Hi – we were doing 6×5′ race pieces today at 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, open. Obviously the coaches were being sticklers on the rate but my cox box was not giving me the right stroke rate – it said I was at a 22 the entire time when I knew that we weren’t and the boat really likes to know what rate they’re at. When I felt the rate coming up I would call to bring it down but the coaches kept saying “you’re above rate, bring it down! It’s your responsibility!” I know that it’s my responsibility but how do you deal with these kinds of situations? We don’t have speed coaches to use either. Thanks!
I really, truly, genuinely hope that I’m not the only one who thinks that the most obvious (and only legitimate) solution here is to just tell your coaches that your cox box isn’t giving you the correct rates. It is your responsibility and part of that responsibility includes communicating with the coaches when an issue that could impact the workout arises. You literally have no excuse to not speak up in situations like this. It’s not that hard to say “hey, my cox box keeps showing that we’re at a 22 even though we should be at a 28…”, to which the coaches will respond (maybe slightly annoyed but whatever, they’ll survive) “ok, we’ll keep the rate from the launch and let you know where you’re at”. Every coach has a stroke watch (which is how they knew you were above rate) but they’re not gonna know that you need them to tell you what they’re getting if you don’t speak up.
The other thing you need to do is put the boat in slings after practice and have the coach or your boatman look at the sensor under the stroke seat since that’s probably where the problem lies.
