Category: Rowing

Teachable moments

College Coxing High School Novice Rowing Teammates & Coaches

Teachable moments

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Yesterday someone posted a thread on Reddit titled “Things I Wish Novices Knew” and when I read it I ended up having a much different reaction than I thought I would. Maybe it’s because I’ve been around the sport for awhile, maybe it’s because I talk to so many novices on here, I don’t know. I cringe at the thought that maybe it’s just because I’m getting older but I’m starting to lean more towards finding the teachable moments in situations like this rather than just reading what’s written, closing the tab, and quietly moving on.

I posted a really long response to the original post (unintentionally, to be honest…) and got a couple emails from people asking me to post it on here because they thought it was “good advice that I wish my teammates would listen to” and “I know several people on my D1 team that need a reminder of how to treat/work with novices if they want them to stick around”. Another person asked “Can you please post this on your blog? I don’t think many of my teammates are on Reddit but I know many of them, including a couple of our coaches, read your blog and this is something I think they should all read. None of them would take it seriously if I brought it up (I’m a junior in high school) but I know they will if they see if on your blog.”.

Here’s the original post:

And here’s my reply:

“OK, I’m going to play devil’s advocate here and say that instead of just posting all this stuff on Reddit and snarking on the noobs because they’re all complacent about, well, everything, maybe actually spend some time discussing all this stuff with them. Like [username removed] said, regardless of whether or not this was what he/she actually meant, they just started and they’re still learning. The upperclassmen when we were novices probably/definitely felt the same way about us as we do about the novices right now. There’s no excuse though to not spend the time teaching them all this stuff. And maybe you are, who knows, but if you’re doing it through various offhand, easy-to-ignore conversations or pissed off diatribes before or after practice, your message isn’t getting across.

If they aren’t used to participating in a sport, let alone one that says “fuck the elements” like crew does, they ARE going to assume that on certain days you won’t have practice because of the weather. That’s what NORMAL people do. They see that it’s foggy and think “I can barely see across the street, there’s no way we’ll be on the water today” or “It’s basically hurricane-ing outside, we can’t row in this”. That’s a NORMAL reaction for someone who hasn’t done crew before. You can say “don’t assume we won’t have practice” but part of them always will, at least for the first year.

Instead of having issues with people missing practice, why not have someone send a text to the novices (or everyone) in the morning if the weather looks iffy and say “practice is on, see you in an hour at the boathouse” or “fog’s pretty thick this morning, we’ll be in the erg room on campus at 7:30am”. I know it might seem like you’re holding their hand and making them less responsible but in situations like this, communication is key. Assuming that someone is going to assume something and then getting pissed when they assume the opposite of what you want them to assume is pretty messed up on your end.

If you want them to respect the boat, have them help you fix it when something happens to it so they can see how much time and effort goes into repairing the damage they caused or contributed to. If you’re a club, ask them contribute to the repair costs if they snapped off a fin or lost all the nuts and bolts to one of the riggers. Just saying it’s worth more than your tuition literally means nothing. It’s a fun fact you can tell people at the beginning of the year but after that, no one cares. I can pretty much guarantee you that the only time you start thinking about how much your tuition actually is is six months after graduation when you get your first student loan payment in the mail.

Saying the boat has won more championships than you is a real asshole thing to say, plain and simple. I bet the boat you row in has won more championships than you too but again, that doesn’t really mean anything. All it does is make them feel less a part of the team and lower on the totem pole than they already do/are. Don’t say shit like that to people who are new to the sport if you want them to stick around.

If you want them to go to bed on time, talk to them about time management. How do you manage your schedule? Give them actual examples instead of just repeating the same shit they hear from their parents, teachers, and advisers. Don’t just say “you’ve gotta be awake for practice”. Yea well, no shit. There’s a difference between being awake and being awake and they’re most likely going with the definition of awake that says “my eyes are open” instead of the one that says “my eyes are open and I’m firing on all cylinders”. Explain to them how just having your eyes open doesn’t count as being awake and why it’s important for everyone to be fully coherent at practice because at the very least, it’s a safety issue if they’re not.

If they say they’re having trouble getting all their homework done because they’re having difficulty understanding the material they’re learning in one of their engineering classes, say “oh, Andrew took that class when he was a freshman too and did pretty well in it … you should ask him for help and see if you guys can get together sometime”. If they’re working on a really big paper, offer to proofread or help them edit it. If they’re terrible at math and struggling with their calculus class, hook them up with the person on your team who just happens to have been a TA for that class last semester.

Even if you did everything all by yourself your entire way through college not everyone is like that and sometimes people need help but have a hard time asking for it. If you want to earn their respect as a teammate, be there for them OUTSIDE of practice, not just when you’re at the boathouse. Offer to help them when you can see they need it. Stuff like this will not only help them understand the close-knit feeling that being on a crew team has but it’ll also help them get their work done, stay on top of their classes, and go to bed (hopefully) at a slightly more reasonable hour.

Tuning out, goofing off, etc. is to be expected until you help/make them understand that they are ONE boat, not five or nine individuals. In order for the boat to run smoothly, everyone’s gotta be on the same page. If you’re that one person who is on page 3 while everyone else is on page 5, the boat will be effected. If you can see that they’re tuned out, figure out why. Don’t just brush them off. Engage them, ask them how the boat feels to them, what’s something they’re having trouble with, how does what we worked on yesterday feel today, DUDE your catch timing looks so much better than it did last week, oh, your back’s hurting and that’s why you aren’t focused? well, your posture’s not great right now so let’s fix that and see if it helps. Stuff like that.

Make sure each member of the crew (including the coxswain) gets an equal amount of attention, regardless of how big someone’s issues are compared to someone else. Don’t give them the chance to goof off or tune you out because if they see it, they’ll take it if they’re that kind of person. You, the coach, and the other rowers might know that they’re fucking around but until one of you steps up and addresses it or finds out the root cause, it’s going to keep happening.

To an extent, I don’t disagree with you on having a healthy fear of the sport. I do disagree with what you said about how it will help you avoid things. People new to the sport (or any sport, really) don’t understand that healthy fear the way we do. All they hear is the word “fear” and think “this is something I should be afraid of” and then they become scared of those things. What happens when you’re scared of things? You become meek, timid, and do everything you can to avoid being out-pulled, running into things, catching crabs, etc.

In the boat, you know what that translates to? Pulling harder than you’re capable of right now which leads to you getting injured. As a coxswain, you become over-zealous with the steering leading you to zig zag across the water or you firmly plant yourself smack in the middle of the river so that you’re far, far away from anything that might impede your path, traffic patterns be damned.

With catching crabs, you try to avoid catching them by fighting the handle which either a) gives you a really sore ribcage for a few days or b) throws you out of the boat, which then causes copious amounts of embarrassment that makes you question whether or not you want to keep doing crew. As a novice, is being out-pulled that high on the priority list? No. Learning the stroke and developing good technique should be WAY above anything involving power. If you want to worry about being out-pulled when you’re just starting out, go join CrossFit. The douchebro attitude you’ll develop and the injuries you’ll sustain will be the exact same. You’re most likely all gonna be in the freshman/novice boats anyways so it’s not like there’s going to be THAT much individual competition.

If you want them to worry about not hitting things, have an experienced coxswain walk them out of the boathouse and down to the water with the novice coxswain beside them so that they can see the path of least resistance that they should take when going out/coming in. Remind them that the equipment is precious and they should treat it as such. That’s all you have to say. Have your experienced coxswains explain how to steer the boat, what to do if they get in various less-than-ideal situations, etc. and then put them in a boat of experienced rowers so that if something DOES happen they’ll at least have knowledgeable people on hand to help them out. If they hit something because they don’t know how to use the equipment because YOU as the coach/experienced teammate didn’t THOROUGHLY teach them how to use it, that’s on you WAY more than it is on them and you HAVE to understand that.

Telling them to be afraid of something is going to do the exact opposite of what you want. Instead of saying “have a healthy fear so you can avoid all these things” explain to them that these are things you should always be conscious of so that you can always be striving to improve. Let the thought of catching a crab MOTIVATE you to really work on your technique so that crabs don’t happen. This will lead to all of those issues becoming less-than-likely to occur because you’ve developed the necessary skills that allow you to avoid them with no effort.

Raising the hands, lowering the blades, etc. is just something that you’ll have to keep explaining to them until it sinks in. I’ve worked with enough novices to know that they think the handle is everything, so if you say “lower the blade” they’ll put their hands down instead of the blade. Come up with some drills or something that will help them distinguish the two. You could do something like a basic catch drill at the finish and have them say “blade” when the blade goes in/hands go up and “hands” when the blade comes out/hands go down. I donno. Do the thing where all the starboards put their hands on the gunnels and all the ports lift their hands up to their faces, then switch, then have them figure out how to balance it on their own. Once they’ve got it, ASK THEM what they did to fix it and how did they know that’s what they needed to do. The more you engage them instead of just talking at them the better they’ll understand and the more focused they’ll be come.

Novices drive me insane so it’s not like I don’t understand how you feel. I’ve been in your position as a coxswain and a coach many times. I’d pick an experienced crew over them any day but working with them has taught me a lot of things that we tend to forget the more experienced we become. 10+ years of coxing more and more experienced crews made me complacent about a lot of the basic stuff. It wasn’t until I started coaching novices that I had to really go back and think about each individual step so that I could break everything down into individual parts so that they’d understand what I was trying to communicate. You really do have to spell out everything for them in the beginning. Is it time consuming and kinda annoying? Obviously, but it pays off in the end.

I’m one of the most impatient people on the planet and I get frustrated very easily when things that seem like common sense to me appear not to be to other people. With novices, everything we think is common sense isn’t to them. You have to be patient and work with them but I promise you that when it clicks and they finally get it, you experience a really rewarding sense of accomplishment, not only for them but for yourself too.

As much as I enjoy snarking on novices for the silly things they say and do (and man, do they say and do some seriously snark-worthy things…), ultimately that doesn’t do anything to help them get better. If they’re (hopefully) working hard to get better we should be working just as hard to help get them develop their skills and become competitive athletes. You most likely had someone like that when you were a novice so now it’s your responsibility to go be that person for someone else.”

I won’t elaborate any more on this since I think I covered everything pretty well already but what I hope you guys will take away from this is what I said in the last paragraph. That doesn’t mean you have to stop getting amusement out of the things novices do – I know I never will – but at least guide them towards the right way of doing things instead of just posting about it on the internet.

Image via // @lucerneregatta

Rowing Technique Training & Nutrition Video of the Week

Video of the Week: “The Neuroscience of Rowing and a Simple Explanation of the Formation of Muscle Memory”

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This is why I loved studying exercise science in college. I could listen to people talk about stuff like this all day. It’s unlikely that most rowers will ever think about the actual process of muscle memory on a cellular level like this but once you break it down, you realize how much of a process learning the stroke really is. I think that if you understand the science behind it, in a way it makes things less frustrating because you know that all these things have to happen in order for you to gain proficiency with your stroke and those things can’t/don’t just happen overnight.

One of the biggest things that I think everyone should take away from this is how important it is for you to consciously be thinking about the changes you’re making or trying to make. (That applies to coxswains too, not just rowers!)

College Quotes Racing Rowing Training & Nutrition Video of the Week

Video of the Week: Yale Men’s 8+ at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics

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Wouldn’t it be cool if collegiate crews still represented the USA at international regattas like this? This video talks about Yale’s eight that competed in Melbourne and the tough competition they faced, mainly in the Australian crew, on their way to winning the gold medal over 2nd place Canada and 3rd place Australia.

There were a couple things I took from this video but the biggest one is what is said at 6:20 – “he has the phenomenal ability to pace himself so that the last stroke he has to row is the last stroke he can row”. Ponder that thought the next time you’re on the water or on the erg. Condition your body so that the last stroke you have to row is the last stroke you can row.

Coxing Q&A Rowing Technique

Question of the Day

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Now that we’re deep into our winter training schedule, we’ve started rowing longer sets of things. My coach doesn’t call them “pieces” or anything but we’ll be rowing and doing drills and then he sends us off and is like “take it all 8 to X-bridge”. I never know how to cox that, it’s ~3k so do I cox it as a long piece or just like technique-y practice type stuff? The other two coxswains I go out with call 10’s and I do sometimes but not as often as they do. Should I ask my coach what he wants?

I would definitely ask your coach for clarification just so you know if there’s something specific that he wants you to work on. By default though I would probably try to focus whatever technical calls I make on whatever we were just working on with the drills. If you want to just row then I’d do something in the 18-24 range, such as half a pyramid (4′ at 18, 3′ at 20, 2′ at 22, and 1′ at 24).

I’d stay away from just calling 10s and stuff because that’s not accomplishing anything. You’ve got 10-15 minutes to work with so use it to your advantage. Don’t waste it just rowing and calling power tens every few minutes to make it seem like you’re doing something.

Q&A Rowing Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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I have some questions, but first … at my school rowing can be done for 4 years, 1st two years competing is in quads and the 3rd and 4th years are done in eights or fours. In my first year I rowed in the top boat for my age with three other girls, one in particular was stroke (call her Daisy) and I was three seat. In the second year, I rowed with two of the same girls again, this time I stroked and Daisy was in bow. We are half way into our third season, again Daisy and I are in the same boat, although this time in an eight, Daisy is now stroke, and I am switching between seats 7, 5 & 6. Lastly, Daisy and I are very similar, the only real difference is our weight in which I weigh more than her. So my questions are, What does this mean about Daisy and I? Why I am no longer stoke? How do you decide who should stroke? If I wanted to be the stroke of our boat, what should I do? Thank you!

To be honest, I don’t think it says much about either of you other than Daisy is good at setting a rhythm and you’re good at translating the rhythm and/or generating power. I highly doubt either of your weights has anything to do with it. You not being in stroke doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re a bad stroke seat – your coach probably just felt that you fit better in 5, 6, or 7 … or they have no reason at all and just felt like moving you guys around. If you really want to know why you’re in one seat instead of the other, talk to your coach. I really don’t think this is one of those things that needs to be treated like some super big secret so hopefully they can clue you in on their thought process as to why they like you in the seat you’re in now vs. where you were before.

Related: Hey, as a coach you might be able to tell me, in a quad how do you decide who goes where? And the same for an eight? Where you’re placed in the boat, should this tell you anything about where you “sit” compared to the rest of the crew?

I’ve previously talked about lineup positions in the post linked above so check that out. The fact that you’ve moved around a few times really isn’t a bad thing, although most people tend to perceive it that way. Over time I’ve come to conclude that in most cases, if your coach is doing it with purpose and not just randomly, it means that they think you’re an all around good rower who works in whatever seat they put them in. Some rowers, for whatever reason, only do well in certain seats, most often because they’re only able to row one side. If you can row both sides you can pretty much bet on being moved around a lot (at the very least within whatever four you’re a part of – stern, middle, or bow) because the coach knows you can function pretty much anywhere.

In terms of deciding who should stroke, I kinda discussed that in the post I linked to. The biggest factor for me is someone that has good technique and is able to set and maintain a rhythm immediately on the coxswain’s command. They’ve got to be a leader and have good communication skills because on the boat’s hierarchy totem pole, they’re right below the coxswain (in my opinion, at least), followed up by the bow man and then the middle six (sorry guys). As a coxswain I rely pretty heavily on my stroke to give me feedback on how they feel the boat’s moving, does it feel rushed, etc. so good communication between the two of us is key.

They’ve also got to be a leader because they literally have seven people following them at any given time. If their stroke isn’t good, bets are that a few other people’s won’t be either. If they’re slacking, other people probably will too. Knowing how important my relationship is with my strokes, I think it’s important to get the coxswain’s input too. If, for whatever reason, one coxswain and one stroke just do. not. get along in the boat, it’s going to take a lot to get me to put them together unless it’s completely unavoidable (like, if it’s our best coxswain and best stroke and they’re both 1V material). Bottom line, there are a lot of factors.

If you want to stroke the boat, again, talk to your coach and see why you’re in the seat you’re in and ask if that’s likely to be where you’ll stay throughout the season or is there a chance that you could try stroking again. My first question to you in this situation would be why do you think you should be the stroke? I’m looking for real, concrete answers here with some legit data to back it up. Saying you just want to be stroke because it’s the most recognizable position in the boat besides the coxswain ain’t gonna cut it. Saying you stroked the quad last year, won a decent amount of races, etc. also isn’t going to cut it. I want know whether or not you think you have a good working relationship with the coxswains (all of them, not just the one you’ve been with the most), how you feel your technique is, how comfortable you are with being able to go from one stroke to another within two strokes max, what kind of leadership you can bring to the boat, etc.

If you can give me good, well-thought, genuine answers to all of those questions, I’d probably consider trying you out in the stroke seat for at least a week to see how you did. After that, I’d get feedback from the coxswain, crew, and you, of course, and then decide whether or not a seat race were in order. Whether or not that’s the process every coach would follow, I don’t know, but I’d have answers on hand to those questions just in case.

Coxing Q&A Rowing Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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The other day in our eight we were doing some pieces in which the coach didn’t think everyone was trying. She thought only two out of the whole eight was actually trying hard. She didn’t name, names but you could tell some people she believed weren’t doing anything. In the defense of the crew, the cox wasn’t saying anything, no motivation or anything. After the session I was talking to one of the ‘spare’ coxes who was in the speed boat with the coach. We discussed how she judged who was pulling and her main answer was that the coach was looking at peoples faces and at the puddles but mainly the faces. Personally, maybe I wasn’t trying my hardest (I know, but its hard when the whole boat seemed to be powered by only yourself) but I do not believe looking at faces would be the most accurate way of measuring who is trying as I can easily make faces, and I know some people whose face doesn’t change no mater how hard they are pulling. How do you tell?

Every coach has their own “way” but for me, the best way to tell is by looking for the bend in the oar throughout the drive. Assuming you’re getting connected at the catch, the amount of pressure you’re applying will translate into how much bend the oar gets. A good example is this photo of GB’s men’s four from the Olympics. If I’m not able to be directly beside the crew to look for this, I’ll look at other things like the puddles, the bodies, etc. (As a coxswain I’d go by feel and the puddles.) I hardly never look at the faces though, mostly because that never struck me as something that would accurately portray how much effort someone is putting in. Some people that I’m coaching right now can pull unbelievable splits on the erg but, like you said, don’t look like they’re exerting themselves at all. On the flip side, I’ve coached high schoolers who are barely pulling anything worthwhile but look like this guy every stroke. Can your facial expressions reveal how hard you’re working? Sure, but it’s not the most reliable way.

On a side note (and maybe a little off topic), I completely get what you’re saying about how hard it can be to row hard during a piece when it feels like you’re the only one doing something and/or the coxswain appears to just be along for the ride. This is why I find it so frustrating when I listen to recordings and the coxswain is either saying nothing or what they are saying is completely … stupid. As much as you might not want to pull hard in those instances, as a coach, I really encourage you to anyways. Not because that’s your job and what you’re there to do (even though it is) but because it shows me that you are stronger than the situations you’re put in. If you can tough it out through a piece like that it would make me think that you’re going to give 100% regardless who you’re rowing with and what boat you’re in. Having a not-very-good coxswain isn’t a 100% ironclad excuse to not pull hard because even though they should be talking to and motivating the crew, you, the rower, have to have some kind of inherent motivation that keeps you going if/when the coxswain stops talking. If for some reason you can’t think of something, use the standby of “my coach is watching me, this could be the piece that moves me up to (whatever boat you want to be in)”. When you’re seat racing, coxswains typically aren’t allowed to say anything other than time and the stroke rate which means that it will be silent except for the voice in your head telling you to keep going. If you don’t have that voice going when the coxswain is talking you most likely won’t have it going when they aren’t, which is when you need it the most.

I don’t know how supportive most coaches would be in this situation but I also wouldn’t be afraid to tell the people in your boat to start doing something once you’ve finished a piece. Typically I would discourage rowers from saying stuff like this because it’s more of the coxswain’s responsibility but if the coxswain’s not doing anything either, I think that opens it up for someone else to say something. (Please don’t all go and mutiny on your coxswain now…) I wouldn’t point out individual people and say “Yo Annie, PULL HARDER” but rather make a general statement like “come on guys, we were moving the boat really well earlier/the other day/whatever and now it feels like we’re dead in the water…”. Something that gets your point across without putting the blame on any one person. Even if you feel like you’re the only one pulling, avoid saying something like “I’m the only one doing anything” because that’s not going to help you out at all because it’s likely that the other seven people feel like they are the only ones pulling.

If your coxswain isn’t doing something that you need him/her to do, say so. Tell them that the boat as a whole feels unmotivated or whatever and that you need them to really get into it on the next piece. If there’s specific stuff you need to hear, tell them. (It might be best to do this before or after practice though.) Typically when coxswains aren’t talking it’s because they don’t know what to look for or say. If there’s something you’ve been working on over the last few practices tell them to focus on that and maybe two or three other things. For example, say you’ve been working on going into the water together – tell her to watch the boat’s timing at the catch and also make sure everyone is coming out together (finishes). In addition to that, have him/her watch your stroke rate (especially if it’s a capped piece) and communicate that every minute or two while also saying the usual motivational stuff, like where you’re at on other crews, what looks good, etc. (Reading all that might make it seem like I’m saying do their job for them but I’m really not. Hopefully everyone knows that by now…)

Holiday gifts for rowers and coxswains

Rowing

Holiday gifts for rowers and coxswains

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It’s that time of year again! The ideas I’ve posted below would be great for both rowers and coxswains.

If they haven’t read Boys in the Boat yet, I highly recommend checking it out. It’s a great book about the 1936 UW team that raced at the Olympics and for being written by a guy who’s never rowed before, it captures the spirit of the sport really well.

Related: Books on rowing, part 1 and part 2

Other ideas include the Naked Rowers calendar, a funny car decal, a sturdy duffel bag to travel with, or some cool rowing gear.

For more gift ideas, check out the “rowing gifts” tag.

Image via // @leander_club
Coxswains + Winter Training

College Coxing Ergs High School Novice Rowing Technique Training & Nutrition

Coxswains + Winter Training

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The winter training season is a great time for coxswains to dive into educating themselves, developing their skills, and strategizing for the spring season but what typically ends up happening is one of two scenarios. Regardless of which one it is, they almost always show up to practice bitter because they know that they’re about to do either nothing or something very unpleasant for the next two hours when instead they could be studying or doing a million other productive things that don’t involve “glorified people-watching”, as one coxswain put it.

Scenario one

…involves them wandering around or sitting on an unused piece of equipment with their iPhone stopwatch open (and several other apps open in the background) and calling out switches on the machines or transitions on the erg every 30-60 seconds. After ~60-75 minutes their eyes are glazed over and their voices have reached that monotonous robotic stage that says to everyone around them “I don’t want to be here”. When the coach calls everyone into a sweaty and smelly huddle at the end of practice to congratulate them on a killer workout, you and the other coxswains hang back (arms folded or pretending to “put stuff away”) because you can’t hold your breath for that long and you value your nasal passages too much to put them through that kind of torture. Also, there’s not enough antibacterial gel in the world to convince you to come close to touching a bunch of sweaty rowers. Once you’ve been dismissed you’re the first ones out the door, complaining all the way to your cars that you can’t believe you have to show up when you’re literally not doing anything knowing full well that this is what things are going to be like for, at minimum, three more months.

Scenario two

…involves showing up and erging (“just hold whatever pace you can manage”) or lifting (“lift what you can”) with the team, which results in some coxswains feeling ridiculous, intimidated, or both. In one case, a collegiate (male) coxswain emailed me earlier this year after he injured himself (back and shoulder) trying to lift more than he was capable of (despite being fit and in good shape) because he felt pressured to match up to what his teammates were doing.

In addition to what I said in the post linked below, below are some options of things that you can do over the next few months to put you in the best possible position come springtime.

Related: How to survive winter training: Coxswains

Working out

I’ve talked about this in the past and stand by what I’ve said before: I’m not against working out as a coxswain and I do think it should be a part of your own winter training program however I don’t necessarily think coxswains should be doing the exact same workouts as the rowers. Body weight circuits? Definitely! Lifts? Nah. Ergs? For the purpose of this conversation, no. I’ve been talking about this with some of the coxswains here over the last couple weeks and they brought up some points that I hadn’t thought of before but do actually agree with. Here’s an excerpt from an email I wrote that pretty much says what I think:

“No one is against working out but they’re all pretty against working out with and lifting at the same time as the guys. I think they brought up some good points too, the gist of them being that they think it’s too much of a hassle for the guys (who need to be using the equipment) to work around people who don’t need to be using it. The squat racks would constantly need to be lowered so they could use them properly and regardless of what they’re squatting, it seems unlikely that they could adequately spot each other anyways, which is a pretty big safety issue. We all agreed that the guys probably know that they physically can’t do the same workouts they’re doing and some of the coxswains felt it would come off as mocking them or not taking things seriously if they’re lifting 10lbs while the guys are lifting 100lbs. A couple of them mentioned back and/or joint problems that they have that they also don’t want to risk exacerbating over something that ultimately isn’t going to help their coxing.

I talked to them about doing core, running, or riding the bikes while you guys lift and everyone seemed on board with that. (One of the coxswains) said that she’s already meeting with (our strength coach) a couple times a week and doesn’t want to over do it by doing more of the same so she (and three of the other coxswains) all said they’d be up for running if that was an option. (One of the other coxswains) said that when they went running on Tuesday they ran to the vet school, did some core, then ran back. (One of the freshman coxswains) can’t run because of her hip and I think her knee(s) as well but said that she’d do core while (one of the other injured coxswains) could ride the bike with us if there was one available. It seems silly to make (the injured coxswains) do something where they could injure themselves more and then potentially be out of the boat in Florida.

My point is that everyone is willing to do something while the guys are lifting but no one is comfortable doing the actual lift routines. Having a strong core is actually pretty important for coxswains for a lot of reasons so if you wanted everyone doing the same thing instead of being spread out doing multiple different things, doing core would be a valuable use of their time. It helps them feel the boat better because they’re better able to stabilize themselves in the seat and it also helps them project their voice better which ultimately decreases the likelihood of them messing up or losing their voices.”

I’ve gotten messages and emails in the past from coxswains (girls and guys) who aren’t comfortable doing the workouts the rowers do but feel like they have no choice but to do them. Are there going to be coaches who insist you do the same workouts as the rowers regardless of whether or not you like it? Yea, but that’s not always a bad thing. You’re not always going to like everything you have to do and sometimes you really are going to have to just HTFU and do it. (There are many times on here where I struggle to say something more helpful than “just suck it up” and this is partially one of those times.)

Related: My coach makes coxswains do winter workouts and 2k’s with rowers. Do you think that’s fair? We don’t get a break with the workout, at all. We have to do the same exact thing as rowers.

As someone else said, the rowers “really appreciate seeing coxswains at least participating in winter training even if it’s not at the same level. It gives a sense of solidarity in the team”. This is usually what the coaches are going for, which I’m totally on board with, but they do sometimes tend to overlook what each individual is capable of in favor of establishing a sense of unity in the team. I can understand that so I’ll cut them some slack on that one. If there’s part of the workout you’re not comfortable doing or physically cannot do for whatever reason though you have to speak up. Talk to your coach in private and present an alternative solution. Don’t just say “I can’t do bench presses because the bar alone is half my body weight” because that can come off as an excuse instead of a reason (or safety issue, which it can also be). Instead, say something like “I think I’d benefit more from doing a core workout or body circuit because (insert reasons WHY it would benefit you as a coxswain here), would it be OK if I did that while the guys did their lift, power hour on the erg, etc.?”. If you show that you’re taking this seriously and are still willing to workout during practice alongside the rowers, your coaches are more likely to accommodate your request.

I could talk about this all day but to reiterate, I’m not against coxswains working out throughout the winter. I just think that if they’re going to be working out they should be doing something that will benefit them the same way lifting benefits the rowers. Like I said before, having a strong core helps you feel the boat better (especially beneficial if you’re coxing a four) because you’re better able to stabilize and brace yourself against the hull.

It also comes in handy if you’re working with a boat that isn’t technically sound yet because you’re better able to resist the effects of the checking of the boat, whereas if you’re lacking those core muscles you’ll end up flopping all over the place and can end up hurting your back or ribs, both of which have happened to coxswains I know. The other benefit I mentioned is being able to project your voice better, which is also something I’ve talked about before.

Listening to recordings & watching video

This is the default activity for many coxswains throughout the winter. This tends to be a solitary activity but if possible, I’d ask your coach if you and the other coxswains can use the coaches office or go to another quiet place in the boathouse and listen to the recordings together. Being able to listen to it with other people lets you have a discussion about why something sounds good, why it doesn’t, etc. I listened to some recordings with the freshmen earlier in the fall and was really surprised at things they pointed out that I hadn’t even noticed before, even after listening to the recordings a few times. I think once you listen to a recording by yourself so many times you start to get tunnel vision (or hearing, in this case) which is why listening to recordings in a group setting can be beneficial. As great as it is listening to other people cox, I’d really encourage you to listen to your own recordings with each other too. Yea, it’s uncomfortable but you’re all in the same boat so it’s probably not nearly as weird as you think it is. Constructive criticism is what you’re going for.

In addition to listening to recordings, video is another great tool that you can use to educate yourself with. The winter is the best time for the coxswains to gain a better technical understanding of the stroke and being able to see rowers on film can help with this. If you don’t have video of your crew on the water, go on YouTube and find some of other crews. There’s no shortage of it on there. You can also watch the videos on the recordings page and just mute the sound so you can focus more on the blades and less on the coxswain’s voice. The goal of doing this is not to point out every single flaw you see with a rower or a crew but rather to isolate the good and bad, figure out why it’s good or bad, and then determine what needs to be done by the rower and said by the coxswain to correct (or maintain) it. Spending time doing this in the winter will help you have a faster reaction time in the spring because you’ll know exactly what to be looking for with the boat and with the individual rowers and what to say to elicit a change if necessary.

If you want to critique your own rowers, grab your phones (or video camera, if your team has one) and get 10-15 seconds of video per rower. If they’re in tanks, to to get video of them from the front and side. If they’re on the ergs, one side only is fine. Make sure it’s clear footage and not shaky and don’t distract them, get in their way, or be annoying while you do this. Once you’ve got some film, sit down and critique it.

Tanks & ergs

OK, so before I said that I didn’t think coxswains should do the erg workouts that the rowers are doing but I do think that coxswains should get on the erg or in the tanks if/when they can. If they actually take some strokes themselves, that’s just another thing that will help them get a better feel for the stroke. This would be especially helpful too for novice coxswains who haven’t coxed or rowed before. Having them actually do the drills that they’re calling for or doing a modified steady state piece will force them to think about their calls (“if I was rowing and a coxswain said this to me, would/how would I respond”), where they’re calling things, their technique, and give them an idea of how the rowers feel when they’re doing it. If they can put themselves into a similar situation as the rowers then they can get a better idea of what they should say to keep them present, motivated, etc. during a piece. Obviously their technique doesn’t need to be varsity A-boat perfect but my opinion is that if they’re going to be telling the rowers to fix their technique or do this better/sharper/cleaner or whatever, they should at least be able to adequately do it as well.

It’s not about just getting on there and doing a workout just so you have something to do, it’s about being given some instruction, gaining insight, and getting some experience doing what they’re expected to coach the rowers on. How can you be expected to tell the rowers what to do if you’ve never done it yourself? You have to get in there and go through each motion while making a concentrated effort to understand what your body is doing. If you just get on the erg and screw around because LOL MY SPLIT IS LIKE 4:27 you’re really not accomplishing anything.

This is something you can do anytime the team isn’t using the tanks or ergs but it isn’t something you should do alone. If you’re doing it alone, how do you know what you’re doing right or wrong? Ask your coach to work with you for 20-30 minutes or if they’re not available, ask a varsity rower or another coxswain if they can watch and observe you and the other coxswains the first few times you use the equipment. Captain’s practices are a good time to do this because the atmosphere is a little more relaxed. Take turns doing this so you can get used to seeing different kinds of technique and recognizing what needs to change with each one.

Practice your calls, calling transitions, getting to know the rowers, and developing your “voice”

This is something you should definitely be doing . One coxswain said…

“Our coach expects our coxswains to be at practice helping run things. We get the workout before hand and they alternate calling rating shifts in time pieces/steady states and correcting form.”

It’s unlikely that you’re going to be coxing like you would in the boat but you can still call out technical issues when you see them, general reminders, etc. Save all the motivational calls for when you’re on the water. The rowers don’t need to hear “show me how bad you want it” in November when they’re staring at an erg monitor (or ever, really). If you want to motivate them, write “NCAAs”, “IRAs”, “YALE”, or some other word on a piece of paper and post it at the front of the room. That’s all the motivation they need. Focus on technique and calls relating to the bodies and blade work. If they’re on an erg, help them visualize being on the water. Think about the words you’re saying and how they sound coming out of your mouth – do your calls sound genuine (like you’re paying attention) and assertive (like you’re confident in what you’re saying) or bored (disinterested) and tired (played out)? Get feedback from the rowers so you can gauge how you’re doing, what calls you should keep, what you should adjust, etc.

Don’t forget to also spend time talking with the rowers to find out what they need so you can give them some individual attention when necessary. If you’ve got a rower who’s trying to PR on a piece to show that he’s A-boat material, remind him of his split every few minutes. It’s as simple as saying “1:48” quietly in their ear as you walk by. Stuff like this shows you’re invested in them and that you see them as people and not just as athletes. It can be easy to lump them all together, especially during the winter, but now more than ever is when you should be putting them under a microscope, scrutinizing their technique, figuring out their tendencies, learning about what makes them tick, etc.

Have a schedule

I just gave you a ton of options of things to do over the winter, not all of which can or should be done on your own time outside of practice hours. It’s also helpful for knowing when exactly you’re needed by the coaches and when you’re free to do your own thing. Sit down with them and the other coxswains and come up with a rotating schedule similar to what the rowers have, that way only the necessary number of coxswains are with the team to record times or call stuff on the ergs while everyone else is listening to recordings, doing their own workouts, etc. It’s pointless having five coxswains standing around doing nothing while two do all the work, so why not let the three who don’t have anything to do do something that will actually benefit them? The next day, two different coxswains can record or call stuff and so on and so forth. That way if you need someone they know that this is where they need to be on this day, at this time, but that the rest of the time they’ll be doing their own thing with the other coxswains.

If your team has a MWF lift + land workout schedule, have one or two coxswains on hand if necessary to help monitor things and/or record results while the rest of you do your own workout and then get in the tanks. On TuTh when the team is doing steady state on the ergs and/or in the tanks, listen to recordings and watch film. The coxswains that are scheduled for that day can apply what they’ve learned through watching film to what they’re actually seeing and subsequently practice their calls, calling transitions, projecting their voice, etc. On Saturday when everyone is together doing a long erg, all the coxswains can be there but try to divide up the rowers beforehand so that each coxswain can focus on a small group (no more than eight per coxswain, if possible). I’d still encourage walking around and watching everyone but only talk to/make calls for the rowers in your group. This will also be especially helpful if you’re recording splits or times, that way you don’t have multiple coxswains recording the same people.

As un-fun as the winter season can be, it’s a great time for coxswains to up their game if they apply themselves correctly. I hope this gives you some ideas and helps you start off winter training on the right foot!

Image via // @stanfordlwtcrew