Category: Rowing

Coxing Q&A Rowing Technique

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Hi! Read your last post about rushing rowers. How can you tell which rowers are rushing? My view usually stops at 7 seat. Are you supposed to watch the oars to see if catches match? Thanks!

That’s about where my (and most coxswains) view stops too unless I tilt my head to look out of the boat. I normally do a few things to see if I can pinpoint who it is.

Tendencies

Does someone in the boat ALWAYS rush? Is your coach constantly telling one person to control their slides? This is one of the pieces of knowledge I rely on the most, especially when I’m in a bowloader.

Talk with your stroke

In my experience, the stronger the rush, the closer to the stroke it’s happening. In talking to my stroke and having them tell me how rushed it is, I can usually narrow it down to a specific pair. If it’s really strong and they’re getting thrown up the slide, I look to 5 and 6 to see if they’re where the rush starts. If it’s not too strong I’ll look closer towards bow.

Lean out

I don’t recommend this unless you can do so without rocking the boat too much. Sometimes leaning your head out of the boat can help you see the bodies a little better, which can help you see who’s rushing up the slide.

Talk to your coach

If I can’t tell where it’s coming from (which, to be honest, for most of us is the majority of the time) I’ll yell out to my coach and ask him if he can see from the launch where the rush is coming from. Since he has a perfect side view, I rely on his input a lot.

Watching the oars doesn’t really help that much when it comes to rush because someone could fly up their slide and then sit at the catch until everyone else gets there then drop their oars in at the same time as them. Their catch timing in that case would be near perfect but their slide control would be horrific. “Timing” as a call gets generalized too much I think. I try and only talk about timing when I’m talking about the blades, but if I do make a call about timing with the slides I’ll specify “let’s watch the timing on the recovery” or “let’s get the timing on the slides together”. Otherwise I’ll stick to calls about ratio, slide control, etc.

Coxing Q&A Rowing Technique

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Today our novice boat was SO rushed! No matter what the stroke, they’d hit it for like 3 secs before flying 3 or more SR than was supposed to be. Stroke told me that she and 7 seat were trying to control it but middle 4 on back kept rushing. I tried to say “lengthen, ratio shift, control, etc.” while still saying their SRs. Nothing I said changed it, if anything SR went higher. I gave up by the end of it, since they weren’t listening. Coach didn’t help, just said follow stroke. Help?

Ugh, I’ve been in this situation before. I will try and correct it 99.9% of the time but then my impatience kicks in and I just say “screw it” and let them figure it out on their own. Sometimes that’s all you can do. I’ve also had that coach that is totally useless and says things like “follow the stroke”. You’re the coach, can’t you come up with something a little more helpful that that?

If you know that the middle four were the ones that were initiating the rush, don’t be afraid to directly call them out.  When I’ve had this happen in the past, I’ve directly called out the people that I know are causing the rush and I’ve asked them a) do they know what seat they’re in, b) do they know who the stroke is, c) do they know how to control their slides, and d) is anything that either the coach or I said unclear? Normally the answers go something like yes, yes, yes, and no, to which I reply “then what are you doing??” They don’t normally have an answer for that but by that point they either realize that they are the problem or that when I was telling people to slow down the slides I wasn’t just talking to test my brain’s ability to formulate sentences.

Related: In the boat, when you’re calling a rower out to make a change, is it better to call them by their seat or name? A rower told me that by using a name it puts them on the spot – but isn’t that the point to make a change?

After I’ve had that conversation with them, we usually take a break from whatever we’re doing for so everyone can refocus. Once we get started again I remind them that the slides need to be controlled, they need to follow the person in front of them, and they need to not assume that they’re not the one causing the problem. Incorporating in calls that focus on getting everyone’s body motions matched up right out of the finish usually helps too (i.e. matching the hands away, timing the swing of the shoulders, starting the slides together, etc.) but at some point you do have to just stop talking and let them row in silence for a bit so they can focus on implementing the changes.

College Q&A Recruiting Rowing

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So you told that other anon that height is what stops good rowers. I’m 5′ 7” and one of the better people on my team, though one of the shortest. I think I may grow just another inch, give or take. My coach always tells me, “you’re shorter than I think you would be from your scores.” Is that good or bad? And is it not possible for me to get recruited for a D1 college if I’m too short? What is “too short?” Sorry that’s a lot of questions. Thanks!

Well, it doesn’t necessarily “stop” them, per se, the national teams just have specific requirements that only a specific group of people meet. It makes sense, to be honest. Taller rowers typically have a longer reach and can generate more power so it’s understandable that those would be the type of people they’d be looking for. On the other hand it’s a little unfortunate since there are many great rowers out there who don’t meet the height requirements.

If I’m reading that correctly, I’d definitely take it as a compliment. I think what he’s saying is that looking at you, it doesn’t seem, based on whatever factors, that you’d be able to pull the times that you do, so to see you pulling times that are comparable with the taller people is really impressive.

I don’t think it limits you from being recruited at all. I’ve said in a couple other responses that if being a lightweight is something you can do (in a healthy way), it’s worth considering since lightweight programs were created for people of “normal height” but being 5’7″ – 5’8″ definitely doesn’t rule you out of openweight programs. As I’ve said before, there are a lot of factors that go into recruiting an athlete and one’s height is probably not the biggest one when compared to other things like erg times, academics, etc., mainly because it’s something you don’t have any control over.

Q&A Rowing

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So what’s the deal with five seat? I’ve heard a lot of jokes where people say five seat is the strongest but one time I was rowing five and another girl on my team goes “hey isn’t five seat the fat person?” Is that true or is it just kinda the same thing as “threetard’?

Boat personalities, while sometimes true, are mostly made up just to poke fun at everyone in the boat. They aren’t an actual indication of the character or abilities of the person sitting in that seat.

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?

5 and 6 tend to be some of the bigger people in the boat which is why they’re put in those seats since that’s where the widest part of the boat is. That doesn’t translate to them being “the fat kid seats” though. Their responsibilities are purely power production (which is why the middle four is called “the engine room”) so it makes sense to have the bigger guys in those seats.

Q&A Rowing

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Clear something up for me about the relative importance of stroke vs. 7 in an eight? My coach today inferred that because I’d rowed stroke most of last season 7 should be easy because it doesn’t have the same responsibility, it’s just following. I always thought stern pair were equally important as 7 “strokes” bowside. Am I wrong?

I think I understand what your coach is saying, although I don’t think he phrased it right. I’ve always been taught that stroke and 7 are equally important despite the difference in responsibilities because your stroke sets the rhythm but 7 is the one who relays it to the rest of the boat. It’s not “just” following – if 7’s timing is off, the other six rowers will probably be off too. That’s why you usually want your most consistent rowers up front.

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?

Assuming you can row both sides you’d probably do fine at 7 since your experience at setting and maintaining a rhythm in stroke seat would (theoretically) make it easier to translate the new stroke’s rhythm back to bow six.

Coxing Q&A Rowing

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What do you like to do to cheer yourself up after a lost race or tough practice?

During the summer and fall my practices were from 5-7:30am so if I wasn’t immediately working or coaching afterwards I’d just go home and sleep for a few hours. If I had a particularly shitty practice, I nearly always felt better once I slept it off. If it was a really shitty practice, I’d call my dad and talk to him. He and I are very similarly minded when it comes to sports and stuff like that, so most of the time he knows where I’m coming from when I get frustrated. Another thing that helped me get some aggression out was to just turn the radio up and listen to the music on the drive home. That’s my go to stress reliever for practically anything.

Later on in the day when I wasn’t as irritated I’d reflect on why practice was so tough that day. Were the rowers not responding to what I was saying or was I being unnecessarily hard on myself? Were my coach and I not communicating properly or was I not communicating well with the crew? After asking myself those questions I could usually figure out why practice didn’t go well and determine what I needed to do differently the next day to ensure that whatever happened that day doesn’t happen again. It doesn’t always work out that way – sometimes practice just sucks – but most of the time it did for me.

In the long run, wallowing over a bad practice or race isn’t worth it. Is that going to cheer you up? Probably not. What will cheer you up is figuring out how to make sure whatever happened doesn’t happen again and then going out the next day and busting your ass to ensure that you have a good practice or that your next race is your best one yet. It seems cliche (trust me, I know this) but using those experiences as a learning opportunity ultimately makes you a lot happier than just focusing on how shitty your day ended up being.

Q&A Rowing

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As a coach, do you expect your rowers to be able to row both sides in a sweep boat? Should every rower be flexible or is it ok to limit yourself to 1 side only? I ask because we have 7 wks until WEHORR & after rowing for 2.5yrs exclusively on stroke side, my coach has asked me to switch sides & potentially row in 7 seat at WEHORR. I feel like it has huge potential to fail, particularly as it means my injured shoulder will be my outside shoulder on bowside … what should I do? Should I persevere?

I definitely think there are benefits to being able to row both sides and I do think that you should have a certain level of proficiency on both sides but during the actual season I think you should stick with the side you are most proficient on. In my opinion, the time to experiment with a different side is either over the course of the summer or during a light workout day on your winter or spring training trip. I think that seven weeks is definitely enough time to gain proficiency on a new side but compared to the 2.5 years you have on the other side, there is the potential to not be as strong on the new one.

Given the fact that you have an injury, that adds another layer to the mix. I read awhile ago that coaches who actually “study” the athletes to determine what side they’ll row on base their decisions on two factors – one being which side is their dominant side (are they right handed or left handed – dominant hand becomes the inside hand since feathering requires more fine motor control) and the other being whether or not they have or have had a shoulder, rib, or back injury that could be exacerbated by rowing on a particular side. Assuming your coach knows you have a shoulder injury, that makes me question why he switched you to bowside. If you haven’t already started rowing on that side yet, I would talk to him and say that you’re willing to try rowing in 7 (in the interest of learning a new side) but you feel that ultimately you’re going to be a stronger rower on your natural side. Also make him aware or remind him of your shoulder injury. I’m sure you already know, but shoulder injuries can wreck havoc on a rower’s career. If you find that having that shoulder be your outside shoulder is causing you pain, is making the joint hurt, etc. stop rowing on that side. Don’t try and “push through it” just because your coach wants you on that side.

It’s also worth asking why your coach wants to make the switch. Were you in stroke seat before and he’s moving you back or were you in 6 and he’s moving you up? If you were in stroke and he moved you back, but you find that rowing on that new side is uncomfortable because of your shoulder, ask if rowing in 6 is a possibility. That way, you’re still on your natural side and he gets to keep the person he switched into stroke in that seat. Since you said that he “potentially” wants you to row in 7, I’d take that as an indication that it’s not a definite yet. Talk to him about why he wants you in 7 and how badly he wants to switch you…is it basically a guaranteed thing already or is he still evaluating how good you’d be on that side? Keep the line of communication open with him and try to give and get some feedback after each practice. Tell him how it felt, what feels different, what (if anything) you’re having trouble with, how your shoulder feels, etc. Get feedback from him on what you’re doing well, what you can keep improving on, any noticeable differences between this side and your regular side, etc. All of this information can be helpful to him when he makes his final decision.

For the time being, I would cautiously persevere. Try it out and see what you think. Talk with your coach and get as much feedback as possible. Look at it as a new experience that could potentially help you in the long run (aka positively) instead of something that you don’t necessarily agree with (aka negatively). If I were a coach and I switched a rower’s side, I’d more than likely be much more willing to listen to their concerns if I saw that they at least tried to learn the new side and put some effort into it vs. someone who half-assed it and didn’t really try.

College Rowing

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Is it unrealistic for someone who is 5’7 to row at a D1 school or would I be better off on the club level? I’m really interested in the challenge of rowing in college, I just don’t know if I’d physically be able to. I was just wondering since in your last answer you said the average person on your club team is 5’3-5’7.

Depends – are you a guy or a girl? If you’re a guy then you’re gonna be on the short side by several inches if you’re looking at pretty much any of the Sprints schools. If you’re a girl, you might still be on the shorter side but not so much that you’d be out of the running for any of the boats.

Height is just one factor when it comes to rowing (and it’s far from being the most important). If your erg times measure up to what college teams are looking for and you’ve got a solid rowing resume there’s no reason why you wouldn’t get an equal look when compared to someone who’s 6’0″. Plus, if you’re a lightweight that can work in your favor too when looking at colleges. Lightweight teams were in essence created specifically for shorter rowers – and by shorter I mean “average height” people, not the freakishly tall amazons that dominate most collegiate teams. Not a lot of teams have dedicated lightweight squads, so you’d have to do some research to find out what schools have them if that’s something you’re interested in.

Ultimately, I wouldn’t worry too much about your height. Your height isn’t something you have control over but how strong you are, your erg times, what you bring to the team … all of that is stuff you have control over. Focus on the variables you can change, not the ones you can’t.

College Coxing Novice Q&A Rowing Teammates & Coaches

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Our novice team has been shrinking by the weeks! There’s only 7 of us left. All but one rower and me are bent on quitting before trying to make varsity. One of the rowers who has high school experience was saying that our coaches don’t really know how to properly prep the varsity team for spring even though we’re a D1 team. 2x6k test today sounds more like a fall test strategy to me, but being a novice cox I’m not about to diss our coaches, you know? Help?

Has your coach not noticed or said anything about the drastic drop in numbers? What have been the other rower’s reasons for quitting? Why do the girls still on the team want to quit? If you know that your goal is to try and make varsity, don’t let the decisions of the other girls, no matter how legitimate they are, affect your decision. It sucks that your team is dwindling like it is but there’s really nothing you can do about it.

I wouldn’t say a 2x6k is entirely abnormal for winter training. If they’re still having you do 2x6ks after spring break, yea, that might be a little out of the norm. As far as not knowing how to prep the team for the spring, as a D1 team that sounds … odd. Has your coach been with your team for very long or is he/she new to coaching? I feel like winter training is pretty straightforward so there shouldn’t be any confusion surrounding how to go about setting up a training program. I get what you mean about not wanting to question them, but there are ways of going about it without sounding like your interrogating them. You could just ask out of curiosity, since you are a novice, and inquire as to what the benefits of long steady state pieces like this are and how they prep you for spring. Assuming your coach didn’t just pull a 2x6k out of his ass, he’ll be able to give you his reasoning. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with questioning your coaches as long as you’re respectful and conversational about it.

Like I said, if you’re intent on coxing the varsity, stick to your guns unless you have a good reason not too. Everyone else quitting isn’t a good reason … although I would offer up the argument that it is a reason, assuming they all had a legitimate team or coach-related reason for quitting. I would see if you could sit down and talk with your coaches or even with some of the varsity coxswains and get an idea of what the spring season is going to look like and what role you will play in it. Getting a grasp on the bigger picture can sometimes help make sense of how things are now. As far as everyone else that’s quit … it does suck, but you have to let it go and focus on the people who are still on the team.

Coxswain skills: “So, what did you see?”

Coxing How To Novice Rowing

Coxswain skills: “So, what did you see?”

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This is one of my favorite questions to ask coxswains. Most see four or eight oars and … that’s about it. When their coach asks them what they noticed during that last piece there’s usually a second or two where they try and think of what to say before giving a super vague answer that sounds something like “Um … the boat wasn’t set and timing was off.”

Remember, we’re the liaisons between the rowers and the coaches. It’s our responsibility to convey what’s happening in the boat so that the coaches know what’s working, what’s not, what they need to spend time focusing on, who needs some extra individual attention, etc. Specifics are what drive our sport. If you say “the boat wasn’t set”, I’m going to respond with “OK, why? What side was it down to? When did it go offset? Was it offset at certain points in the stroke or for the entire stroke? Did you make a call for a correction? Do you know how to correct it? Etc., etc., etc.” THOSE are the kind of observations that make you an invaluable asset to your crew.

When you’re in the boat you should constantly be observing (and feeling) what’s going on and relaying what you see to the rowers. Your eyes should never stop moving. Before you tell the rowers what you see, make sure you understand what you’re seeing. Don’t tell them something you yourself don’t understand. If you see something that seems off but aren’t sure how to relay it to the rowers, say “Hey Coach, I noticed XYZ but I’m not sure what that means or how to fix it”.

One of the best ways to be able to see all of this is to watch video of your crew rowing. This allows you to see the entire eight from the side, which isn’t a view coxswains often get unless they’re in the launch. By observing the crew from the side, you can see what the timing on each side looks like, what the rower’s bodies are doing, where their hands are, if their chins are up, etc. The bodies aren’t something we can see in the boat, so if we can study them externally we can start to develop a better sense of each of our rower’s tendencies. If your coach is able to ride behind you and can get an shot of all eight rowing, you’ll be able to see the timing of the entire crew even better.

THE SET

If the boat isn’t set, ask yourself the following questions. See if you can figure out why it’s not set based on your observations. Don’t assume that it’s offset just because of the handle heights.

When the boat’s not set, is it always down to the same side or does it go back and forth between starboard and port?

Is it off on every stroke or every few strokes?

At what part of the stroke is the boat not set? (Catch, release, recovery, etc.)

If it’s offset on the recovery, is it at the beginning when the rowers first move their hands away or later when the bodies extend? When moving hands away, are the hands and arms moving in an arc instead of straight away? (This is easy to determine based on whether or not the oars stay at the same height off the water the whole way through the recovery.) When the upper body pivots at the hips and moves forward, make sure the hands aren’t dipping at the catch (skying the blade). If the blades are dragging across the water, the hands are too high and need to lower a bit.

If it’s offset at the catch, it’s typically caused by uneven catch timing (everyone entering at a different time) or hands dipping down towards the feet. If the hands are dropping it could be because the heads/upper body are dropping.

If it’s offset at the release, the timing of the release may be off or the oar may be being buried too deep. They’ll know if it was buried too deep when they catch a crab.

Does it start as a slight lean and then all of a sudden drop down at the catch or does it remain steadily offset throughout the whole slide movement?

Are port and starboard exerting equal pressure or is one side pulling harder than the other? This will be one of the easiest things for you to notice since it will effect the steering.

Are everyone’s heads in the boat, with their eyes and chins up?The slightest turn of the head can offset the boat which is one of the main reasons why the rowers are constantly reminded to keep their heads in the boat and their eyes forward.

TIMING

Timing can be a tough thing to see at first, especially in an eight. You have to use your peripheral vision in order to see all eight blades at once, which can be awkward sometimes since it involves staring almost directly at your stroke’s chest.

Is everyone catching, squaring, and feathering at the same time? Point out who is late/early on each part and try to get everyone in unison. If they’re late at the catch, remind them to start squaring up over their knees so that by the time they’re at the catch all they have to do is drop the blade in. Make sure they get the handle down and the blade out BEFORE they feather.

Are the other seven (or three) rowers following the stroke? Is the 7-seat (or 3-seat) picking up the stroke’s rhythm and translating it back to the rest of the crew? Periodically ask the stroke how it feels. If he says it feels rushed, remind everyone else to match the hands, shoulders, and slides as they come out of the finish and if necessary, call for a ratio shift.

Is everyone moving at the same speed? Watch for oars flying back and then waiting at the catch, going slow during part of the recovery and then speeding up at the end, etc.

DRILLS

When your coach gives you a drill to execute with the boat, focus on the purpose of that drill and what the rowers are trying to accomplish. For the most part, this should be the bulk of what you’re critiquing. If you’re not sure what you should be looking for with each drill, ASK. If you do a drill incorrectly, not only are the rowers going to be annoyed because they’re not getting anything out of it but the coach will also be too because you wasted valuable time.

HANDLE AND/OR BLADE HEIGHTS

Is someone skying their blade/dragging it across the water consistently? This goes hand in hand with the set. If you notice this, tell the rower, pair, side, etc. what you see and how to correct it.

PRESSURE

Occasionally your coach might ask “how’d the pressure feel on that piece?” It’s important that you be honest, especially if you’ve been given a specific pressure to row at for the piece. You’ll quickly learn what your rower’s half, 3/4, and full pressure feels like, so if it doesn’t feel like they’re rowing at the specified pressure, don’t be afraid to ask for more.

Also know when to tell them to back off the pressure, if necessary. Warmups are not the time to be rowing at full pressure, so tell your crew to stop showing off and instead focus on what you’re telling them to do. I’ve found through coaching that this is most often the case when you’ve got a boat full of high school guys who just recently started rowing; experienced rowers don’t tend to have this problem.

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