Ok but seriously I probably hear 0.2% of anything my coach says ever while my crew is out on water. I believe this is a recurring issue with coxswains… I think my primary conversations with her consists of “WHAT!? WHAT!? WHAT!? WHAT!? …oh… WAIT, WHAT!?
Ugh, I feel your pain. It’s the worst when they use those stupid cone things instead of an actual electronic megaphone … and even when they use those it can still be impossible to hear them if it’s windy or they’re just talking normally, thinking that the megaphone will do all the work (spoiler: it doesn’t work like that).
It absolutely is a recurring issue. I feel like coaches assume their coxswains are just not paying attention instead of considering the fact that they just cannot hear them. It’s a fairly serious safety issue too because if you can’t hear your coach and they’re trying to tell you there’s a log or a single or something else in front of you that you’re about to hit and you don’t hear them … that’s dangerous.
I’d talk to your coach before or after practice and say that you feel bad because it seems like you’re constantly asking her to repeat herself because you can’t hear what she’s saying. Explain that it’s frustrating for you because you can’t hear or understand the instructions but also for the rowers because you two playing a twisted game of telephone is taking away from practice.
