Strictly, I’m a rower, but I’m struggling with injury & looking at other options. I’ve been offered the opportunity to get involved in coxing our club’s ‘Masters’ 8, with a view to coxing them at Vets Head on the Tideway in March 2013 (do you know much about the Tideway? It’s a hellish course for coxes for a no. of reasons). I have limited coxing experience & haven’t coxed an 8 before. Is it possible to learn to cox an 8 effectively in so little time? I love a challenge but worry it’s too much…
I think you can definitely learn the basics of coxing in that period of time. You can learn all the calls you’ll need and can practice them (with the exception of directional ones) with the rowers while they’re erging. Once you get on the water, you’ll already have the basic calls down, so you can instead shift your focus towards steering, getting a feel for the boat, and watching the rower’s oars for technique issues.
Here’s my suggestions for over the winter:
Get with your coach and see if he/she has any video of that particular crew or any other crews that you can watch. As a rower, hopefully you already know the ins and outs of rowing, but having your coach go over it with you from HIS perspective will give you an idea of what you should be looking for as a coxswain. It’ll also give you an idea of things to say to the rowers, both when they’re on the ergs and on the water.
Watch and listen to audio/video from the coxswain’s seat. This will not only give you an idea of things to say but also things to pay attention to. The only thing to keep in mind with this though is to not get too set on doing things exactly how you hear or see them being done by other coxswains. Putting yourself in a box like that makes it really difficult to experiment with your own coxing style and adapt to what your own crew wants/needs. Use the recordings as a framework to build off of rather than a strict “how to” guide.
Related: Coxswain recordings
Get to know your boat. Work out with them. Go to breakfast. Have a boat meeting. Find out what makes them tick. What is an important characteristic to them for their coxswain to have? What do they like hearing in the boat? What are some things they know they specifically need to work on? What are their goals?
Coxing is just like rowing in the sense that you can pick it up quickly but then spend years and years refining your technique. Study up over the winter on the basics of coxing and ask lots of questions. I’m here if you need anything and I’m sure your coaches will be more than willing to help you out too. You’ve got five(ish) months, which is more than a lot of coxswains get when they’re first starting out. You can definitely do it if you put the effort in.
