards back and ports row. It’s a bit of a slow process, is a river turn something faster?

What you’re doing is a river turn. I’ve never heard that term before though and actually had to Google it to find out what it meant (there weren’t very many results either). Apparently it’s also called a “scissor stroke” but it seemed like that one was used more with sculling than sweep rowing. Hopefully it’s not just me that’s never heard “river turn” used before … I feel like a lot of people probably wouldn’t know what it means though if a course marshal told them to “execute a river turn”.

I’ve found that turning with four rowers is just as fast or faster than trying to turn with all eight so I tend to have bow and three row and six and stroke back. I was always taught (and it’s been reinforced many times since then) that you just don’t turn to starboard unless you row on a river that has an opposite traffic pattern. If you are turning to starboard though for whatever reason, you’d have two and four row and five and seven back. Using four people instead of all eight helps keep the boat set more than anything else; 99.9% of the reason why turning with all eight is usually such a hassle is because it’s offset and one side can’t get their blades out of the water. The “fast” part of it comes not from speed but from power. As long as the people rowing/backing are doing so with an adequate amount of pressure, it really shouldn’t take more than say, 7ish strokes to turn the boat.

As far as flipping the boat goes, I’ve said this many times and I’ll say it again … it takes a special kind of stupid to flip an eight. Like, a seriously special kind of stupid. I’ve never heard of a crew flipping while turning (although in small boats it’d make sense if that’s when it happened) so it’s really not something you need to worry about.

Coxing High School Novice Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow May 5, 2014

Hello!! First I just wanted to say that I am a high school novice cox and your blog has helped me so much. But I have a problem. My varsity/head coaches are so supportive and nice, but my novice coach isn’t. She has missed practice almost everyday for 3 weeks, and she flipped when I missed practice one day for an appointment that I had scheduled months in advance. She’s a good athletic coach who knows a lot about rowing and sports injuries, but not about feelings. At our last regatta my dad was talking to her. Today at practice in front of my whole team she blamed for the team’s loss. Considering the fact that she hasn’t been a real part of the team and then just shows up out of the blue, I think that’s part of what messed up the team. She came in and changed our start sequence and everything that we’ve learned. She kept knocking me down in front of the team. It got the point that I came home and cried for two hours. Everyone on my team calls her “a hero” because of how much she knows. I agree that she knows a lot about rowing, but not about coxing. What should I do?

Whoa. Personally, I automatically lose a lot of respect for any coach that calls someone out like that in front of the team, especially in a sport that is as team-oriented as rowing is. That’s just not cool. I can’t really even understand her frustration with you missing practice due to an appointment that was scheduled months in advance. If you’re a novice how likely was it that you knew you’d be doing crew when the appointment was made anyways? Regardless, it’s pretty hypocritical for her to be upset that you missed one practice if she’s not even consistently there.

If you’re not comfortable talking directly to her, I’d say that if you’ve got a good relationship with your head coaches, talk with them since that’s obviously who she’d report to hierarchy-wise. You could also have your dad there if you wanted since he talked with her at your regatta and might have addressed some of the issues you’ve been having. Explain the issue(s) to your coaches though and say that while it’s obvious that she knows her stuff about rowing, it’s coming across like she doesn’t understand much about coxing and it’s becoming very frustrating for you because instead of being coached you’re being blamed for team losses, etc. Hopefully from there either they can talk with her or have a group meeting with you and her. I would say outside of just ignoring the negative things she says, talking with them and hoping they can address things with her is probably your best/only option.

College Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow May 5, 2014

Hi Kayleigh! I’m a sophomore rower and at the moment I’m 5’7″ and around 130 pounds. I know I’m on the tall side, but I think that I could get to 120/125 pounds and still be healthy. While I do love rowing, my real interest and passion is in coxing, so I was wondering if you think coxing men in college is a viable option for me, and if it is, what I can do to get there. Thanks!

Check out the post linked below. That person was also a sophomore and I think what I said to her would also apply to you – at 15/16 years old, you’ve gotta assume you’re not done growing yet so it’s tough to say whether you’ll be the same size or not by the time you get to college.

My gut feeling is to say stick with rowing and then when you get to college, reevaluate and go from there if doing crew is still something you’re interested in pursuing. The school you go to will also dictate the likelihood of you being able to cox – the schools that are super competitive tend to be very strict about their coxswains being as close to racing weight as possible and two years from now it may or may not be viable for you to lose 5-10lbs and still be healthy. Your height isn’t as big of a deal even though you might feel kinda cramped at times depending on what brand of boat you’re in. Every body is different though so that’s something you would have to judge on your own. Club programs and the like are usually less strict about people having the natural rower or coxswain build so I would say if you really wanted to cox, you’d probably have a better shot with a program like that.

If you do eventually decide that’s what you want to do, you’ve got two options – show up whenever they have walk on tryouts and say you want to be a coxswain or email the coach before you arrive on campus and say you’ve got X number of years of rowing experience but you’re interested in walking on as a coxswain, at [height]/[weight] what’s the likelihood that you would be a good fit (literally and figuratively) for their program?

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow May 2, 2014

I have coxed for two seasons for my school and I am the most experienced cox and we have no novice coxes. I am 5’5 and 110lb but my coach thinks I am too tall and heavy to cox? Am I? I still fit in the cox’s seat and have room to spare! Me and my crew have just recently won the champs, they wouldn’t have done it without me, and they all say they would rather have a cox a couple of pounds over than a useless cox, but I don’t think my coach thinks that. I really want to cox but I still have 6 months till the next regatta! How can I convince my coach that I can still cox and want to? I can’t let my crew have a novice cox as they all want to win next season!!!

5’5″ might be just a little on the tall side to be a coxswain compared to the rest of us but ultimately it’s not height that matters when it comes to coxing, it’s weight. The minimum is 110lbs so … you’re fine.

As far as convincing your coach, it really depends on how amenable he is. My suggestion would be to not say anything about it unless the issue is brought up by him and then if it is, reiterate that you don’t feel like your weight is an issue and that your crew feels that your skills on the water outweigh a pound or two (no pun intended).

I wouldn’t say that they couldn’t have done it without you though because that sounds pretentious and like you think you’re the sole reason they won (even though I’m sure that’s not how you intend it to come off). I’d also not say anything about them wanting to win next season and not wanting a novice coxswain because that makes it sound like you/they think they don’t have a shot in hell if someone new is coxing them. Granted, yes, there’s a learning curve with novice coxswains that they’ve gotta overcome but it is certainly still possible to win with one of them in your boat. To be honest, if I heard an experienced/varsity coxswain say something like that I’d take them out of the boat immediately and replace them with a novice just to give them a wake up call that everybody is replaceable.

Bottom line is, keep whatever conversation you have with him about the issue at hand (nothing hypothetical), don’t bash the novices in the process, and again, don’t say anything unless it’s brought up to you by him. Keep doing what you’re doing and make sure you’re staying on top of your responsibilities on and off the water.

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow May 2, 2014

I’m a HS varsity men’s coxswain, but our club spends a lot of time sculling in quads and rowing small boats. As a result, I spend a lot of time sitting on the launch. However, I don’t exactly know what the best way to make use of that time is. Usually I just watch the rowers quietly and mention the occasional technique mistake if I don’t think my coach sees it, but I’m not really sure what the protocol is. Should I tell the rowers directly if I’m seeing something off? Should I try to talk to my coach about what lineups I think are working and what aren’t (he very occasionally asks my opinion on who should get seat raced and stuff like that)? Or is it better to just watch and note what’s going on so I can use it when we do row coxed boats?

I think the best way to make use of your time in the launch would be to do all the things you listed. If you’ve got a camera (an actual camera that you can zoom in and out on), bring that along too so you can get some video of each of the rowers. That’ll give you the opportunity later on to watch it and go over, either with your coach or that rower, the things you’re noticing. From there, you can use whatever you took away from those clips to help you come up with calls to use when you’re in the boat with them. The calls could be boat-wide reminders if you see several rowers doing the same thing or individual ones if you notice certain rowers have their own specific tendencies.

In that same vein, I’d also make sure you’ve got your notebook out on the water with you so that you can jot down anything you hear your coach say that you think would be pertinent for you to use in the boat. Usually when I do this I write down pretty much all the technique things the coach says (I’ll make a note if it’s directed towards a specific person but I tend to just write them down in an “in general” sense), in addition to any miscellaneous quips or phrases that I can turn into a call later on. If the crew is going through drills or doing pieces and he shouts something to them and follows it up with a “yea, that’s it!” (meaning the crew responded to what he said), I’ll also write down whatever it was and what he said it in reference to so I can use it in the future if/when necessary.

Below is an example of what my notebooks tend to look like when I’m riding in the launch as a coxswain. (If I’m actually coaching from the launch and trying to take notes it usually ends up looking like a dyslexic chicken wrote it. It’s hard to write, steer, and watch the boat at the same time.) It’s basically just a mix of lineups, whatever workout we did, any switches that were made, and individual and general comments.

Regarding talking directly to the rowers, I’d say eight times out of ten I usually say something to the coach first before I say it to the rowers. I still do this as an assistant coach just to avoid undermining their authority. I’ll usually say something like “Katie’s lunging at the catch again” or “Have you noticed how X does Y when we’re doing Z?” and if I’m coxing they’ll either reply with “good call” and then tell the rowers what I saw or if I’m riding along as the assistant coach they’ll let me tell them myself. The other reason why I run past the coach whatever it is that I saw is because there’s always the chance where what I’m seeing isn’t actually what’s happening (aka I’m misinterpreting what’s they’re doing or what the effect of whatever they’re doing is) or it’s not something that’s necessary to tell them in that moment. If the latter is the case then I’ll try to tell them during a water break or once we get back on land.

I would definitely use that time to talk to your coach about lineups, personnel issues, etc. and let him know in general how things are going in the boat. One of the things my coaches would frequently ask me is how I think the drills we’ve been doing are affecting our strokes – have they gotten better (meaning the drill was effective) or stayed relatively the same (meaning the drill wasn’t effective). This kind of information would clue them into how well we were using our time and if certain drills were worth continuing to do or if they needed tweaked or whatever if we tried doing them again.

College Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow April 28, 2014

Hi. I’ve been coxing for my high school rowing team for about a year now and unfortunately I’m 5’8″ and 134lb but I fit in the coxing area easily. I’m very scared though because I really love coxing and I want to continue to do it in college but I’m afraid I won’t be able to get very far with it due to my weight and height. I’m a sophomore in high school and I just want to know if there was a way I could still competitively cox in college or should I give up because my size stops me?

Honest answer? I don’t think you’re going to be able to cox in college when you’re already about the same size as a lightweight rower. Plus you’ve got to assume you’re not done growing yet either. If doing crew in college is really something you’re interested in pursuing then I’d say you should probably start rowing this summer or next year so you’ll have at least two years under your belt before you graduate.