Hey! I’ve been rowing for a few years but now I’m a coxswain but I’ve only been doing it for a few months and I’m soon entering my first race as a cox. Any tips on how much to shout/what to shout to the crew?

OK well, first piece of advice is don’t shout. One of my biggest pet peeves with coxswains is that they think their job is to shout at people, so that’s all they do … they just shout. Don’t do that. If all the rowers hear is you yelling at them with no substance or meaning or reason behind it, they’ll tune you out.

Related: Hi, I’m a beginner coxswain for a men’s novice 8 and my first regatta is coming up in two days. I’m super super nervous and I was wondering if you could give me some really good calls I can make in the middle of the race … I usually end up not really know what to say and repeat the same things over and over! Thank you so much!

Have a race plan that so that you’re not ad-libbing the entire race as it happens. Race plans give you some structure and make it easier to come up with calls because you’re going to have different focuses throughout the race that based on what’s happening around you, where you’re at on the course, what you’re seeing within the boat, etc.

Related: HOCR – Race plans and My race plan from HOCR

Spend some time listening to recordings too – that’ll help you learn how other coxswains handle races, as well as what they’re saying, how they’re saying it, and how often they’re saying it.

Related: Interesting question: How often do you think a cox should talk during a race? I feel really awkward and useless if I stop talking for more than a few seconds, and when I rowed our cox would talk almost constantly during races. However, at a regatta briefing the other day the OU Captain of Coxes implied that coxes should only be talking every few strokes. I guess it depends on the standard and nature of the crew, but what do you think?

I know there aren’t any specific calls in here but once you’ve established a race plan and what your boat wants/needs to focus on during the race, you’ll easily be able to come up with a set of calls that work for you and the crew.

Tags: coxswain qotd racing