An aggregate resource for all those riding in the 9th seat
If you could give one piece of advice to any coxswain, what would it be?
One piece? I could never give just one piece of advice…
After thinking about this for awhile I think I’m gonna keep it simple – be confident in yourself and your abilities and always, always trust your instincts.
Over the years I think I’ve perfected the art of layering when it comes to getting ready to go out when the weather is less than ideal. Coxing in Syracuse (and now in Boston) meant that there was no getting away with not having the proper clothes so one of the first things I did when I got to school was go on a big “cold weather gear” shopping trip so I could stock up. Lots of wind/waterproof stuff, lots of Patagonia, and a lot of Hot Hands.
If your team has survival suits for you to wear, definitely consider wearing one. If you do that you can forgo the coat and rain/snow pants since the suit accomplishes the same thing.
When you’re layering up, try to avoid cotton layers and instead stick to wool and other moisture-wicking fabrics. Under Armour, Nike, Patagonia, and LLBean all have plenty of great options. Wool socks (or any thick, hiking-esque type of sock) are a must and if you’re wearing Hunters, I can’t recommend the fleece sock inserts enough. I have a pair of Uggs that I wear the majority of the time I’m out (don’t judge, they’re so warm) but if it’s raining or snowing I’ll wear my rain boots with the fleece socks to keep my feet warm and dry. Gloves that block the wind and keep your fingers dry are also important since it’s really hard to steer when you can’t feel or grip the cables.
For more on what to wear to combat the elements, check out the “what to wear” tag.
Hi! Since the spring races all start boats at the same time, do you have any tips on steering straight? I can tell when I’m veering off my lane, but for some reason, I can’t/don’t know how to fix it! I remember you saying it’s all about the small adjustments, then straightening out, but I can’t seem to get it. [Ex today: all 3 boats lined up, me on the outside, I end up too far out away from the other 2]. Tips? Thanks!
For most races in the spring, if you’re lucky, you’ll start with stake boats and race down a buoyed course. God’s gift to coxswains is a buoyed course – trust me on this. The key to steering straight is picking a point in the distance while you’re at the starting line. Once you’re gotten your point and are lined up straight down the course, pick something that is right off your stroke’s ear or shoulder. When you start, make sure whatever you chose is always lined up on that spot on your stroke. If it’s not, don’t panic – just move the rudder to whatever side needs the adjustment and then move it right back. Remember though that the faster the boat is going, the smaller your adjustments need to be. When you’re racing if it seems like you’re not pushing the string forward enough, you’re probably already pushing it as far as you need to go.
Related: How to steer an eight or four
The other key to steering straight is to know when not to steer. If you steer too often or are constantly (sometimes unknowingly) pushing the strings back and forth, you’ll end up all over the place. Know when to hold the rudder straight (which should ideally be about 99% of the time.)
Another strategy, and the simplest one when you’re on a buoyed course, is to just look at where the buoys converge (think of the “vanishing point” concept in art…) and keep your stroke’s head right in between where the two buoy lines come together.
When I would race other crews during practice, I knew going into them that steering was the one thing I needed to work on so to force myself to get better I would purposefully line myself up in the middle of the other crews. I’d use my peripheral vision to determine where I was in comparison to them and then rely on the point I’d chosen before the start of the piece. The added pressure of knowing I had $40,000 in equipment on either side of me was a HUGE motivator to not veer out of my lane. I’d suggest trying that the next time you do pieces with other crews and see if it helps.
“Fake it till you make it.” Do you believe in that for coxswains? Because of today’s terrible practice I wouldn’t have been able to fake anything for the life of me.
I do to an extent. If you’re at the point where you can’t even fake like you have an idea of what’s happening, speak up and say something. I really only say “fake it til you make it” (and I’m not even sure that’s the right term to use) as a way to get coxswains to act confident even when they’re not sure of something … like, they’re 85% sure but there’s that 15% of doubt. I don’t want to hear the 15% of doubt in your voice. Even if you’re only 85% sure, I want to hear 100% confidence when you talk. I’ll trust you a lot more if you at least sound like you know what you want vs. someone who is like “ummm, yea…I think that’s right”. If you genuinely do not understand how to do something or the coach says something that makes NO sense, just raise your hand and say “Coach, I don’t understand, can you go over that again?” After practice, if you still don’t understand, talk to them privately or ask one of the experienced coxswains. They might be able to explain whatever it is a little better than your coach can.
Faking it should never be a substitute for actually knowing how to do something. Safety is a huge issue when you’re on the water, so I would never want a coxswain to fake knowing a skill just to avoid asking for clarification or to avoid slowing down the speed of practice. $40,000 boat + 8 other people = your responsibility (no pressure). Not knowing how to do something and not inquiring as to how to do it puts you and your crew at risk for an accident. I think that you should approach every situation confidently and not let anyone question that what you’re saying is exactly what you want, but at the same time if you don’t know how to do something, don’t understand something, have a question, etc. you should always ask. I say this all the time and it holds true here…there are MANY stupid questions out there but a question for clarification is never stupid. Be confident but not cocky to the point that you don’t know when to ask for help.
Any tips on how to properly dock an 8+?
Trying to explain docking without any kind of visual is tough. I just think it works better when you can see what’s happening. Docking, like most basic coxing skills though, revolves around common sense. It’s also very trial and error based – you mess up a few times to figure out how to do it right. Trial by fire could also be an accurate description.
Obviously how your dock is set up will dictate how you come in but this should give you an idea of how it’s done. (Also, if it’s not obvious, read the image from the bottom to the top.)
You should never come into the dock with any more than stern pair rowing and you should never come into the dock with bow pair rowing. I don’t know WHY some coaches teach this because it seems so completely illogical to me. If you think about what part of the boat is hitting the dock first, wouldn’t it make more sense to have the rowers who are hitting the dock last be the ones rowing?
Also, don’t try and point towards the dock from the middle of the river. The current will pull you downstream and by the time you actually get to the dock, you’ll be at a 90 degree angle. Set yourself up so that even when you’re two or three lengths away, you’re only two or three feet off the dock from the end of the starboard side’s oars. If you end up taking too sharp of an angle to the point when your bow is on the dock but you (the coxswain) are five feet off it, have your stroke or seven back row, depending on who is on the river side and who is on the dock side. Obviously if your stroke is on the dock side they can’t row so have your 7-seat do it.
Last tip – make sure that you account for the speed of the current and the wind as you make your approach and tell the rowers to be quiet so they can hear what you’re saying. Docking can be tough when the elements are working against you so they need to be listening at all times in order to hear when you tell them to do something.
If you’re a novice, freaking out about docking is only going to make the actual event that much more scary. There’s probably a 99% chance that you’re not going to get it right on your first try – most of us don’t. Your coaches know this and should be on the dock to catch you and prevent any avoidable damage to the boat but if they’re not there to help you, they’re more at fault than you are because you’re still learning. However, that does not exempt you from using your common sense. Be smart about docking and it will come much quicker and easier to you.
What do you like to do to cheer yourself up after a lost race or tough practice?
During the summer and fall my practices were from 5-7:30am so if I wasn’t immediately working or coaching afterwards I’d just go home and sleep for a few hours. If I had a particularly shitty practice, I nearly always felt better once I slept it off. If it was a really shitty practice, I’d call my dad and talk to him. He and I are very similarly minded when it comes to sports and stuff like that, so most of the time he knows where I’m coming from when I get frustrated. Another thing that helped me get some aggression out was to just turn the radio up and listen to the music on the drive home. That’s my go to stress reliever for practically anything.
Later on in the day when I wasn’t as irritated I’d reflect on why practice was so tough that day. Were the rowers not responding to what I was saying or was I being unnecessarily hard on myself? Were my coach and I not communicating properly or was I not communicating well with the crew? After asking myself those questions I could usually figure out why practice didn’t go well and determine what I needed to do differently the next day to ensure that whatever happened that day doesn’t happen again. It doesn’t always work out that way – sometimes practice just sucks – but most of the time it did for me.
In the long run, wallowing over a bad practice or race isn’t worth it. Is that going to cheer you up? Probably not. What will cheer you up is figuring out how to make sure whatever happened doesn’t happen again and then going out the next day and busting your ass to ensure that you have a good practice or that your next race is your best one yet. It seems cliche (trust me, I know this) but using those experiences as a learning opportunity ultimately makes you a lot happier than just focusing on how shitty your day ended up being.
Transitioning by fours in an 8+ always confuses me. I know you start with stern four, then stern pair out, then three four in, but what’s after that? Who goes in and out in what order? Thanks!
It’s actually pretty simple because there’s only two pair switches you need to make to get between stern, middle, and bow four. Once you’re done with bow 4 it’s only a matter of whether you’re continuing rotating through the fours again or going to 6s or all eight (in which case, the addition of the rest of the pairs is self-explanatory).
As a coxswain, I guess you could say this is my first actual leadership position. I’ve had a little experience with being in charge of activities, but never the safety of a 30 thousand dollar boat … or people. What would you say makes an effective leader? Most people if they are, are born leaders. How would you bring that out of someone, if that’s even possible?
One of the most important parts of being a good leader is being engaged, so be involved with the team. The more involved you are, the more likely people will be to look to you as a “team leader”. Also, be assertive and know the difference between that and just being bossy. Don’t wait to be told to do something either, just step up and do it. The more time you spend on the team and with the coaches the better you’ll be able to anticipate this. In the mean time though, just always be willing to do whatever needs done. If you don’t know how to do something, partner up with someone who does so you can learn.
Observe your team captains and what they do, how they act, etc. You can also always ask them or one of the more experienced coxswains for advice on how they’ve become better leaders over the years. Coxing is, in my opinion, 99.9% using your common sense and that alone can go a long way in helping you develop your leadership skills.
Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches
Going off a previously asked question, in your experience if you called a specific rower out then after practice went and made sure you two were OK/on the same page, do you think that would help them not be as pissy about it?
It depends on the situation. If I can tell they’re in a bad mood because of it then I might say something just because it can help minimize any bad feelings there might be on their end. If it seems like they’re getting frustrated at me because I’m calling them out then I’d take them aside after practice and make it clear that I’m not “calling them out” for any reason other than it’s purely part of the job.
I’ve definitely coxed and coached people that I really did not like but as soon as I got in the boat I tried as hard as I could to neutralize any personal feelings I had for them so I knew that when I called them out, it was rowing related and not personal. I might apologize if it seemed like I was focusing on them more than any of the other rowers but I certainly wouldn’t apologize for pushing them or staying on them to make the changes that I or the coach are asking for.
Hi, I’m going to start coxing the novice men for this upcoming season, as well as rowing myself, but I’m so nervous about my first outing – do you have any tips? I’m mainly worried about the steering, spacial awareness, and other boats.
The number one piece of advice that I can give you is this: even if you are nervous, don’t let that affect your demeanor in the boat. I kind of look at it as being the captain of the Titanic – you’ve gotta be calm all the time so as to not incite panic aboard the ship. If your crew thinks that you don’t know what you’re doing, they might try and “take over” and tell you what to do and before you know it, you’ve got eight different opinions coming out you and each rower thinks theirs is the right one. I’ve seen this happen with several novice crews, which honestly just makes me laugh because the rowers are always novices too, so what do they know? Bottom line, stay calm and execute practice confidently.
Related: Defining the role of the coxswain: Mike Teti’s “Three S’s of Coxing”
The first few times you go out, your coach is probably going to run everything from the launch so all you’ll need to do is focusing on learning to steer. As you get more comfortable with steering, then you can start talking to the boat, learning what calls to make, etc. (If you want some more advice on steering, check out the “steering” tag.) After your first few outings, spend a few minutes talking to your coach and getting some feedback from them. Ask if they noticed anything in particular that you’ve improved on since the last practice and what you can do to keep improving. Even though most coaches are clueless when it comes to coxing, every now and then they offer up some good pieces of advice.
Related: How to steer and eight or four and How to cox a boat in and out of the boathouse
Once you get out on the water and can see the width of the boat with the oars extended, you’ll get a good idea as to how much room you take up on the river. Number one rule of coxing – use your common sense. (There’s actually like, 876 (at least) “number one rules of coxing” … this is just one of them.) Don’t get too close to shore and try to avoid other boats at all costs (for obvious reasons). Experienced coxswains will know to just move out of the way of novices but you should never assume that another boat will actually move. Your best bet is to maintain a safe distance at all times.