Category: Q&A

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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I swear to god, with all the shit coxswains have to put up with, ya’ll deserve a whole month of appreciation, not just 1 week. I see the way my coach treats coxswains and basically says he hates coxies in front of them. It sucks because that attitude is too prevalent in the community.

Yea, I agree that that attitude is too prevalent. It’s frustrating but in theory it’s also an attitude/culture that can be changed … it really only takes the leaders on the team saying something and shutting down that behavior as soon as they see or hear about it happening (and obviously not partaking in it themselves). Granted, that can be hard to do when your coach is also involved in it but nobody ever said calling people on their shit was an easy thing to do.

That was something else that the coxswain from today’s post (linked below)said in her emails, that it became clear that the rowers saw the way the coach treated her (in addition to making the weight comments) and got the idea in their heads that it’s OK for them to treat her like that too. It’s not and it shouldn’t take the athletes to point out that everything starts from the top down. The team itself was a relatively new one and the majority of the rowers were total novices, which makes it even more frustrating that the coach would be the one spurring all this on because novices are like babies – they’re sponges. They soak up everything to get a sense for how shit works and if they see you doing something, they’re going to assume they can do it too.

Related: Do you really need that?

I’m all for calling coxswains out when they need to be called out (I think I’ve been pretty vocal about too) but it’s also basic common sense to know when you’re crossing that line and your “feedback/criticism” is crossing over into personal attacks, either blatant ones (telling them you hate them or blaming them for everything that’s going wrong) or subtle ones (making snide remarks about their weight).

Coxing High School Q&A

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Hi! I just started coxing a novice summer competitive program after rowing for one year at a different club. There are four coxswains, and it was originally three with the girls coach and one with the boys coach, because there are three girl coxswains and one boy coxswain. The team usually has boys cox boys and girls cox girls, but the boys coach has recently been having me cox the boys too and he keeps implying that he would want me to cox boys in the fall. Problem is, I weigh in between 99 and 103lbs depending on the day, so I’m a bit too far under the boys’ weight minimum. I’m comfortable at my weight, but should I consider putting on a bit of weight to cox in general or is that weight usually fine for coaches? Thanks so much!

Coaches very rarely ever care if you’re under the minimum because it’s one less thing they (and you) have to worry about. Obviously putting on muscle is never a bad thing but unless it’s something that gets brought up by the coaches, I wouldn’t worry about it (especially since you’re a novice coxswain too). If you feel like you need to gain some weight then you can explore that avenue if necessary but I wouldn’t do it just because of where you are compared to the 120lb minimum.

Coxing Masters Q&A

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Our (predominantly) Masters club rows out of a college boathouse and we have been fortunate enough over the years to have some of their coxes cox for us over the summer. Now it seems we need to “grow our own” as the college rowers are less available and the subject of a coxswain clinic has come up. Do you have any suggestions about how to structure this clinic?

I think the simplest way to do it would be to advertise it to any/all local coxswains, partner up with the college coxswains you’ve been working with to have them teach part/all of it, and make it known that the masters club also just happens to be looking for coxswains.

Structure-wise, I’d probably make it a three-hour thing on the weekend (like 9-12pm) or since it’s the summer, something in the afternoon/evening (say, 2-5pm or 4-7pm). Regardless of whether the people you bring in are total novices, experienced coxswains, masters rowers-turned-coxswains, etc. I think it’s worthwhile to start off with something like this, that way everyone knows right off the bat where motivation falls on the hierarchy of things people expect coxswains to do (hint: it’s not even remotely close to being your most important responsibility), and/or this, again just so they can get a sense of what their priorities should be. It can also serve as a good reminder for the experienced coxswains that execution and steering trump everything else.

From there I’d just keep things simple and talk about the basics of steering, boat handling (aka how to get it out of the boathouse and into the water (PS that’s a good post to share with the novice coxswains you know)), and what the stroke actually looks like. I don’t think you need to get super in-depth with any of the technical stuff because that can get boring (fast) and it’s just not necessary (yet) for what you’re trying to do. I would also spend a bit of time at the end talking about the masters program, what you’re looking for, who would be eligible to work with you (i.e. anyone, only people two years of coxing experience, etc.) and then get a list of emails/phones numbers from everyone so you can stay in contact with the people who are interested in coxing for you.

Definitely get the college coxswains involved though. You’re more likely to attract junior coxswains that way and it can be reassuring to masters rowers-turned-coxswains to hear from people who actually know what they’re talking about (vs. just having another adult who’s maybe “coxed” three times explain what coxing is all about).

High School Q&A Rowing

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Hi!! I’m 5′ 2” and I’ve been rowing all throughout middle school. I don’t think I’m going to grow anymore. Can I still be a successful rower in high school?

Some of it depends on the competitiveness of your team.  I had several friends in our LW8+ and V8+ that were 5’1″ – 5’3″ and that worked perfectly fine for us as a pretty competitive SRAA school. If we were part of a more competitive club program like the top end crews at Youth Nats then they’d probably all be coxswains or bow seats in the 2V or 3V. Different programs want different things in their athletes so it’s important to keep that in mind.

Even though your height can limit which boats you’re in as you get more competitive, at the junior level it’s not really as big of a deal. Being successful or not being successful isn’t going to be because of your height though. I know it sounds cliche but the time and effort you’re willing to put in will be a much bigger deciding factor. So yes, to answer your question, you can be 5’2″ and be a successful high school rower but if you want to stay with crew beyond that then switching to lightweight full-time (if you aren’t already naturally there) or becoming a coxswain will probably be where you’ll find most of your opportunities.

Coxing Q&A Rowing Technique

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I’m the senior girl’s cox for my school club and my crew is really struggling with having a slow recovery then accelerating to the finish and putting in pressure. When I call to go slow up the slide they might slow down 1 or 2 points or not even at all. And the pressure dies when the rating slows. Then the rating goes up when I call pressure. Do you have any ideas about how I can help them get into a slow steady rhythm but still put in pressure?

Pause drills, acceleration drills, emphasizing slow recoveries with painfully slow stroke rates, and lots of patience. Also, instead of saying “slow up the slide”, find other ways to say the same thing. If you’re consistently repeating the same call they’re going to tune you out (either voluntarily or involuntarily) because it will have lost any and all of it’s meaning.

Pause drills are a good place to start because they give you checkpoints throughout the recovery to make sure everyone’s timing is right. In this case I’d probably start with a triple-pause (hands away, bodies over, half-slide) and eventually work up to a double-pause (hands away, half-slide), then a single-pause (half-slide). Depending on how experienced the crew is I’d probably start off with 4s (bow four and stern four) then eventually go to 6s (stern six and box six), with “eventually” being after a couple of practices. Don’t move on until they’re ready though – it does absolutely nothing for anyone to move on to something that’s a little more difficult (even if that’s just rowing by 6s) if they don’t have a firm grasp on the basics. If the crew is more experienced then you can do sixes (bow and stern) and then all eight. The reason why pause drills tend to be effective is because it gives them, like I said before, checkpoints so they can make sure they’re in the right place at the right time. If they’re rushing it’s going to be a total pain in the ass for your stroke but that’s when you’ve gotta lean out and talk to individuals and say “7-seat, make sure you’re backing [stroke] up, get on their rhythm and then send it back. 5 and 6, relax, focus on that swing through the back end and matching stern pairs movements up the slide.” … or something to that effect.

The key here is to help them understand that they shouldn’t be rushing from one pause to the next, rather they should be “floating” into it. It’s not a race to see who can get to the catch first. I say this to pretty much everyone (even the guys on my team that have been rowing for 6+ years) but just because your butt is on wheels doesn’t mean you can just fly up the slides with reckless abandon or assume that you don’t have to exert some kind of control over your own movements. Alternatively, if you’re physically pulling yourself up the slide with your feet instead of letting the boat run out underneath you, that whole floating thing can’t/won’t happen. We say “coming up the slide” because it’s easier but the way to actually think about it is to visualize your seat staying in the same spot while you bring your feet back towards your body. (This is something you can actually see when you’re in the launch too. Pick a rower and watch their body in relation to something stationary on land, like a tree or something. You’ll be able to see the boat running under them while their body stays “fixed”.)

When I’m coxing pause drills I like to give them one simple instruction at each pause (which should last for about two seconds, hence why what you say has to be concise) for a few strokes and then I’m silent (except for saying “go”) for a stroke or two. This gives them a chance to process what I just said and how the boat feels while also implementing any changes that need to be made. So if I’m coxing double pause drills starting from the previous stroke this is probably what it’d sound like:

“Let’s go double pause starting at hands away … on this one. [Catch, finish, hands away pause] Deep breath, relax the shoulders, go. [Half slide pause] Easy into the catch now, go. [Catch, finish, hands away pause] Little more control this time, go. [Half slide pause] Float into it, go. [Catch, finish, hands away pause] Better, go. [Half slide pause] Light into the front, accelerate through, go. Hook, squeeze. [Finish, hands away pause] There it is, go. [Half slide pause] Go. [Catch, finish, hands away pause] Go. [Half slide pause] Control the front end here, go. [Catch, finish, hands away pause] Chins up, eyes up, go. [Half slide pause] Keep it smooth, go. [Catch, finish, hands away pause] Go…”

And on and on until we switch. Something else you could/should emphasize is getting the bodies set early, meaning that by the time they’re at bodies over they’ve gotten all the reach they’re gonna get. Sometimes rushing into the catch doesn’t have as much to do with the slides as it does people throwing their upper bodies forward because they didn’t get enough (or any) swing in the first half of the recovery. In my experience it’s usually a 50-50 split between that and the slides so I’d talk with your coach and see what he/she thinks is the underlying issue and then go from there.

Acceleration drills are fairly straightforward, all you’re doing is starting the stroke at a low pressure and then gradually building to full pressure by the time you get to the finish. This is best done at lower rates (16-20spm) so you can really feel the boat pick up. Engage the legs muscles right at the catch but don’t “slam” them down until you get to about half-slide or so. That split second of patience vs. slamming them down immediately tends to make a big difference because it lets you feel the connection between the blade and the water before you start applying power.

It sounds like you need to also remind them (or emphasize, if they’re novices) that stroke rate and pressure aren’t the same thing – low stroke rates don’t necessarily mean low pressure just like high stroke rates don’t necessarily mean full pressure. Try rowing 12-14spm at 3/4 pressure – not only will that help them with slowing the recoveries down but it’ll also hopefully get them away from the idea that you have to be rowing high in order to pull hard.

In addition to all of that, I’d spend some time talking with your coach about what you’re seeing/feeling, that way they can watch from the launch and address the issues during practice. Another thing is pay attention to how the boat feels when you’re rowing by 4s and 6s (especially by 6s). You can usually pinpoint which pair the rush is coming from or who isn’t rowing at pressure when you switch people in and out. Depending on your relationship with them, how experienced you all are, etc. you could say something to them in the boat (“3 and 4, when you guys came in we started to feel the rush a bit more so once we get going again make sure you’re getting the bodies set early and controlling the slides as you come into the catch…”) but it might be best to talk it over with your coach first and see what they say. Most of the time my coaches would say to just tell them when I notice that happening but other times they’d say to hold off and wait for them to address it first. Talk with your coach and find out what to do in situations like that and then address it as necessary.

Coxing Q&A

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I’m a senior coxswain going into my last school season in October. During the winter I’m training with my school crew for a sports exchange and a university club’s school winter program. I’ve been looking into buying a cox box recently but I don’t know if I should get my own. The uni club has good cox boxes but all of my school’s cox boxes are pretty dodgy. Do you think I should get my own cox box? I want to keep coxing when I finish school but I don’t know.

There are definitely pros and cons to investing in your own cox box (which is a whole other topic of conversation…) but for me it comes down to whether or not you’re 10000% sure that you’ll be coxing after you graduate (whether that’s in college, with your country’s national team, with a masters program, etc.). If you’re not sure you will be or aren’t sure you want to then it’s not worth it. It sucks having cox boxes that don’t consistently work but I don’t think that’s necessarily a reason to buy your own, especially if it’s your last season and you’re unsure if you want to continue after this. If the club has any to spare then you could always ask them if they could loan you one while you’re with your other team but unless your current team has plans to get theirs fixed or to buy new ones (something you should suggest if they’re in need of one or the other), you might just have to deal with the dodgy ones for the time being.

Q&A Teammates & Coaches

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I have a question bouncing off of one you answered about losing the passion to row. I’m finishing my second year of college and I’m completely miserable. I loved rowing and I know this is what I want to do but rowing, school, and life are getting to be too much. I feel like I’m drowning. I talked to my mom how I feel and she suggested taking a semester off of school and rowing. I kind of want to but I’m afraid of what my coaches and teammates will think. I’ve never given up on anything before and I’m afraid to start now. I don’t want to be seen as weak or a quitter. I don’t even know how to start the conversation with my coach. Do you have any advice?

 If you’re genuinely miserable and have felt that way for awhile (as in you’ve felt like this for a few months, not just for a week or two because of general stress…) then taking time off might be the smart thing to do. I’ve said this a thousand times on here and I’ll say it again – at the end of the day you have to do what’s best for you. You can love rowing, love your coaches, love your teammates, etc. but if something’s going on that’s making you not enjoy what you’re doing, the smart thing to do would be to take a step back and work out whatever those issues are (either on your own or with help) so you can get back to having fun and enjoying rowing/life.

As far as your coaches and teammates go, they don’t have to like your decision but they should at least respect it. If they don’t and instead give you shit for it, well, that should answer your question as to whether staying on the team is worthwhile or not. I don’t want to say coaches should be used to having conversations like this with their rowers but they should expect it from time to time so the best thing you can do, for you and them, is to just be honest about how you’re feeling, why you think taking some time off will be beneficial, and then set up a time to talk at some point in the future … either in a month, when you get back to campus, etc. If you do end up deciding to take a break then the sooner you let your coaches know the better, simply because this will presumably have some kind of impact on their fall plans. Don’t wait until the last minute and beat around the bush though because that’s just annoying and frustrating.

You’re not really “giving up” so don’t look at it that way. If you made no effort to work on yourself and/or work out your issues before deciding to quit, yea that’s giving up. It doesn’t sound like that’s what you’re doing though so don’t put that kind of unnecessary pressure on yourself. Like I’ve said, do what you need to do for yourself but talk with your coaches and keep them up to date with what you ultimately decide to do. It’s only fair and if they’re like the coaches I work with and most of the ones I’ve had in the past, they’ll support you either way.

Coxing Q&A Racing

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Hello! I finished my last race of the season yesterday and my coach and I were talking about what I can do to benefit the rowers more next season. She said that I need to have a couple of calls that come from my deep belly of coxing abilities, that the crews recognize as “shit gets done” calls. She gave the example of “hit the last nail into their coffin” and said that that was too extreme for my team, but that I needed something equivalent to that to finish out close races with. Do you have any favorites? or any good recordings I should listen to? thanks so much!!!

A call that I and most coxswains I know have used at least once in our careers is “stick the knife in” or “twist the knife”. It’s kind of along the same line as the coffin call you mentioned but they’re good calls that can be super effective when called at the right moment and in the right situation. I remember calling something similar with 100m or so left to go in a race once when we were even with another crew and by the time we got to our last few strokes we were up by just enough that “twist the knife” was the only thing I needed to say to get them across the line. One of my friends in college had this call where he’d say “light the fire” at the start of their sprint (instead of actually calling the sprint as a way to fake out other crews) and then with 15-20 strokes left he’d say “throw some gas on it” which would get them to bring the rate up another beat or two and just haul ass to the finish line. For situations like this though I think the best calls (and the ones your crew connects the best with) are the ones that come to you in the moment because then they don’t sound forced or scripted (which is how stuff like this can come off most of the time).

I do agree with your coach that it’s always good to have some calls in your back pocket that, when you use them, your crew knows it’s time to shift gears and get shit done. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve gotta come up with super special buzzwords or phrases though – sometimes just the way you say things will convey that message. I always love listening to coxswains, especially collegiate ones, say “NOW” when they want their crew to do something because even though it’s a really simple instruction, just the tone and raw power in their voice lets you know that they aren’t messing around.

I know I’ve pointed out calls I like for situations like this before (I’ve heard a lot of good calls so it’s tough to remember them all) so when you’ve got time definitely read through the recordings posts and listen to some of the recordings to hear how the calls actually sound. All of them can be found here.

Coxing Q&A Racing

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Hi! So I’m going to youth nationals soon and the minimum weight is 110 lbs. I know that I’ll need weight, 8 or 9 lbs. What kind of weights are best to use and where can I get them? Thanks!

Go to Home Depot or Lowes and buy a bunch of sand. It’s weird that USRowing makes you provide your own weight but whatever. Weigh yourself and then fill up a plastic bag with sand with whatever the difference is between that and 110lbs. At Sprints, IRAs, etc. the coxswains would fill the bags, duct tape it into a nice solid block, and then write their names, schools, event, and weight on there. I’m not sure if USRowing requires you to do all that but I’d recommend it just because it’s easier to transport when it’s not flopping all over the place and if you misplace it it can easily be returned to you.

Also, just gonna take this opportunity to copy/paste this section from the 2015 Youth Nats entry packet. Coxswains, read and be aware of this.

“The weight of Coxswains shall be determined once each day during either the Weigh-in Window or Adjusted Weigh-in Window, but not both. In the event a Coxswain is weighed after the applicable Weigh-in Window or Adjusted Weigh-in Window but before the first Race in which the weight is relevant, the Coxswain may be subject to one of the penalties described in Rule 2- 602 (“Types of Penalties”); the presumed penalty for such infraction is a Warning. Failure to weigh-in at any point in time prior to the first Race in which the weight is relevant shall constitute a violation of Rule 4-105.1 (“Coxswain’s Weight”) and result in the Coxswain being deemed ineligible to race.

When an Adjusted Weigh-in Window is created due to a scheduling change, a Competitor may weigh-in during either the original Weigh-in Window or the Adjusted Weigh-in Window, but not both, provided the Competitor completes his or her weigh-in prior to the newly Scheduled Time of the Race and on the same day as the newly Scheduled Time of the Race.

“Adjusted Weigh-in Window”: Should Race Officials adjust or alter the racing schedule for compelling reasons, changing the amount of time between the Weigh-in Window and the newly Scheduled Time of the Race, an Adjusted Weigh-in Window shall be created. The Adjusted Weigh-in Window shall be no less than one (1) hour and not more than two (2) hours before the newly Scheduled Time of the Race.

An “Adjusted Weigh-in Window” is only created if an adjusted schedule is officially posted or published by USRowing. Commonly occurring delays throughout the day are not considered an official adjustment to the schedule.

Coxswains who do not comply with the minimum weight standard must provide their own materials to create deadweight in accordance with the USRowing Rules of Rowing. This weight must be placed in the boat as close to the torso of the coxswain as possible, and is specifically forbidden to be distributed throughout the boat. At any time, before or immediately after the race, the Referee, another Race Official, or a member of the Control Commission may require the weight of the deadweight to be checked.”

JUNE 2016 EDIT: New favorite solution – scuba weights. They’re small, easy to carry (and travel with), and there’s no mess. We bought some before IRAs and they worked great.

Q&A

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Hi, your blog is really helpful! I have a kind of strange question, but should female rowers wear anything under their uni/trou? Thank you so much!

It’s definitely a personal preference. I know some women that do just because a) hygiene and b) they find it to be more comfortable but I also know some that don’t because they think it’s uncomfortable and/or awkward to be walking around with very obvious VPL. Under Armour, C9 at Target, etc. sell great athletic underwear (or at the very least have solid seamless options) if you want to wear something but don’t want it to be super obvious. Don’t forget Amazon too – you can find plenty of options on there for pretty solid prices. Thongs are definitely the way to go because then you don’t have to worry about everything getting all bunched up (hence the uncomfortable-ness) but you should go with whatever’s most comfortable for you.