Tag: calls

Coxswain recordings, pt. 32

College Coxing High School Racing

Coxswain recordings, pt. 32

By

San Diego Rowing Club 2012 Head of the Charles Men’s Youth 8+

This is a good example of a coxswain who is talking a lot and not really saying anything. His intensity is good but it’s empty, if that makes sense. It’s like he’s being loud just to be loud. Something that really annoyed me was at 7:44 when he yelled “eyes in the boat, you keep those eyes in the boat and you focus!”. I didn’t like the way he said it because a) after listening to almost eight minutes of the recording, I understand why the rower(s) might have been looking out of the boat and b) it sounded like he was scolding a dog or something. Something else that bothers me is that there’s a lot of “you” and “your” happening, like “you need to do this for your team”, etc. When coxswains do that it makes me think they take their roles way too seriously, like they aren’t responsible for moving the boat too.

University of Massachusetts 2012 Head of the Charles Women’s Champ 8+ going through Weeks Bridge

The first half of this video is from the stern-cam and the second half is from the coxswain’s GoPro. She did a good job of staying calm and focused coming through Weeks, particularly since the crew in front of them was this close to their bow. Her line on Anderson was way too wide (I think that was because they got stuck on the outside of Weeks) but she definitely still could have made that turn through the bridge if she’d started it a stroke or two sooner and had the starboards power down while the port side brought it around. This reiterates though that you’ve always gotta be thinking one bridge ahead when you’re on the Charles because a messy turn through Weeks almost certainly means a messy turn through Anderson.

You can find and listen to more recordings by checking out the “Coxswain Recordings” page.

Coxswain recordings, pt. 31

College Coxing High School Racing

Coxswain recordings, pt. 31

By

7k row to the basin

A high school coxswain emailed me this recording a couple weeks ago so below is the email I sent her with some feedback. In her initial email she also included her own comments on what she thought of her coxing (PS I love when you guys do that because it helps me narrow in on what you think you need to work on), which included things like “my coxing started very calm but in the middle it was similar to how I would have coxed a sprint race”, “I never mentioned the time and pointed out only some of the landmarks I should have”, “I have lots and lots of calls about the legs”, “Some of the focus 10s were not for anything in particular and were just moves”, “10 in 2 would be more effective than 10 here in some (most) cases”, etc.

Here’s what I said:

“I agree that your intensity level did rise throughout the piece but I think that’s fairly natural. I do the same thing when I’m coxing long pieces like this, as do other coxswains that I know. I think as long as you’re not super obnoxious about the changes in your tone or volume it’s not a big deal. I thought this was fine though.

I like the “reel ’em in” call too. It’s a good way to say “get after these guys” without actually saying that. Regarding the “10 in 2 vs. 10 here”, I agree that it’s more effective, especially in long pieces like this where it’s easier for them to zone out, to give them a bit of a warning and either say “on this one”, “in two”, or whatever so that at the very least they’ve got one stroke or so to get ready to execute whatever you’re calling for.

If you notice the intensity starting to fall off, at the very least make sure they’re still rowing well. Focus purely on their technique for 20-30 strokes if you have to but make sure that even if the pressure is falling a bit that they’re still rowing at a high level. Sometimes I notice that when I back off the typical power calls and just focus on technique, the power gradually starts to come up a bit on its own … not necessarily to where it was before but enough that I notice it and can then say “Yea, there we go! You see how we’re starting to push those puddles away again? That’s just from adjusting our posture and making sure our body prep is set early. Let’s take five now to really emphasize the swing and get the shoulders set. Ready … go!”

I like doing 5s for each pair or 5s for each four during longer pieces like this. It’s something different and gives you a chance to focus on the individuals a little more than you otherwise would. Plus it gives them a little bit of personal responsibility for those five strokes. You executed this very though so good job. I liked your tone, the calls you made, etc. I’d do it exactly like that during a race if you decide to incorporate that as a move of some kind.

I also noticed that you made a lot of leg calls but I think as long as you’re diversifying them and not making the same leg call over and over then it’s OK. One thing I would practice the next time you’re out though is making calls for other parts of the stroke. To kinda force yourself into doing this, I would try something like this: for one entire practice, anytime you want to make a call for the legs, pause for a second and come up with a call for something else. The calls could be for puddles, sharp catches, smooth finishes, posture, body prep, long recoveries, bending the oars, blade height, getting max reach, etc. The goal is to not make ANY calls for the legs and instead make calls for everything else. The legs are a really easy thing to make calls for and are what a lot of coxswains default to (myself included) so every so often you’ve gotta take yourself out of that comfort zone and force yourself to do something different so that on race day you’ve got a wealth of calls built up that you can pull from. You actually already do a great job of calling for a variety of things so just consider this as a new challenge to continue building your skills in that area…

When you call for focus 10s, I would instead call for focus 5s. 10 strokes is too long to “focus”, especially during hard pieces like this, and 5 usually ends up being more effective anyways.

You do a great job of consistently giving the rowers information (and you already know what you need to give them more of – i.e. time, landmarks, etc.) and your overall tone is fantastic. Like I said earlier, don’t worry too much if there’s a gradual shift in intensity as the piece progresses. Something else that I really appreciate as a fellow coxswain is your self-awareness. I like that you listed out your own comments on your audio because that shows that you’re actually invested in what you’re doing and are keeping yourself accountable. Another thing I liked was how you clearly and concisely yelled at the other coxswains to tell them where you were as you got close to them. That’ll come in verrrrrrry handy if you’re racing at HOCR.”

University of Delaware 2015 Dad Vail Men’s Varsity 8+ Petite Finals

Jake, the coxswain of Delaware’s heavyweight 8+, sent me this recording after Dad Vails and it really blew me away. Easily one of the best recordings I heard all season – actually, I think this is the best I heard all season. Here’s what I said in my email to him with a few additional bullet points below that.

“This is really good – your intensity, tone, calls, etc. are on point. I feel like I’m nitpicking just trying to find stuff to critique. The one piece of advice I have is when you make a call like “walk away, walk away”, “it’s time to go”, “time to break off UNC” (great call btw), etc., immediately follow that up with a 5 or 10-stroke push just to carry over the momentum from your call. When I make a call like that I want the rowers to immediately think “yea, let’s go!” and since I know they tend to get a burst of energy from that I want to capitalize on it by immediately following up with a 5 or 10-stroke move to do whatever I just said to do, be that to walk away from the field, put away another crew, etc. If you say “it’s time to go” and then there’s crickets after that then it’s like “OK … I’m ready to go … tell me what to do …” and you kinda lose the opportunity to make something happen. You also run the risk of another coxswain hearing you say “walk away!” and them thinking you’re calling a 10 so they call their own 10 to counter the move they think you’re making. That can backfire on you if they end up getting a seat or two out of it. (The only reason why I say that is because I’ve done this to other coxswains before and if you’re down a seat or two and do it at just the right point in the race you can pretty much kill their momentum and take the race from them.)”

In addition to everything I said up above, I really like the simple “assault” calls he makes throughout the race. This is something I think a lot of younger coxswains have to learn/remember – every call you make doesn’t need to be a full sentence long and every call doesn’t have to be “a call”. More often times than not you can easily get away with saying something simple like “assault” and that will convey the same exact message as “OK guys, this is where we get after it and start taking back some seats”.

Another thing I really liked was the build up into the sprint starting with the “10 at base” at 4:55. I like how he calls the first five of that ten, says “assault”, then starts the next five with “next five, bow ball”. THAT is what I mean when I say to simplify your calls and cut out all the excess. You know exactly what he wants and how many strokes you have to do it and it only took four words to communicate that. Now, what I really liked about the sprint was how he transitioned into it. At 5:12 he says “shifting up to a 38 over two … shift one, shift two …” and then they hit it. I like the simplicity. If you’re trying to figure out how to get your crew to shift up at the end without doing a big build or anything (or alternatively, you’re only going up two beats and don’t need five to build into it) then I’d definitely suggest trying the shift over two and seeing how that works. (PS If you haven’t read this post on “in” vs. “over” vs. “on” check it out so you understand the difference between all three and make sure you explain it to your crew too. In, on, and over do not mean the same things!!)

You can find and listen to more recordings by checking out the “Coxswain Recordings” page.

Coxswain recordings, pt. 30

College Coxing High School Racing Recordings Rowing

Coxswain recordings, pt. 30

By

MIT 2015 IRA Men’s Varsity 4+ Repechage

I haven’t posted any of our recordings on here (they’re all on YouTube if you wanna listen to them) but I wanted to post this one because I think it was our varsity coxswain’s best recording of the season and I’m really damn proud of that for more reasons that I can count. I wish I could remember everything I pointed out to him when we initially watched this after the race but that was a month ago so below is a recap of what I assume I told him.

The whole starting sequence – start, high 20, transition to base – was really well executed. He started off the year/season drawing his calls out to really annoying and unnecessary lengths so to finish the season really crisp like this is a huge improvement. I also really like how we started doing the shifts down to base. I honestly don’t remember if this is something we talked about or if he just started doing it on his own but adding in that second shift really helped clean up that transition and make it a lot smoother.

It still annoys me (in the most minor of ways) that he calls a “ten to establish (the rhythm)” right after the start but if you’re going to take a ten for something at that spot, calling it for rhythm isn’t the worst thing to choose. (As long as it’s not for power – you have no idea how much this makes me rage.) One of the things we/I really harped on this season was not relying on 5s and 10s to get across whatever you wanted them to do. Instead of calling numerous 5s for catches, finishes, legs, etc. just make the call for a few strokes and then move on. You don’t need to take a burst just to get them to do something. My point there is that instead of calling a 10 to establish the rhythm I would have just gone straight into “legs long, legs loose” for a couple of strokes because just counting out the strokes doesn’t establish the rhythm, you’ve gotta actually back it up with legit calls.

Prepping the crew for an oncoming wind gust is always smart so I like that he saw the gust coming at 1:16 and said “wind gust on this one”. This is probably the best footage I’ll be able to get from a coxswain’s POV of what the wind looks like so if you’re still trying to figure out how to read the wind, look at the ripples in the water immediately before, during, and after he makes that call. The wind had been picking up throughout the reps (there were three total) but it stayed pretty much a cross-head the entire time. You can tell it’s a headwind because the boat is going into it (vs. a tailwind where you’re going with it) and the diagonal pattern of the ripples indicates that it’s a slight crosswind, meaning that the wind is going perpendicular-ish to the course instead of straight with the lanes (in which case it’d just be a direct head or tailwind).

A couple strokes later you can hear BU’s coxswain say “I’ve got bow ball”, which could easily have been disastrous for us (and if it was earlier in the season it probably would have been). I like how he handled it though. He’ll probably say that he didn’t hear her or wasn’t paying attention, thus what I’m about to say is totally irrelevant but I like that he just said where they were on BU, that they were walking, and to stay relaxed and poised. From there he makes the call to get the boat set (the crosswind wasn’t helping us there) and they immediately took a seat back on BU. The calmness in his voice throughout that segment is not something I would have thought was possible a few months ago, or at least not something that could be executed that well, so I’m really, really proud of how he handled that. (But like I said, he’ll probably say he had no idea what BU’s coxswain was doing so I’ll just pretend that what I said was his plan all along.)

As they come into 750m and he says “let’s walk up and pass, I’m on 2-seat, get me bow man…”, that’s a perfect way to call that and is another good example of what I mean by simplifying your calls. All you’ve gotta do is tell them where you are and where you wanna be and that’s it. The only thing I wish he would have done after that five was to tell them whether the move worked or not (by either saying “got the bow man” or “they held their margin” or something easy like that).

At 1000m I like the shift in his tone. I was getting a little worried initially when I listened to this that his usual fire during the body of the race wasn’t going to be there but it came out here and stuck for the rest of the race, which was good. All his calls through this section are great, especially the “now keep the attack” that he finished off with. I also, obviously, love the “that’s bow ballll” call. That 20 plus the small moves for each pair that he followed up with are, I’m convinced, what secured our position for the rest of the race. Couldn’t have asked for better execution here.

The “five for each pair” move is something we’d been working on throughout the season and it was getting to the point where I was so frustrated with it that I almost told him to just stop doing it because he could just not go from pair to pair without freaking monologuing between each one. It was driving me nuts. (You can hear this in the Sprints recording I think.) He did a great job calling it here though. I love the transition from stern pair into all four with the “establish dominance, 5 strokes for open” call. (400ish meters ago we were down two seats and now we’re going for open … can’t ask for much more than that.)

The ten for length at the 500 was kinda the only thing that I wasn’t super happy with, only because his calls didn’t match up with what he was asking for. Taking a ten for length there is a great idea and something we definitely needed but if you’re gonna call it for length your calls have to match that and his were a little all over the place. I liked his tone and everything, just not the words themselves.

When he made that “drop them” call at 5:31, this aggression was what I was waiting for and he brought it out at just the right time. The end of the race always makes me a little nervous because he’s not the most reliable at calling the finish – sometimes he nails it, other times he’s way off (ahem … Princeton) – but he did fine here. In any other situation casually calling the extra two like that probably wouldn’t have worked, especially if the race was close, but we were ahead by enough that it didn’t make a difference. We were in a position to advance by open water so whatever. Not something I’d recommend though – if you’re gonna call last five or last ten, make sure it’s actually the last five or last ten. Practice this whenever you do pieces so you can get used to gauging the distance between when you make the call and when you cross the line, that way there’s no question on race day that you’re calling the correct number of strokes to the line.

Kent School Boat Club Women’s Varsity 8+ at st. andrews

This coxswain sent me her audio a few weeks ago so below is part of my reply to her. This is one of the better recordings I’ve listened to from this past season so definitely check it out.

“Tone, volume, intensity, calls, etc. throughout the entire race were solid. I wouldn’t change a thing. You got a little repetitive with the “twist” call but I think you had a good enough variety otherwise that it doesn’t matter too much. In the future you might consider incorporating in some alternatives to “twist” (“rotate” is one that I use a lot), that way you’re still communicating the same thing just with a different word so as to not get too monotonous or repetitive.

Another thing is it seemed like you stuttered over the names of the crews a couple times when you were giving the girls your position – if you’re not 110% sure of who is in each lane then just say their lane number. When I race I only call the name of the top one or two crews that we consider our biggest competition and everyone else I just refer to by their lane #s, that way I don’t risk tripping myself up in the middle of a call if I can’t remember who is where. I feel like when you’re in a groove of coxing and then you stutter over something like a crew’s name it can throw off the momentum a bit (or at the very least knock you our of your zone) so that’s always something I try to avoid.”

At 2:56, I love how she called “No mercy one, no mercy two…“. The intensity is great (there’s nothing like a good “no mercy” call to really stick the knife in) but I like that she sandwiched them between counting out the ten. Making simple but occasionally deadly (for the other crews…) calls like this are a great way to get just a liiiiittle bit of extra punch on each stroke.

Other calls I liked:

“I just lit the fuse…”

“You don’t mess with us ’cause we’re the best…” (Cocky? Hell yes. A great call? Oh hell yes.)

Oxford Brookes vs. Brown University 2014 Henley Royal Regatta Temple Challenge Cup Final

I got an email about this recording a couple weeks ago asking my thoughts and it said: “Both my crew and coach love the coxing here, but the other cox at my club, who’s very experienced and has coxed the [redacted the very prominent team name] eight, doesn’t think the coxing is great – he reckoned they would have won regardless. I wondered what your take on it is?” This was my reply:

“Personally I do like this recording. I think the other one (the Abingdon – BH one) is better but this is still in the upper echelon of recordings that are out there. Something I’ve heard a lot of people say is that he was a little over the top and should’ve acted like he’d been there before, which I definitely see and agree with (to an extent). At this level I think having a coxswain like him can only add speed to your boat so regardless of whether they would have won or not, I don’t think that should really change how he’s coxing them. The only real thing that I didn’t like was he was a little repetitive for me, although I think that’s just a general difference in style between the UK and the US.”

Now, make no mistake, I love this recording. Our V8+ coxswain even borrowed some calls from it this season. The main thing I hear people have spirited discussions about is how over the top he gets and like I said, I get that and can see how it might annoy people but to me it’s not the kind of “over the top” that is offensive or asshole-ish. There are PLENTY of recordings I’ve posted on here where you can argue that the coxswain is being “over the top” during the race but sometimes that’s just part of coxing. As long as you’re not being unsportsmanlike, does it really matter how into it you are as long as you’re still steering straight and communicating clearly?

The takeaway for coxswains from this recording is the Beyonce levels of flawlessness in the execution of the race plan. They grab the lead right from the very beginning and just pile it on from there. The bladework at the start is excellent and the gradual build in volume he has as he’s calling “legs loose” really sets the tone early. You can tell they have a plan going into this because the moves and his calls just flow really well throughout the race. It doesn’t feel like anything he’s saying is being come up with on the spot, which is rare since you’re not usually in a position (at this level, let alone at this regatta) where you’re far enough ahead of the other crew(s) that you don’t have to worry about deviating from your race plan.

He makes a lot of rhythm calls (and announces them too…), in addition to encouraging the rhythm by the way he makes the calls so if that’s something you’re looking to work on definitely listen to this. There are lots of spots throughout the recording where he does this and they’re very easy to identify. (Plus, you should be able to pick this stuff out on your own anyways without someone else pointing it out to you.)

I like how he said “Take it all in, feed off of it…” as they’re coming through the spectator area at 6:56. This is a great call for those regattas where you can feel the energy from the spectators and you can hear them screaming as you approach them. Never underestimate the power of the crowd to give your crew an extra surge at the end. Bring that energy into the boat and make it work for you.

Last thing is that “end them now” call at 7:45. I love this but what really seals the deal is the finger point he does as he says it. I did this once and my coach told me it was the most demoralizing thing he’d ever seen a coxswain do to the rest of the field so I’ve always had an affinity for psychological fuckery like this. Wisco’s V8+ coxswain did this to our eight when we raced them back in May and when they came up to collect their shirts I told him in front of our coxswain how much I respect coxswains that have the balls to make moves like that. Luckily our cox knows me well enough to know that it wasn’t a dig against him so it was cool. Laughs were had later.

To me, stuff like this is the ultimate sign of confidence. Some people probably/definitely think it’s cocky and it absolutely is but it does waiver between being the good kind of cocky and “you look like a dick”. Being cocky is fine (and necessary) to an extent but at some point it crosses the line from being legit to being compensatory and it’s always obvious when you’re compensating for something (usually a lack of confidence more than anything else). No coxswain would ever do the “shut them the fuck down now” finger point if they weren’t 10000% sure that their crew was executing everything exactly the way it needed to be done and that their position in the race was unquestionably secure. This isn’t one of those things that you can do every race though. This is one of the ones that you do once, maybe twice in your career. The moment’s gotta be right otherwise you do just look like an asshole.

Other calls I liked:

“Legs loose…”, mainly the way he says it

“Stay relaxed as we hit the gust … stay loose … stay loose …”

“Keep moving in this rhythm, in your rhythm…”

“10 months, every erg, every session, together, for this one fucking moment…”

“Drop the knees…” Good alternative to most “legs” calls.

“200 remaining, ready … steady … go for the Temple win!“

You can find and listen to more recordings by checking out the “Coxswain Recordings” page.

Coxing Q&A Rowing Technique

Question of the Day

By

I’m the senior girl’s cox for my school club and my crew is really struggling with having a slow recovery then accelerating to the finish and putting in pressure. When I call to go slow up the slide they might slow down 1 or 2 points or not even at all. And the pressure dies when the rating slows. Then the rating goes up when I call pressure. Do you have any ideas about how I can help them get into a slow steady rhythm but still put in pressure?

Pause drills, acceleration drills, emphasizing slow recoveries with painfully slow stroke rates, and lots of patience. Also, instead of saying “slow up the slide”, find other ways to say the same thing. If you’re consistently repeating the same call they’re going to tune you out (either voluntarily or involuntarily) because it will have lost any and all of it’s meaning.

Pause drills are a good place to start because they give you checkpoints throughout the recovery to make sure everyone’s timing is right. In this case I’d probably start with a triple-pause (hands away, bodies over, half-slide) and eventually work up to a double-pause (hands away, half-slide), then a single-pause (half-slide). Depending on how experienced the crew is I’d probably start off with 4s (bow four and stern four) then eventually go to 6s (stern six and box six), with “eventually” being after a couple of practices. Don’t move on until they’re ready though – it does absolutely nothing for anyone to move on to something that’s a little more difficult (even if that’s just rowing by 6s) if they don’t have a firm grasp on the basics. If the crew is more experienced then you can do sixes (bow and stern) and then all eight. The reason why pause drills tend to be effective is because it gives them, like I said before, checkpoints so they can make sure they’re in the right place at the right time. If they’re rushing it’s going to be a total pain in the ass for your stroke but that’s when you’ve gotta lean out and talk to individuals and say “7-seat, make sure you’re backing [stroke] up, get on their rhythm and then send it back. 5 and 6, relax, focus on that swing through the back end and matching stern pairs movements up the slide.” … or something to that effect.

The key here is to help them understand that they shouldn’t be rushing from one pause to the next, rather they should be “floating” into it. It’s not a race to see who can get to the catch first. I say this to pretty much everyone (even the guys on my team that have been rowing for 6+ years) but just because your butt is on wheels doesn’t mean you can just fly up the slides with reckless abandon or assume that you don’t have to exert some kind of control over your own movements. Alternatively, if you’re physically pulling yourself up the slide with your feet instead of letting the boat run out underneath you, that whole floating thing can’t/won’t happen. We say “coming up the slide” because it’s easier but the way to actually think about it is to visualize your seat staying in the same spot while you bring your feet back towards your body. (This is something you can actually see when you’re in the launch too. Pick a rower and watch their body in relation to something stationary on land, like a tree or something. You’ll be able to see the boat running under them while their body stays “fixed”.)

When I’m coxing pause drills I like to give them one simple instruction at each pause (which should last for about two seconds, hence why what you say has to be concise) for a few strokes and then I’m silent (except for saying “go”) for a stroke or two. This gives them a chance to process what I just said and how the boat feels while also implementing any changes that need to be made. So if I’m coxing double pause drills starting from the previous stroke this is probably what it’d sound like:

“Let’s go double pause starting at hands away … on this one. [Catch, finish, hands away pause] Deep breath, relax the shoulders, go. [Half slide pause] Easy into the catch now, go. [Catch, finish, hands away pause] Little more control this time, go. [Half slide pause] Float into it, go. [Catch, finish, hands away pause] Better, go. [Half slide pause] Light into the front, accelerate through, go. Hook, squeeze. [Finish, hands away pause] There it is, go. [Half slide pause] Go. [Catch, finish, hands away pause] Go. [Half slide pause] Control the front end here, go. [Catch, finish, hands away pause] Chins up, eyes up, go. [Half slide pause] Keep it smooth, go. [Catch, finish, hands away pause] Go…”

And on and on until we switch. Something else you could/should emphasize is getting the bodies set early, meaning that by the time they’re at bodies over they’ve gotten all the reach they’re gonna get. Sometimes rushing into the catch doesn’t have as much to do with the slides as it does people throwing their upper bodies forward because they didn’t get enough (or any) swing in the first half of the recovery. In my experience it’s usually a 50-50 split between that and the slides so I’d talk with your coach and see what he/she thinks is the underlying issue and then go from there.

Acceleration drills are fairly straightforward, all you’re doing is starting the stroke at a low pressure and then gradually building to full pressure by the time you get to the finish. This is best done at lower rates (16-20spm) so you can really feel the boat pick up. Engage the legs muscles right at the catch but don’t “slam” them down until you get to about half-slide or so. That split second of patience vs. slamming them down immediately tends to make a big difference because it lets you feel the connection between the blade and the water before you start applying power.

It sounds like you need to also remind them (or emphasize, if they’re novices) that stroke rate and pressure aren’t the same thing – low stroke rates don’t necessarily mean low pressure just like high stroke rates don’t necessarily mean full pressure. Try rowing 12-14spm at 3/4 pressure – not only will that help them with slowing the recoveries down but it’ll also hopefully get them away from the idea that you have to be rowing high in order to pull hard.

In addition to all of that, I’d spend some time talking with your coach about what you’re seeing/feeling, that way they can watch from the launch and address the issues during practice. Another thing is pay attention to how the boat feels when you’re rowing by 4s and 6s (especially by 6s). You can usually pinpoint which pair the rush is coming from or who isn’t rowing at pressure when you switch people in and out. Depending on your relationship with them, how experienced you all are, etc. you could say something to them in the boat (“3 and 4, when you guys came in we started to feel the rush a bit more so once we get going again make sure you’re getting the bodies set early and controlling the slides as you come into the catch…”) but it might be best to talk it over with your coach first and see what they say. Most of the time my coaches would say to just tell them when I notice that happening but other times they’d say to hold off and wait for them to address it first. Talk with your coach and find out what to do in situations like that and then address it as necessary.

Coxing Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

By

Hello! I finished my last race of the season yesterday and my coach and I were talking about what I can do to benefit the rowers more next season. She said that I need to have a couple of calls that come from my deep belly of coxing abilities, that the crews recognize as “shit gets done” calls. She gave the example of “hit the last nail into their coffin” and said that that was too extreme for my team, but that I needed something equivalent to that to finish out close races with. Do you have any favorites? or any good recordings I should listen to? thanks so much!!!

A call that I and most coxswains I know have used at least once in our careers is “stick the knife in” or “twist the knife”. It’s kind of along the same line as the coffin call you mentioned but they’re good calls that can be super effective when called at the right moment and in the right situation. I remember calling something similar with 100m or so left to go in a race once when we were even with another crew and by the time we got to our last few strokes we were up by just enough that “twist the knife” was the only thing I needed to say to get them across the line. One of my friends in college had this call where he’d say “light the fire” at the start of their sprint (instead of actually calling the sprint as a way to fake out other crews) and then with 15-20 strokes left he’d say “throw some gas on it” which would get them to bring the rate up another beat or two and just haul ass to the finish line. For situations like this though I think the best calls (and the ones your crew connects the best with) are the ones that come to you in the moment because then they don’t sound forced or scripted (which is how stuff like this can come off most of the time).

I do agree with your coach that it’s always good to have some calls in your back pocket that, when you use them, your crew knows it’s time to shift gears and get shit done. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve gotta come up with super special buzzwords or phrases though – sometimes just the way you say things will convey that message. I always love listening to coxswains, especially collegiate ones, say “NOW” when they want their crew to do something because even though it’s a really simple instruction, just the tone and raw power in their voice lets you know that they aren’t messing around.

I know I’ve pointed out calls I like for situations like this before (I’ve heard a lot of good calls so it’s tough to remember them all) so when you’ve got time definitely read through the recordings posts and listen to some of the recordings to hear how the calls actually sound. All of them can be found here.

End of the season calls + motivation

College Coxing Racing Rowing

End of the season calls + motivation

By

This is an email I sent over the weekend to our varsity coxswain who will be driving the four we’re taking to IRAs this weekend. As I’ve said in the past, being in the launch every day has its perks and while it may be boring at times it can be a useful tool once the end of the season rolls around. I tend to take a lot of notes when we’re out, either in a notebook or on my phone, and it’s nice to be able to pull them out now and get a few ideas for calls or new things to say that we haven’t talked about in awhile. Even though you could take a lot of what I said down below into the boat with you verbatim, there’s really only a few explicitly laid out calls in here. There’s a lot to be inferred though so coming up with calls on your own shouldn’t be hard.

“Here’s some of my notes on the guys from the last few months. The whole not being able to see them thing means you’ve gotta rely on what you know they have a tendency to do and these are their tendencies. Incorporate these into your calls this week (throughout the entire practice, not just the 500s and 250s we’ll be doing) so you can pull them out on Fri/Sat/Sun without having to think about it.

STROKE

No wind up

No up and down movement with the shoulders at the catch – lock the blade in then hang on it (“suspend send” for three is a good call here…don’t say “for the next three” or anything, just call it…)

Keep the hands moving out of the finish – he’s got to be a metronome if he’s gonna stroke this four and it’s on you to not let up for a single stroke if you see the rate fall off.

Release clean, feel the boat send away followed by smooth, relaxed hands out of the finish

Lean into the rigger

THREE

Keep the shoulders low

Patient with hands out of the finish

Don’t lunge at the catch

Hold the finishes, has a tendency to wash out at higher rates/pressures

TWO

Sit up/posture in general, particularly through the back end

Stay loose in the shoulders (tends to get tense when told to sit up)

Don’t get grabby at the catch

Back it in, don’t miss water at the catch

Hands down and away – specifically say “[his name]” when you make this call so he knows you’re talking to him

Stay connected with the feet at the finish

BOW

Hold the finishes in

Don’t cut off the lay back, get all the swing through the finish – especially important since he’s in bow now

General stuff

Suspend the weight, feet light on the stretchers

Accelerate with the hips

No lift out of the catch

Find speed through the legs

Smooth turnaround at the finish, keep the hands and seat moving (important for [STROKE], he adds the tiniest pause over the knees and that’s where [THREE] + [TWO] get ahead of him)

Build together through the water, don’t force it via rushing the hands out of bow ([THREE] + [TWO] in particular but applies to the whole boat)

Stay relaxed and long

During the “10 to relax” after the start, focus on actually getting them to relax and swing rather than just calling another 10. You shouldn’t need to count this out, instead remind them that every stroke needs to be relaxed but intentional, free of tension, etc. and then make repetitive swing-related calls for several strokes as you begin to establish your rhythm. Keep your voice calm but focused here.

Third 500 – the focus has to re-shift back to their form as fatigue sets in. Catches sharp, posture tall, cores solid, chins up, hanging on the handle, sequencing, mind over matter, etc. – all of it has to be on point. Every single thing you say, more so in this 500 than any other 500 during the race, has to have a purpose otherwise all you’re doing is taking speed away instead of adding it.

During the last 500 when you build for the sprint you have to be unrelenting when it comes to those rates. I know we’ve talked about not getting picky when it falls off by a beat but during the sprint that can’t happen. As the rate goes up remind them to sustain their rhythm and speed by picking it up together and staying light on the seats. As [THREE] said, the organization during this chunk needs to be better. There can’t be any second-guessing, tripping over your calls, periods of silence, etc. especially if you’re tight with another crew.

Be prepared. Eliminate all distractions. Be relentless. That’s your only job this week.”

Image via // @calebj.photography

Coxing Q&A Rowing Technique

Question of the Day

By

I was just wondering if there is a way to control the stroke rate when coxing. Usually the crew is too fast. Are there certain things that I should say? Thanks.

It sounds less like a stroke rate problem and more like you’re coxing rowers (novices, if I had to guess) who are having a problem with rushing . Just because your butt is on wheels doesn’t mean you can just fly uncontrollably up the slide but that’s a hard concept to get when you’re first starting out. Check out the posts in the “rush” tag, there are lots of questions and answers in there that should help you out in terms of coming up with things to say.

If it’s an issue with hitting the right rates, make sure you’re communicating with your stroke about what rates you need to be at and then stay on them until they hit it. This is especially important if you’re a less experienced crew because the sooner everyone (especially your stroke) learns what each rate feels like, the quicker they’ll be able to hit it when you say where they should be. The key with this though is to not be annoying and nagging about it. For example, don’t say the rate on every single stroke of a 5 minute piece or get super nitpicky if they go +/- one beat from where they’re supposed to be. If they’re consistently too fast then tell them (both when they’re not rowing and when they are) to be more controlled/slower/relaxed/composed/etc. on the slides as they come into the front end. Match their hands to the boat speed as they come away at the finish, get the bodies set early, stay light on the feet (aka don’t pull yourself up) and move with your stern pair. Follow the pace they set instead of, as I said earlier, uncontrollably flying into the catch.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By

What are some “rhythmic calls” you use? I know ones such as hook, send and catch, send but I was wondering what others are used.

I’m a big fan of taking a “swing three” or a “swing five” and saying “long swing“, “surge  long“, swing through“, “long rhy-thm”), etc. I think it’s important to pick one call and stick with it for the duration of the three or five strokes just because I feel like it helps get everyone moving together better/faster than if you were alternating between two or three different calls on each individual stroke.

Most of my rhythm calls also specifically include “swing” or “rhythm” in the call. I don’t tend to look at “hook send” or “catch send” as rhythm calls but they can definitely work that way, although I think the rhythm part of it is secondary or tertiary to catch/finish timing and/or acceleration.

Related: Hello! Sorry if this is a dumb question but I was wondering, what does it mean when coxswains say “cha”? Thank you!

Another good rhythm call is “cha”, which I talked about in the post linked above. As I said in there, it’s not one of my most used rhythm calls but it really has started to grow on me over the last year or so. Some coxswains say “cha” or “ja”, others add “ssshhhh-uh” to the end of their calls (this is what I do) but it all accomplishes the same thing.

The Language of the First 500

Coxing Drills Racing Rowing Technique

The Language of the First 500

By

A couple weekends ago I had the opportunity to go to the What Works Summit that’s hosted each year by the IRL program at CRI. The theme this year was “The First 500” and each speaker created a presentation that related in some way to that theme. For the most part I’m writing everything below as it is in my notes so while I’ve completed some of the thoughts, some of it is still in shorthand.

The first presentation I went to was given by Yaz Farooq, current head coach of Stanford’s women’s program and former national team coxswain in the 90s. She spoke on “the language of the first 500”,  managing the transition strokes, and knowing how to balance focusing on your speed and communicating your position relative to the other crews.

Breaking down the start from a language perspective

What does the start look like and what are it’s core components?

Start sequence to get out of the blocks → high stroke sequence → lengthen → lengthen again to base

The first lengthen is what you might know as the “settle” but as Yaz said, most programs are starting to move away from calling it that and instead are focusing more on calling it the “lengthen” or the “sub-lengthen”. The thought behind this is you’re not really settling so much as you’re trying to maintain as much boat speed as possible while transitioning to a more sustainable pace. It’s one of those subtle changes in language that, in theory, has a more positive effect on the psychology of the crew. (Regardless of whether you use “lengthen” or “settle” though, pick one and stick with it.)

How do you break it all up?

Based on strengths/weaknesses of the team, how well they handle the high strokes (i.e. how efficient they are at high rates), and how powerful they are.

Scripting out the starting sequence

First and most importantly, have a plan and map it out. This is the only area of the race that is really worth scripting (in addition to maybe the sprint depending on how your team approaches it).

How many strokes do you need to get off the line, how many high, how many to lengthen, how many base, etc.

Assign key words – these are things the coxswain would say to reinforce the rhythm and make sure it’s as effective as it can be. They key here is to have technical themes assigned, possibly emotional or philosophical themes based on team beliefs that the crew can lock into. Instill these themes throughout practice so coxswains can set up attacks with key words/phrases that reference each theme (without monologuing). Having key words/phrases attached to each theme results in no confusion and everything is clear because it’s been practiced daily.

When possible, reinforce the rhythm with your voice to support it and/or get it to where it needs to go. For a standard five stroke starting sequence (1/2, 1/2, 3/4, full, full):

Squeeze, direct, build, lengthen, full

Grip, lock, lock, lengthen, full

Complete, direct, grip, lengthen, full

Drills to work on the start

These drills, if done with multiple crews, should be done leapfrog style so each crew can watch/cheer for each other. Remember to be patient when something isn’t working. Talk it out with your crew until you find what works for you. I always talk with my stern pair first when something doesn’t work but it’s important to make sure you talk with the entire crew and consider/incorporate everyone’s feedback into whatever changes you make.

Stroke-by-stroke start drill

The goal is to perfect the sequence and bladework.

First stroke done from a dead stop.

Stroke 1 + 2 done from a pause.

Strokes 1 + 2 + 3 done from a pause.

First five done from a pause.

First ten done from a dead stop.

The first stroke is heavy but you get to keep perfecting it and improving the strokes by doing them one at a time and building up through the entire sequence.

Example: If your start is the standard “half, half, three-quarters, lengthen, full” followed by high strokes…

Half stroke done from a dead stop. When this stroke is done, pause at half slide. Hold the pause long enough for the crew to collect themselves and the boat to set up but don’t hold it forever. Two seconds or so max.

Half, half done from a pause. Again, pause at half slide when finished.

Half, half, three-quarters from a pause. Again, pause at half slide when finished.

Half, half, three-quarters, lengthen, full from a pause. Let it run when finished, balance the boat, weigh enough, and check it down.

Half, half, three-quarters, lengthen, full + first five high strokes from a dead stop. Let it run when finished, balance the boat, and weigh enough.

4-6-8 drill

Starts are done by 4s, 6s, and all 8. Goal is to learn how to use your legs and complete each stroke. The boat is heavier when rowing by 4s and 6s so you don’t want to wail on the oar right away otherwise you won’t be able to hold on to the water and ultimately your strokes will be short and ineffective.

Example:

Stern 4 goes through the starting sequence (just the first five strokes). When finished, let it run, weight enough, and check it down.

Bow 4 ”               “

Stern 6 ”               “

Bow 6 ”               “

All 8 ”               “

Square blade starts

Goal is to complete the strokes. Can do the entire starting sequence straight through or do each stroke individually as with the stroke-by-stroke start drill. Best to start off stroke-by-stroke and then progress to doing them straight through the further into the season/more experienced you get.

Striking a balance between speed + rhythm and position

Ultimately what you’re shooting for (as the coxswain) is striking the right balance between getting your crew off the line effectively and letting them know where they are relative to other crews.

How much time do we spend focusing on boat speed/rhythm and how much on when/how to communicate the crew’s position?

It depends on the team and skills of the coxswain. If it’s the early part of the season or your coxswain is a novice, focus solely on execution. This may evolve throughout the season though.

Example: At the beginning of the season, Stanford coxswains don’t tell positions until they lengthen to base so everyone can focus on nuances of each phase of the start. By NCAAs the coxswains will communicate as much info as they feel is relevant at the time but the focus remains on the execution of each phase of the start.

Managing the transition strokes

The goal when transitioning from your starting pace to base pace is to maintain boat speed and keep the intensity on while getting the rating down to a more sustainable number. One of the most important parts of managing the transition strokes efficiently and effectively is to set them up and call them consistently. Find a set of calls that work for you, your crew, and what you’re trying to accomplish and then stick with it.

The “traditional” thing to do when calling transition strokes was to lengthen in one beat but now it’s becoming more common to transition over 3-5 strokes depending on how much the rate is coming down. A good habit for coxswains to get into is to say the rate as you’re lengthening, especially early on in the season. (This isn’t as necessary as the season progresses but ultimately it’s dependent on what the crew wants/needs. Personally I think it’s something that’s important to do regardless of what part of the season you’re in but it all goes back to what will help the crew the most.)

Good calls for this part of the start are “push the spacing” or “push the puddles” because it’s something the rowers can both feel and see.

Practice the transitional cues during practice so when anxiety takes over (during their first big race, at the national championships, etc.) you can use those calls as  a fall back that they can rely on to be part of your plan in order to get everyone focused in on the same thing and moving/transitioning together.

Make it clear to the crew that they have to establish a solid base rhythm before the coxswain tells them where they are, that way they’re not tempted to rush the transition to base just to find out where they are. It’s important for the coxswain to reinforce and make sure they get to a sustainable base rhythm that mimics what you’ve practiced and worked on so the crew’s not distracted. You’ve got to establish the rhythm before relaying information, not the other way around because otherwise it becomes about the other crew and the people in your boat/their rowing gets frantic.

What should you look for when looking for a “solid base rhythm”?

When you practice your base rate during practice the rowers would know to a certain extent how it should feel based on the coach and coxswain’s feedback. This includes hitting a certain split (i.e. your “sweet spot” when everything just seems to naturally fall into place and come together), feeling like you’re able to get to full slide (coxswains, this is where it’s important to communicate with your stern pair so you can find out if this is happening or not), the stroke is leading the rhythm and everyone else is following and supporting it (again, talk with your stroke…), each end of the stroke is clean, and the rhythm has that “swing” feel to it rather than a “back and forth” rhythm.

Image via // @ryanjnicholsonphoto

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches Technique

Question of the Day

By

My coach who used to cox used the phrase “tuck up those finishes” when we were out on the water and I was wondering what that meant?

I’ve never heard that specific phrasing before (it sounds British…?) but my guess is they’re saying to make sure you’re pulling in high and tight, meaning you’re pulling into the right spot on your ribcage (the high part) and that you’re pulling the handle all the way in (the tight part, aka you’re not going down and away when the handle is still six inches away from your torso). That’s total speculation though so I’d ask them before/after your next practice what they meant by that. It’s always better to ask the person who said it (if/when you can) since they’ll be able to tell you exactly what they mean and how it applies to whatever was happening when they said it.