How are coxswain evaluations conducted?
What is asked and how they’re conducted will vary by team, but in general, they’re usually a survey (either paper or online) that your coach gives the rowers to complete. Some coaches have both practice and race-day evaluations but most stick to just general coxing skills without going into specifics.
Common questions that rowers are asked to provide feedback on include:
Something the coxswain does well and should keep doing
Something you don’t like that they do and think they should change or stop doing
Something new or different that they should incorporate
Who is the most/least motivating coxswain and why (or why you find/don’t find your coxswain motivating, if you’re not given the option to choose)
Who is the most/least confident and why (or why you find you find/don’t find your coxswain to be confident)
Skills regarding coaching on technique, how good the feedback is that they give you, etc.
One call you like and one you don’t like, and why
How’s their steering
What level of respect do you have for them, on a scale of 1-10 (or whatever) and why is it at that level
How efficient they are at giving directions – are they clear, concise, understandable, etc.
Do you think safety is a priority and why
Overall contribution to the boat – good, bad, etc.
Are they prepared or running around like a chicken with their head cut off
Do they work well with the coaches, other coxswains, and rowers
Sometimes the evaluations require written explanations from the rowers and some just ask for a number on a scale of 1-10. I think the more feedback you can get the better, so written responses are preferable. I’d like to say that the evaluations are free from popularity contests and personal like/dislike for the individual but that’s not always the case. Evaluating someone on whether or not you like them as a person instead of evaluating their overall skills is pretty immature in my opinion and is something that I feel the need to stress to everyone who reads this – don’t.
Check out the “coxswain evaluation” tag too, there will likely be a lot of information in there going forward on how to do them, what to include, etc.
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