How do coxswains come up with a “signature call?” Any tips? Do you have one?
I definitely had a few in high school, each for a different boat, but I can’t remember what any of them are. One thing I know though is that coming up with a signature call is never something that’s planned, at least for me. It was always something that happened on accident or unintentionally. It’s kinda like how people get nicknames after they do something embarrassing. They weren’t trying to get a nickname, it just happened and now they’re stuck with it. My suggestion would be to go with the flow and keep doing what you’re doing. If something comes to you, use it, but don’t force it. Signature calls are great but they don’t make a coxswain. You don’t have to have one.
A similar thing I tell coxswains to do is develop special calls that only your crew knows. (I don’t know if that was what you meant by signature call but I tend to think of them as two separate things.) If you can say whatever your special call is and the rowers know it means “power 10”, it definitely gives you an advantage over other crews because they can’t counteract something if they don’t know it’s happening (whereas if they hear you say “power 10” they can obviously counter that). There’s also the emotional advantage you get from calls like that because if it’s something that has a specific meaning to your crew, the response is going to be a lot stronger in comparison to your normal run of the mill calls.
