Category: High School

Video of the Week: The Tiger Navy at SRAAs

By readyallrow June 2, 2014

Everywhere I’ve coached I’ve bragged about Marietta – I’ve compared every team to them because they set the bar so damn high in terms of expectations, sportsmanship, pride, coaching, etc. and now not only do other teams have to continue to try to live up to that, any crew I coach from here on out has to live up to this lightweight 8+. What makes me prouder than anything else is that I can finally stop bragging about the boats I coxed at Marietta and start bragging about the one I helped coach. I mean, I’ll still talk up my boats when I can but it’s more exciting now to brag about the things these guys have accomplished. I don’t really know why. My coach and I were talking about this on the bus ride home and when I said that he just smiled so I assume he knows what I mean and/or felt the same way at some point when he started coaching.

So, what’s the takeaway from this season? There are too many to count but the biggest one is that coaching girls is hard. Like, way harder and way more frustrating than coaching boys but it is a ton of fun in ways that coaching guys never could be. I definitely have a new appreciation for it. The payoff is that eventually everybody figures each other out and solid relationships are built, you’re given the nickname “Mom” that you without fail start responding to (even when it’s being yelled in the middle of a crowded regatta), and, if you play your cards right, you end up with a text that says there’s a massive slice of Reese’s PB cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory with your name on it in the hotel room across the hall that you get to eat while listening to a group of girls tell you about their way-too-complicated love lives. I’ll be honest though, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

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College Coxing High School Racing Recordings

Coxswain recordings, pt. 20

By readyallrow May 13, 2014

Marietta Tiger Navy Lightweight 8+ 2014 Midwest Championships Grand Final

This is from Sunday’s final in the lightweight 8+ at Midwest where they finished 2nd overall and received an automatic bid to nationals at Mercer.

One of the big things I talked about with our coxswain when we were going over this on the way home was that she’d make calls like “even”, “a deck up”, “they’re sagging”, “pulling ahead”, etc. but not say on who. If it’s just you and another crew up on the rest of the field then calls like that are fine but when you’re still within the pack, you can’t assume that the crew knows who you’re talking about. Similarly with regards to “specifics”, there were several times where the margins she called were way off. That’s one of the things that you’ve got to be accurate about if you’re gonna make calls for it, which you should be. If your crew is the one that’s up, you make the call based on where you – the coxswain – are. If your crew is down, you make the call based on where your bowball is. The latter is obviously tougher to gauge than just looking straight across to the other boat but it’s not that difficult if you possess even the slightest amount of depth perception. Being up a length means the crews are bow to stern – the bow of the crew that’s behind is on the stern deck of the crew that’s ahead. Being up a length of open means there’s a full boat length of open water between the crew that’s up and the one that’s down.

At 1:28 you hear the stroke say “down” because the stroke rate was too high and the crew didn’t lengthen out as much as they needed/were supposed to. From personal experience I’ve found that this is almost always because I called the settle poorly. When I’ve been sharper with the calls and given the rowers more prep time to get ready for them, they tend to be smoother and more “on” in terms of getting the stroke rate where we want it in the fewest strokes possible. Sometimes it’s because of tendencies that individuals have (i.e. rushing) but I also kinda take the blame for that sometimes because there’s almost always something I could be saying to address that. In this case, better preparation for the settle(s) and sharper calls would have helped.

At 2:03 the coxswain says “competition’s New Trier”, which we already knew going into the race so I’m not sure why she made that call but regardless, you’ve established who your main competition is, now use that to do something. This would have been the perfect spot (especially after that call and the fact that it was right at the 500m mark) to take a ten to regain the two seats they just took in the last 100m or so. Between 2:21 and 3:21 though New Trier walks nearly a full length on us. As a coxswain you’ve got to recognize that that’s happening and make a call to counter it. It’s fine to be “in the zone” but you can’t be so in the zone that you ignore everything that’s happening outside the small confines of the coxswain’s seat.

5:58 was the only part of the race that really pissed me off. She calls “20 to go” and then the crew took three strokes. Three strokes after the coxswain called last 20. This was another thing I talked about with the girls and later with our head coach – when you’re racing, you’re giving 97, 98, 99% every stroke. When your coxswain calls “last however many to the line” that’s kinda when you re-negotiate with yourself about how much you’re hurting and say “OK, there’s 20 strokes left … I can go little bit harder over these next 20 to make sure I finish on completely empty”. You prepare to kill your body just a little bit more because your coxswain’s told you there’s a finite amount of strokes left – it’s balls to the wall, lights out for the next 20.

When you over exaggerate the amount of strokes left by seventeen there’s a good possibility that you just robbed your crew a few tenths of a second. It’s not about the rowers pacing themselves for the end or anything like that, it’s just them digging deeper within themselves to make sure they use up every last drop of energy they’ve got. There is a big difference between the two; one’s physical and one is mental. When they cross the line after only three strokes, there’s a possibility that they’re gonna think “Wait … what? I’m 99% empty, I’ve still got 1% left”. If five, six, seven people think that, how many tenths of a second do you think that amounts to? In this race a few tenths of a second wouldn’t have made a difference but who’s to say it won’t at nationals? When I coxed the lightweight 8+ there our semi-final had like, two seconds between 1st through 5th place. That margin between the individual crews was small. In situations like that, tenths of a second matter. When medals and championships are on the line, tenths of a second matter.

University of Delaware 2013 Dad Vail Lightweight 8+ Grand Final

Right out of the gate, the way she calls the start and high strokes is great. Her tone, how she’s annunciating the calls, etc. all vibes right with the strokes and just flows perfectly. This goes a long way in helping establishing the crew’s rhythm off the line.

I really loved how coming into Strawberry Mansion (which is about 750m in, I think) she says “as soon as we’re straight we’re gonna light it the fuck up“. I think her calls immediately after the bridge were a little lackluster though. Everything felt rushed and not as on point as most of the other calls up to this point. After a call as a strong as that “light it up” one I expected a little more fire when she called the move at the thousand.

As they’re coming into the last 500 she starts getting pretty shout-y and cheerleader-y and also maybe a little too cocky because even though they were up, they definitely didn’t have it 100% in the bag yet. That’s an important thing to keep in mind, you’ve gotta cox the whole race, not just the first 1750m and then cheer the rest of the way. Overall though I’d say this was pretty solid … especially considering this girl was a walk-on who only started coxing eight months before this race.

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

Coxing High School Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow May 12, 2014

I’ve been getting a lot of help from your blog lately, thank you! I’m in 8th grade and have been in coxing for 3 years. I recently went to states for the third time but I missed out on two days of practice right before the regatta. I don’t know the fine details but I wound up moving from the 4v to the 6v. This caused my normal rowers, the 4v girls, to start treating me differently. I’m not getting a lot of respect from the girls in my boat, it could be the age difference, but I’m hoping that I’m the most mature at practices than I am anywhere else. I have been moved back into the 4v but the girls still aren’t being as attentive and listening to my advice as I hoped they would be. This could just be some drama, but I feel that if there isn’t any “harmony” in the boat, we won’t compete as one boat. With SE Regionals coming up, I’m a little worried. Any ideas? Thanks.

I agree, I think it’s just silly drama. If you missed practice for a legit reason and your coach knew you were going to be gone, they have no reason to start acting differently towards you and not listening when you’re on the water. If you missed practice because you just bailed on them or whatever then yea, that would definitely explain why you got moved down and why they’re acting the way they are. If you want to know why you got moved down you should just talk to your coach and see what they say, although getting moved down for a couple days usually isn’t that big of an indicator of anything.

Maybe also bring up the issues you’re having with the boat and see if they have any insight into that whole issue since they see you at practice every day and would know what was going on during the two days you weren’t there that might have caused their attitudes to shift. You could also confront a couple of the people in the boat to find out what the problem is – who knows, maybe it is just the age difference and they think they can get away with everything more easily because you’re younger than them but you should really stick up for yourself and say that if they’ve got a problem with you then they need to address it directly instead of being passive-aggressive about it on the water and wasting valuable practice time.

High School Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By readyallrow May 6, 2014

Hi! I’m a high school rower and am in my team’s LW V4. We’re going to SE Regionals this weekend and have a shot to place for nationals, so I’m really excited! The whole season I have been naturally under 130, ranging from 127-130ish. At the beginning of this week my weight was up a little (I know it fluctuates day to day), but we don’t have practice after Wednesday and I was just wondering if you had any advice for how I should keep my weight in control for this weekend. I’ve heard different things like do cardio (obviously) and eat fibrous foods until the day before when you should eat energy dense food that doesn’t weigh you down. I love your blog and love to relate to other rowers during my spring season! Thanks!

The best thing you can do between now and this weekend is make sure you’re drinking water and watching what you eat. By that I mean just make sure you’re eating sensibly (five small meals a day) and not eating foods that are super calorie-dense, high in salt, etc. Salads, greek yogurt, fruit, chicken breast, steamed veggies, etc. are all solid options. If you’re not practicing on Thursday or Friday I’d recommend going for a medium to long-ish easy run (enough to get your heart rate up but not so much that you’re going to feel the effects in the following days) just so you can get a workout or two in before you weigh-in. If you’ve naturally been under though, you’ll most likely be fine. Remember, you can be 130lbs on the dot and still make weight. Just be smart about what you’re eating.

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.

High School Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow May 5, 2014

Hi OK on my team novices don’t go to regionals unless you’re in the fresh 8. So anyways for the rest of the year those who aren’t going have to row in pairs which is awesome but we have assigned pairs and the girl I’m with is bow and she is so horribly bossy and mean and she yells at me and blames me for everything that goes wrong. I’ve talked to the coach but she said we just need to work it out and I even took a starboard rigged boat just so I could be bow but she still acts like she’s the coxswain. How should I deal with this? I really like rowing pairs but she makes it so awful.

After you talked with your coach did you then try to talk to your pair partner off the water about all this? I would say that if you did and nothing changed (after say, three to five days) you should go back to your coach and say that you tried to talk/”work things out” but nothing came of it and is there any way that you could switch partners because the current setup isn’t working. Maybe it’s just me but it really irritates me when coaches say “work it out” and expect that to birth some magical solution that suddenly fixes whatever problems there are. Like, yes, I understand that people need to find solutions to their own problems and act like mature (young) adults but at the same time, you’re the coach. Being a mediator in situations like this is part of your responsibility. If someone says something isn’t working, I feel like the natural course of action would be to figure out why it’s not working (by talking to the people involved), make some observations, and make a call one way or the other. Telling teenagers to “work it out” and not getting any more involved than that sounds like a great way to escalate the drama. Like I said, maybe that’s just me that thinks that but whenever I hear a coach saying “work it out” it just sounds like they’re saying “I’m above dealing with this”.

The next time you go out for practice, let her be the bowman. I know that’s probably not the ideal solution for you but in terms of safety, if she’s going to talk over you when you’re in bow anyways, she might as well just be back there herself. As much as I’d love to fight (and win, obvs) every battle, sometimes you’ve gotta pick and choose which ones are worth are engaging in. This one’s not worth it because ultimately your safety is more important that whatever issue you two have with each other.

Talk to her before you go out and say that the last few practices haven’t been very productive for you because it feels like she’s being overly aggressive with … well, everything and that’s taking your focus away from actually rowing. If there’s a certain way that works best for you in terms of how constructive criticism, etc. is given, tell her that. For example, “If I’m doing something wrong or could make an adjustment, the best way to say that to me is to XYZ, rather than just yelling at me.” Maybe the two of you just need to spend some time figuring out the best way to communicate. Until you’ve tried that and found that that’s not the issue (or that the issue extends beyond that), don’t assume that simply talking it out won’t make a difference.

If you try that and find that nothing changes, like I said before, go back to your coach and see if she can pair you with someone else. Rowing in pairs is a great way to work on your technique because it really highlights and magnifies a lot of little things that would otherwise get covered up in the eight. You definitely want to make sure you’re taking full advantage of the time you have in them. If you feel like that’s not happening, you should make that clear to your coach and let her know that this really isn’t about you not wanting to row with your current partner because you don’t get along but rather because you want to be paired with someone who’s going to actually help you get something out of practice (and for whom you can do the same).

Coxing High School Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow April 28, 2014

So, I have been coxing for two years, and really enjoy races. However as it’s regatta season coming up, I need a bit of advice on race. How much do you want to be talking in races? My rowers said they want me talking constantly, but my coach advised not to because the rowers usually end up blocking it out. Also, do you have any calls you find really motivate your crew? I don’t want to just be reciting calls without them meaning anything but then I don’t know what to fill the gaps with. We have had loads of really successful coxes from our club so I’m under lots of pressure to be good! :/ Also, sorry I know this is a lot, but I am 5’3″ and weigh 105lbs, is this too big or heavy for a junior 14s coxie? Thanks a bunch, love this blog!

In terms of how much you should be talking, always go with what the rowers ask for. I talk pretty consistently when we’re racing or doing pieces because I don’t feel like there’s any reason why I shouldn’t be. If the rowers want/need you to always be talking, then that’s what I do. In my experience my crews have told me that even if they aren’t specifically processing some of what I’m saying, my voice and how I’m saying what I’m saying is what’s keeping them engaged and their focus in the boat.

I really cringe when coaches tell coxswains how to do stuff like this because so often it comes from their own personal experience as a rower and is based off of what they didn’t like about their coxswain. That’s fine but … your experience isn’t everyone else’s. The same applies to me though too – what my crews have asked me to do might be different than what your crews want you to do.

The best thing you can do in situations like this is to take into consideration the advice you get from outside people (your coach, me, etc.) and then go straight to your rowers and say “Re: talking while racing, I’ve heard X and Y … which applies to us?” and find out straight from them what they want. Communication is key!

Regarding motivating calls, check out the post linked above. This is another spot where you should talk with your rowers and ask them what would really get them going during a race. Don’t over think it because the most effective calls are usually the simplest ones. Several of the recordings that coxswains have sent me lately have included really simple calls that just relate to their school/team, such as “Yea Tigers!”, “Go Big Red!”, “Here we go, Huskies!”, etc. When you’ve got time, scroll through all the coxswain recording posts and look at/listen to some of the calls I pointed out.

Related: Coxswain recordings

As far as your height/weight goes, you’re five pounds under the minimum of 110lbs – you’re fine. That’s probably the most common size for female coxswains so no, it’s not too big or too heavy.

College High School Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow April 28, 2014

Our team has gotten really close these past couple weeks and I’m really going to miss everyone who is leaving next year. What is the best way to bond with my team before the end of the season?

Go to someone’s house and have a biiig bonfire cookout or something. If you’re in college, bring beer. If you’re not in college, bring root beer.

Seriously though, the best thing you can do is really appreciate the time you spend together when you’re at practice, traveling to regattas, etc. It might not feel like you’re bonding because you’re not doing a specific “bonding activity” but when you look back on it you’ll realize that that one hilarious conversation you had in the hotel or that great race you had last week was one of the defining moments of your friendship(s) and time together as teammates.

High School Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow April 13, 2014

Hi, we have states in two weeks and we have boat gifts – is this a sport-wide tradition? If so, what are good gifts to buy/make? Thanks a bunch.

I wouldn’t say it’s a sport-wide tradition, rather it’s more of a “if your team does it, cool, if not, whatever” kind of thing. My team does something similar to this called “secret motivators” where each girl is assigned another girl to buy a fun gift for before each regatta. Sometimes they find out who their person is early on but I don’t think anyone is supposed to know until the end of the season. At the beginning of the season one of the seniors gave everyone on the team a “survey” to fill out where they listed why they joined the team, what motivates them, what music/TV shows/movies they like, what their favorite things are, etc. so that the person who was assigned them had an idea of what kind of things they might like.

It’s hilarious watching everyone open their gifts because it’s like Christmas morning every week – wrapping paper, gift bags, and tissue paper litter the ground regardless of where we are. The creativity that some of the girls have is pretty impressive too. Some of the things I’ve seen people get so far are baseball hats that say “crew” on them (Headsweats are a team favorite), SpiderMan coloring books, their favorite food or candy (jars of peanut butter + their own spoon seem to be popular), fun patterned sport bras, crew or team-inspired artwork, water bottles, etc. I’d say 98% of the stuff that’s given though has nothing to do with rowing (Disney princess bath soap or miniature stuffed animals, for example) but it’s all done in good fun and the goal is to just perk everyone up a bit before a regatta. Just from asking around I think the average amount that people spend each week is $10-$20, although for the first race of the season and most likely for the bigger regattas at the end of the season, people tended to spend (or will spend) a little bit more.

Don’t over think it and just have fun with it! It’s a great way to get to know other people on the team better and promote team bonding.

College High School Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow April 10, 2014

Hello, so going into the spring racing season, I knew that I wanted to improve as much as possible etc etc (coming off an unsuccessful fall) but then I also knew that there are things that I need to do as a junior (such as college touring). There’s a fair sized regatta at the end of my April break, but that’s also the only time I’ll have until August to college tour. Also what if I get asked by college coaches why I’m not racing? I know this is mostly my decision, but could you help me out?

Ooh, that’s tough. Between crew, marching band, SATs/ACTs, and all the other stuff I had going on, I didn’t have time to start going on college visits until the late fall (read: November) of my senior year. I had already narrowed down the schools I wanted to visit to three so that made it easier but I didn’t go visit any of them until pretty late in the game. I would have liked to have started the process earlier but I don’t think it hurt in any way going when I did. If you end up having to wait until August I honestly don’t think you’ll be too far behind the curve as long as you’re not trying to look at like, eight or nine schools. There were several kids that came in the fall to look at Cornell who were in similar positions as you so if you end up having to wait til then I wouldn’t stress about it – there are plenty of other people doing the same thing.

If you decide to go at the end of April then it can easily be explained to any coaches that ask that this was the only available opportunity that you had to look at colleges until August and looking ahead to the fall you didn’t want to try to juggle the start of your senior year, getting back into the swing of training, filling out applications, etc. with trying to travel all over the country to look at schools. As long as the regatta you’d be missing isn’t a championship of some kind, I don’t think they’d look that closely at it. You have to weigh the pros/cons though and decide if this is a race that you can afford to miss. Obviously that’s something only you and your coach would know but it does require some thought and consideration.

Ultimately you should do whatever you think will make the whole process as smooth and stress-free as possible for you. Don’t try to balance traveling to visit schools with a million other things because you’ll just end up overwhelmed and distracted, which will take your focus off of why you’re really there.