Category: Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 26, 2014

I’m a 3rd year coxswain and last week I made a pretty big statement about wanting to go to Nationals to my coach. He said he’d try me out in the 2nd boat and he did for 2 days, but he took me out even though my boat was doing well and he gave to the girl who’s always on the launch. This week though, the boat I’ve been in has had an attitude problem and I tried to stay positive and encouraging but the negativity kinda got to me. I talked to the coaches today but they said they’d talk to the girl and then my head coach said I’m part of the problem, which OK, I can see that I was frustrated because I was unsure where I was and why he just took me out of the boat, but saying that just felt a little unfair. He said I had to make the boat I’m in go, which I also get, but I feel like I’ve shown him throughout this season and last season that I can make boats better. I drove the JV8 last year and we got 3rd at WIRAs, when our coaches thought we’d do shit. I’m just so close to quitting, because I just don’t feel like anything I do makes any difference. I’m conflicted though, because this is the start of regatta season and I just don’t want to make it seem like I’ve abandoned the team when “I’m needed”, though I suspect they won’t need me. What should I do? I feel like crew really affects me mentally and I just have so much on my plate that the last few weeks I’ve been a wreck. When I talk to the coach it just feels like a brick wall. It seems like he doesn’t see that he plays favorites and I’m just over busting myself for something that doesn’t enrich my life anymore.

First off, I wouldn’t read too much into him taking you out of the boat after two days. Like you said, we’re only at the start of the season … it’d be foolish of him to switch you into a brand new boat and just leave you there for the next three months. Trying out a new coxswain is like test driving a car you’re thinking about buying. You don’t go into the dealership and say “hey, I wanna try out this car” and then drive off the lot and never come back. Pretty sure that’d irritate a few people. You take it out on the road for an hour to see how it feels, how it maneuvers, etc. That’s what your coach did with you, he gave you a two day test-drive. Once he thought he saw everything he needed to see, he put someone else in to see what they were like. Don’t confuse someone saying they’ll try you out with a new boat as them saying that boat is now indefinitely yours because that’ll come off as having a serious sense of entitlement which will ultimately garner you no favors with the coaches.

Regarding the crew with the attitude problem, what was the cause of that and the negativity? Did you try to handle the situation yourself before the coaches got involved? I know that’s not always possible and it can be really hard to try and be positive when everyone around is doing the opposite but as the coxswain, it’s your responsibility to work with the crew and figure out a solution so the coaches don’t have to get involved. I’ve definitely been in similar situations before where you don’t realize you’re part of the problem until someone says something and yea, at first you’re like “WTF, rude…” but you’ve gotta remember there’s a big difference between saying something to hurt another person and giving them criticism/feedback in an attempt to help them improve themselves. I think your coach was giving you some harsh but necessary feedback in this situation. The best way to handle it is to put emotions aside, accept it, and say “OK, I see that now, I’ll try to act differently in the future”. Saying that it’s unfair that he said that because you didn’t know why you were in that boat isn’t legitimate because you don’t need to know why you’re in the boat you’re in – you just need to get in there and cox. Take whatever he said about why you were part of the problem and reflect on that so you can figure out what to do differently the next time you’re in a similar situation.

I agree with him that whatever boat you’re in you’ve gotta commit to making them go fast, regardless of whether it’s the boat you want to be in or not. You’ve proven up to this point that you’re an effective coxswain but you have to keep proving that every day you’re at practice. It’s like seat racing – rowers think that seat races only happen when the coaches say they do but they’re actually happening every day. Same goes for the coxswains. Every move you make, every interaction you have, every task you’re given is seen and evaluated by someone and all of that is later brought to the table as evidence of your skills and abilities when it comes time to make lineups.

I don’t think it should ever be a problem to sit down with your coaches/superiors/whoever and ask, in their opinion, what they feel you bring to the table. Particularly if you’re feeling like you’re not being used to your full potential, this would be a good opportunity to lay that all out on the table. Far too often I’ve found that people think when you ask that that you want them to stroke your ego and sing your praises so they ultimately refuse to do it but that’s really not what the point of the conversation is. Reiterate your goals for the season and how you’d like to make a run for nationals and then ask him what he feels your strengths/weaknesses are because at this point you aren’t sure where you stand with him, compared to the other coxswains, etc. and you’re looking for some honest feedback as to what you can improve on so that you actually can help make whatever boat you’re in go fast.

If he asks where this is coming from or why you’re bringing this up now, just say what you said up above about how crew has been affecting you in a way that is starting to make you question it’s place in your life and that you want some reassurance one way or the other about your role on the team so that you can make an informed decision going forward about whether or not it’s worth it for you to keep coxing. It’s not an easy conversation to have (trust me, I’ve had it before) but things tend to go a lot more smoothly when both sides are honest and up front about what they need from one another. The only side of this that you have any control over is obviously your own but if you go into it with an open mind and a willingness to hear what he’s got to say about how he hopes to use you this season, you might find that your value to him and the team is a lot higher than you think it is.

College Q&A Rowing Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 24, 2014

I’m a college freshman, last semester I was one of the top rowers on the team, over winter break I tried to keep in shape but I was having back and knee pain so it was minimal. I came back slightly out of shape but got back into the rhythm. This semester has been a lot more competitive as far as erg scores and recently I’ve been having more knee pain. I’ve been going to the athletic trainer but they’re not 100% sure what it is, but they think it is my meniscus. There are days when I can’t erg because of the pain so I’ve been on the bike. When I do erg my scores are really bad (bad for me). It gets me really frustrated and I’m letting this injury get to me. I get flustered over bad workouts and it kills me inside when I can’t erg. I want my knee to get better, but I don’t want to take time off and fall behind and not make the 1st boat. It’s especially important this year because we’re going to Women’s Henley this summer. Any suggestions on getting over this mental block? (PS I was never told not to erg, so it’s not like I’m working out against what I was told to do.)

I sympathize with being injured and not being able to work out and I get how frustrating it is psychologically when you know you’re capable of performing better but what I don’t and never will understand – and this goes for everyone – is why athletes refuse to take the time off to let their injuries properly heal before they start trying to work out again. What is logical about pushing through an injury, being 50% all season, and then having to take off more time later when you could take the time off now, come back at 90-100%, and be in a much better position to contend for a spot in the top boat? There’s not always going to be an answer for every ache and pain and usually in those situations when the doctor says the best thing you can do for it is to rest, he’s not blowing you off or giving you some bullshit answer. That really is exactly what you need to do. Just because you weren’t told not to erg doesn’t mean you should keep doing it.

If it is your meniscus, being on the bike is just as bad as being on the erg or going for a run. I’ve had a dislocated knee before and have dealt with years of pain as a result. It was always thought that I’d partially torn one of the ligaments and my meniscus but since they were very minimal the doctors said they’d heal themselves and I’d be fine without surgery. The pain started acting up again pretty badly two years ago and I also thought it was my meniscus that was the issue. With all the traveling, walking, stair climbing, getting in and out of boats, etc. that I’d been doing it seemed like a legitimate possibility that I might have irritated it in some way.

When I went to the hospital to have it looked at, the two doctors I spoke with both told me to avoid anything outside of normal activity that could aggravate it further, which included biking since bending my knee (even slightly) was excruciating and it was thought that if I did have a torn meniscus that biking could tear it more if the already-torn flap became caught in the joint (which would then lead to a locking of the knee, which is when the torn part is caught in the joint and doesn’t allow the knee to straighten all the way).

The issue isn’t that you’re letting this injury get to you … the injury is getting to you because you’re not taking any time off. This isn’t a “mental block” situation. You can want your knee to get better all you want but until you suck it up and realize that that means no erging, no biking, no nothing until you figure out exactly what the issue is, you’re going to keep experiencing the same physical and mental pain that you’re dealing with right now. Do you honestly think that you or anyone else is 1st boat material when you’re not 100% anyways? I wouldn’t even consider putting someone in the first 8+ if I knew they were injured, regardless of how minor or severe it was. If you’re not 100% you can’t give 100%, simple as that.

I’ve said this a few times already to other people and I’ll say it again: there are few things within this sport that piss me off more than people who don’t take care of themselves, regardless of whether it’s conscious or not. Why does it irritate me so much? Because it’s not all about you. If one person is injured, the other eight people in your boat all might as well be injured too. Ignoring your injury and thinking you’re “pushing through it” for your teammates is bullshit. Ignoring and pushing through it so you can be in a good boat is even more bullshit. Anyone that needs me to explain why that is should seriously reevaluate your definition of what a team sport and team player is.

Novice Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 22, 2014

Hey there. I’m going to start as a novice rower in a month’s time, and I’m going to be training with high performance athletes because my club doesn’t have a women’s novice crew over the fall/winter training season. I’m nervous because I believe I’m quite unfit, especially for working next to high performance rowers. Any tips about how to pick up on my fitness, so that I’m more prepared to work at my own pace, even though I’m bound to suffer? And by high performance I mean up to elite level, there are members of the NZ Olympic team with our club. There are also school kids too, but I’m not with them. I so don’t wanna be the clueless and unfit one…

The best and most basic thing you can do at this point is build up your cardio base – long runs, 45-60 minutes on the bike, etc. at least 3-5 times a week. That’ll put you in a good position when you start erging and are heavily relying on your aerobic system to provide your body with energy. I’d also do some core work (10-15 minutes worth at least) a few times a week after you finish whatever cardio stuff you do. You can never go wrong with planks but any core workout that focuses on your back, obliques, and abs will get the job done. This will help build up those muscles which will in turn help to decrease your susceptibility to injury.

You’re nowhere near the same level as the high performance/elite people at your club so don’t worry about that. No one else cares so you shouldn’t either. The elite rowers were in your position once too so if anything, you should really introduce yourself and ask for any advice they have about training as a novice or if they’d mind watching you on the erg for a few minutes and critiquing your form. I can pretty much promise you they’ll be more than willing to talk to you for a few minutes if they’ve got the time. We all want to see the sport grow and that really only happens through interacting with one another and helping out people that are new to the sport. Being clueless kind of goes hand in hand with being a novice but if you’ve got more knowledgeable and experienced people training right beside you, you can really give yourself an advantage (and boost your own confidence a little) if you approach them and pick their brains on anything you’ve got questions on. You’re almost doing a disservice to yourself if you don’t do that.

Coxing Novice Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 20, 2014

Hey! So do you have any tips for dealing with a boat that you think won’t do well as they are novices that don’t keep a set? So basically I was thrown into a boat that didn’t have a coxswain for the race this weekend, so I’m coxing them. How do I keep a good attitude and work with it? I’m sorry if this sounds really bad, I’m just trying to figure out a way to work with it.

If you’re coxing a boat that you’ve never coxed before and will probably never cox again, the key is having zero expectations and doing every single thing they ask you to do. In this situation, you really have no … authority, I suppose, over the crew (outside of the obvious stuff) so you can’t really jump in there and start telling them all these things they need to do (or do better) or coxing them like you cox your normal crews. And plus, I mean, they’re novices. What novice crew can keep a boat perfectly set? It’s kind of not fair to assume that they’re not going to do well because they’re novices and/or can’t maintain the set.

On a scale of 1-10 in terms of bad attitude and good attitude respectively, if you don’t get in the boat with a 5 or above then you’re basically just giving off the impression that you’re pissed to be in a boat that is beneath you. Going in with a neutral attitude is much preferred over that. Talk to the coach ahead of time, get the warmup from them, figure out what they’ve been working on during practice, what they want the race plan to be, etc. and then do exactly what they ask you to do. Get some input from the rowers or talk to the stroke on the way to the starting line to get some ideas for what they want to hear either motivation or technique-wise and try not to stray too far from any of that. You can really risk coming off as a know-it-all (and rude…) if you jump straight in the boat and try to run the show without knowing anything about the crew. You might be the coxswain and “the leader” by title but the best way to put it is (and I’m stealing this from one of my coaches) that you’re a guest in their boat.

Coxing Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 18, 2014

How should a coxswain deal with pre-race doubts and jitters?

I think you should always be a little nervous before you race. I get nervous going to the starting line but that’s mostly because I try to micromanage everything (not really the best course of action, to be honest…). Granted, being in control of your nerves and not being that person that is a blithering idiot about everything is fairly crucial too. If you’re doubting something before your race, whether it’s your skills as a coxswain or your crew’s ability to have a good race, you didn’t prepare enough, plain and simple.

Using your time wisely and effectively during practice and practicing the things you need to work on will ensure that on race day you’re adequately prepared to do what you’re there to do. I mean, that’s the entire reason why we practice, right? If you come back from a race knowing you were really nervous going to the start, figure out why. Is it just general nerves or is it because you didn’t have a race plan, were running late, etc.? Once you’ve figured out the root cause, determine how you’re going to do it differently next time. That could be actually coming up with a race plan, getting the crew together 30 minutes sooner than last time so you can launch earlier and not be rushed to the line, etc.

If you’re nervous and it’s just the normal kind of nerves, relax, close your eyes, and take a deep breath or two. (This is commonly called “centering yourself” in the sport psych world.) Outside of trying to micromanage things, I’d say that most of my nerves are nothing more than an adrenaline rush. That helps me out a lot at the start though because once the flag drops, the nerves go away and the adrenaline takes over, which means I’ve got a lot of energy to put into the beginning of the race.

Another thing that helps that a lot of athletes do, particularly pro-athletes, is visualization. If you’ve been watching the Olympics you’ve probably heard at least one athlete from every sport say the spent the previous night or the morning of their competition visualizing their routine or their race. It’s exactly what it sounds like too – you’re visualizing yourself going through every step of your event, from launching to your warm up to back into the starting platform to every part of your race plan. Visualizing how everything is supposed to go helps you build a bit of confidence which ultimately leads to your nerves either being eliminated or at the very least, better controlled.

Coxing Novice Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 13, 2014

I’m coxswain captain for my high school team and I want to have a meeting at the beginning of our spring season next week with the novice coxswains to make sure they know what they’re doing. What do you think I should bring up? I know safety and general calls are big ones, I just don’t want to leave out anything important.

Great idea! Way to take the initiative and do that. I think the most important thing that you should talk about with them is water safety. That probably comes as a surprise but I really think that that’s an important topic that isn’t brought up or detailed enough. I’m planning on doing a post about it next week but if you want some bullet points beforehand, feel free to email me.

The key with having a meeting like this is to avoid giving too much information and overwhelming them. The minute they start feeling overwhelmed by what they’re hearing, that’s when they’re going to start tuning you out (source: every math class I’ve ever taken from like, 4th grade through senior year of college). I would pick five key things and no more than that. If you have more than five things (which you probably will) prioritize the most important ones and then have another meeting sometime next month. (That would probably be a good idea anyways.)

If I was doing it I would probably go in this order but it’s obviously completely up to you:

General responsibilities and expectations (minus the romanticizing and overly-flowery descriptions (words cannot describe how much I hate this); be straightforward and tell them what their job/role on the team is, what is expected of them from their teammates and coaches, etc. The clearer you are about this from the very beginning the less room they have later on when they’re slacking off and saying “I didn’t know I had to do that”.

Water safety

Basic terminology (and by basic I mean the most basic of the basics)

How to cox a boat off the racks, down to the dock, into the water, off the water, up the dock, and back onto the racks (make them actually do it too after you’ve showed them how to do it; you don’t have to actually use the boat but at least have them go through the motions)

How to get information off the ergs. Work with your coach to come up with a standard list of things to write down, that way everyone is always on the same page and the process is fairly streamlined (i.e. every time the rowers do a workout it should be automatically assumed that if you’re writing stuff down you should be getting their splits, average stroke rate, and time). Show them how to do that, then have them go through it a couple times so that you know they know how to do it.

A fairly atypical list I think but if you think about it, this is all pretty important stuff that no one ever goes over with coxswains in the early days of their careers (and if they do it’s on the fly or in a loud erg room). What to do on the water in the event of an emergency (medical, safety, etc.) is NOT something you want to try and figure out on the fly though because … well, I’m sure you can all figure out why.

Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 12, 2014

I’m looking to gain weight, however at the same time I want to lose fat. There are two other girls my height and I am the lightest of three of us. Girl A is 6 lbs heavier, Girl B has 14 lbs on me. I’m already at the heavier end of healthy for my height, but on any given day girl A can beat me, and once girl B gets her endurance up, she’ll be kicking both our asses. I know weight isn’t everything in erg times but it surely does help. Do you have any advice?

So if I understand you correctly, what you’re aiming for is not so much about gaining weight as it is about building muscle. It’s not the amount of weight that you’re carrying that helps you on the erg, rather it’s the amount of muscle mass you have that allows you to generate increased amounts of power. Not knowing anything about you and the other two girls, my guess is that’s probably where they’ve got you beat right now or at the very least, it’s playing a part.

When you’re trying to burn fat at the same time, what most people tend to do is focus on burning fat first and building muscle second before transitioning to the opposite once they’ve got their body fat where they want it. To do that you’ll need to do a couple basic things.

Determine the number of calories you need

The simplest way to do this is to just use one of the calorie calculator things online. My suggestion though would be to do it three or four times with separate calculators and then take the average since they don’t always use the same formulas, meaning you could see differences of 150-200 calories between them. Make sure the ones you use have a thing that lets you choose your activity level since that plays a pretty big part in how much fuel you need to consume. If burning fat is your priority then you’ll need to eat at a deficit in order to eliminate the excess calories, meaning 300-500ish calories less than what it says you need. This can easily be done though by swapping out certain foods for healthier options and exercising (which shouldn’t be hard considering you’re probably training right now).

Eat smarter

Plain and simple, you lose weight by decreasing the amount of calories going in and increasing what’s going out. The general population would say that all you need to do then is eat less food (2/3 of the general population is also obese so … there’s that) but what would be more beneficial, especially for an athlete, is to just be smarter about the foods you’re eating so that even though you’re ingesting fewer calories, you’re maximizing the nutritional benefits that you’re getting. “Eating less” is a dumb concept because you could easily say “Oh, I’m only going to eat half the box of Thin Mints for lunch today instead of the whole box.” and then change nothing else about your diet. Yea, you’re eating less but if you changed nothing else it’s probably not going to make that much of a difference. You have to consciously think about the foods you eat, think about what you could eliminate and replace with healthier options, and then actually commit to doing it. The hardest part is committing but if you go about it the right away, it shouldn’t be a hard transition to make. For example, make simple switches like swapping out white bread for whole grain, regular yogurt for Chobani, bagels for English muffins, etc. The most important thing is to make sure you’re still getting all the nutrients you need (especially protein!) so that your health and/or training isn’t adversely effected.

Exercise

Obviously, right? Cardio-based workouts (like erging, biking, running, etc. (aka steady state)) will aid in burning fat while strength-based workouts (weight lifting/training) will aid in developing muscle. Since the initial focus is on burning fat, there should be a higher cardio:strength ratio when it comes to your workouts at the beginning but you’ll eventually want to transition that after a couple of weeks so that you’re doing more strength workouts and working towards increasing your muscle mass.

Eventually you’ll hit a plateau both with your diet (it’s not really a diet, per se, but you know what I mean) and workouts, which is completely normal, and you’ll have to readjust everything to match that.

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 12, 2014

Hi! I’m a coxswain for a little club in New Zealand, and thanks to my coach I virtually do nothing. On the water he takes my job away from me and tells them to row instead of me and won’t let me make any calls. He doesn’t let me cox anyone through their 2k and he tells me that it’s not important if I don’t make calls during a race! I’m not a novice coxswain either but I’ve had virtually no training and I’ve taught myself everything that I know because he’s never helped me out! What do I do? 🙁

My initial thought is to say “find a new club”…

Have you talked to him about this? Do you notice or know if he acts this way with the other coxswains too? It honestly seems like he doesn’t know much about coxing in general if he’s telling you that it’s not that important to say anything during a race. I would ask him why he thinks that, not in an accusatory way but rather in a way that gets him to explain his reasoning for saying that. I’ve never experienced anything like this myself so it’s hard to suggest what to do. I’ve known two people that this has happened to though and both of them ended up quitting because being on the team had become pointless for them and it wasn’t worth the money anymore. Honestly, I think your best (and only) option is to talk to him (outside of practice) and figure out what his deal is and then decide from there if it’s worth it to stay on the team. If I was in your position though, I’d be looking for another team so I could actually do what I joined the team to do.

If anyone has any suggestions or advice (especially from personal experience!), I’d love to hear them so please leave a comment down below.

College Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 12, 2014

I really want to continue rowing in college but I am 5’3″ and my erg scores are not great. Do you think it would be possible for me to cox in college (maybe as a walk on?) even though I have never done it before? If so, how would I go about expressing interest in it?

Definitely! Coxing as a walk-on is pretty much going to be your only option at this point since coaches aren’t going to recruit someone who doesn’t have any experience. Plus, if you’re a senior right now, I think the recruiting period might be coming to an end so it’d be too late to go that route anyways. If you know that’s what you want to do though you might talk to your current coach(es) and see if you can switch to coxing permanently starting this season. If you’re a junior right now that’d give you roughly three seasons of water time, assuming your team has a fall season, which would put you in a really good position if you decide to walk on wherever you go to school. (I’ve gotten the impression that experienced walk-on coxswains are like gold to freshman coaches because it’s one less person they have to teach and it lets them focus on the rowers rather than worrying about teaching the coxswain how to cox while also trying to teach kids how to row.) You could keep rowing if you wanted and walk-on to a team with no coxing experience but I think that if you already know you might want to cox in college, it just makes more sense to switch now and get that year and a half of experience in before college starts.

As far as expressing interest, all you have to do is show up to the boathouse whenever the team hosts their walk-on tryouts. You’ll likely seen signs posted throughout campus and/or you’ll see the team out recruiting during the first few days of school. If your university holds some kind of student involvement fair where all the groups, clubs, athletic teams, etc. show up to promote their stuff, you can seek out the crew team’s table and get put on their general interest sign-up sheet. Someone from the team will then send out an email with details on when/where to show up. You could also send the coach an email once you arrive and say that you’re interested in walking on.

Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 10, 2014

I’ve started running a lot on the elliptical in preparation for the crew season. I erg too, but not as much. Does the elliptical actually help or is it a waste of time?

I wouldn’t say it’s a waste of time because something is usually better than nothing but there are definitely better alternatives, such as getting on the bike and going for 45 minutes. I think 80-90 RPMs is what you’re supposed to aim for. Actually going for a run too is always good but if you can’t run because of knee problems or something else, the bike is still going to be a better alternative. The problem with ellipticals is that most people tend to get on there with little to no resistance and let momentum do the work for them, which essentially renders it useless for what you’re trying to do. Plus it’s boring as hell…

My suggestion would be to do a combination of running, erging, and biking. Actually go out and run if you’re able (keeping in mind any injuries or weather issues that would make it unsafe) 2 days a week and then do a core circuit when you finish. On the other 2 or 3 days, do something like 30 minutes of erging at a couple splits over your 5k pace followed by 20 minutes on the bike and a 10 minute plank circuit. If you want to challenge yourself with a really solid plank workout, I highly recommend this one.