Tag: coxswain

Top 20 Terms Coxswains Should Know: Release

By readyallrow February 17, 2016

Previously: Rush(ing) || Body angle || Pick drill || Suspension || Skying the blade || Quarter feather || Pin || Run || Lunge || Washing Out || Missing water || Footboard || Check || Ratio || Over compression

What part of the stroke/stroke cycle does it refer to

The finish.

What does it mean/refer to

The release is the part of the stroke that occurs immediately after the actual finish – it’s when the outside hand applies weight to the handle, causing it to tap down and release the blade from the water. The terms “finish” and “release” get used interchangeably but they’re actually two completely separate parts of the stroke. At the finish the blades are in the water and at the release they aren’t (which is why it makes no sense when coxswains tell the rowers to “sit at the release” before they start rowing), although the bodies are still in the same layback position.

Relevant calls

Many of the calls I make specifically about the release have to do with the set of the boat. One of the things we say to the guys a lot, particularly if the boat is looking wobbly, is “release to the balance”, which gets them thinking about the position of their hands relative to the set of the boat. I’ve adopted this call too when I’m coxing and usually say something like “…let’s make sure we’re releasing to the balance … right [catch] here [finish] … haaands [drive] here [finish]… haaands here …”. I try to save this call for when the boat is consistently off-set rather than just a wobble here or there, mainly because I know it gets the rowers’ attention and I don’t want to wear it out.

Another one is “cut the pressure before the bodies, come down and away smoothly…”. This isn’t so much a “coxing” call that I try to line up with any particular part of the stroke, rather it’s a “coaching” call that I say conversationally as we’re rowing. I try to follow it up with a specific “coxing” call though, usually something like “smoooth here“, “hands here“, “cut it now“, etc.

What to look for

Because the finish and release only differ by about six inches in handle height, one’s ability to tap down at the release is largely effected by their posture at the finish. Not laying back enough or laying back too far can inhibit the movement of the hands here because it’s practically impossible to tap the handle down when your body is directly underneath it. (If you’re laying back too far it’ll be your stomach and if you’re not laying back enough it’ll be your thighs.) On the water you can make reminder calls for this but on the ergs is where you can really coach the rowers (particularly novices) on proper body angles, posture, etc. Plus, it’s a lot easier to do this on land when you can actually manipulate them to the right positions vs. on the water where it can be tough to explain what it should look/feel like.

At the release, assuming pressure was cut before the handle reached the bodies, you should see the blades cleanly pop out of the puddles and then feather over the water. If you’re seeing the blades get stuck in the water as the recovery begins (which at best will cause the boat to go off-set and at worst can cause crabs of varying magnitudes) then a couple things might be happening, the first of which is what I mentioned above about not giving yourself room to tap down. The other is not accelerating the blade through the drive into the finish. If you’re connected on the drive and have good acceleration the blade will naturally pop out more easily at the release whereas a lack of acceleration will cause the puddle to close up and essentially act like a brake (tl;dr physics), which obviously limits the carryover of acceleration and kills the boat’s run.

With regards to feathering, watch that they’re not feathering before the blade is fully out of the water too. You’ll be able to tell if this is happening because you can see the water getting flipped up as the blade rotates. In my experience this happens most often when people feather with both hands because they’re rotating the handle down into their laps instead of drawing straight through, tapping down with the outside hand, and then feathering with the inside. Square blade and outside-arm only rowing, along with delayed feather drills can help fix this though.

Effect(s) on the boat

The effects of a poor release will be felt on the subsequent recovery and catch, usually in the form of the boat being off-set or poor posture on the previous finish causing timing issues with getting the hands down and away (and bodies over) on the next recovery which leads to a late/poorly timed catch. A clean release though provides a stable platform for the rowers to work off of and lets the boat take full advantage of the power and acceleration that was generated on the previous stroke by allowing it to run out further between strokes.

Coxswain Recordings, pt. 35

By readyallrow February 16, 2016

Something I really like about these recordings is how sitcom-y they feel. You know how in any show things start off fine and then something happens but then at the end things are good again, if not better? That’s what these pieces are like – the first one was alright, the second piece not great, and the third is where they make some changes and it all comes together. We’ve all had practices like that but this is the first set of recordings I’ve come across where you can actually hear and feel how the pieces ebb and flow throughout the practice. If you struggle with how to call practice pieces (i.e. how to find that balance between race-coxing and still maintaining a technical focus), you should definitely make time to check these out and take notes.

University of Washington 3x1500m, Piece #1

At the beginning I like when the coach (Bob Ernst, I think … this would have been his last season with the men before switching to the women’s team) says “try not to make it a tug of war with the upper bodies”. When the water’s not great or there’s a headwind it’s easy to fall into the trap of pulling more than you’re pushing and it can be tough to come up with a way to communicate that (that’s not the same played out “make sure we’re driving with the legs” calls…) so I like the tug-of-war analogy there.

Throughout these pieces you’ll hear Katelin talk a lot about the rate and where to bring it up (the drive) and bring it down (the recovery). If you’re trying to take it up, “a beat through the drive” is the simplest, most straightforward way to communicate that and avoid creating a lot of rush on the recovery. The “through” part of it is kinda crucial too because you want the crew to be accelerating from catch to finish and “through” says that without you having to throw in a bunch of extra words and make the command longer than necessary.

It’s not until they’re sixty seconds into the piece that she first mentions the other crew … and only to say that the other coxswain is taking a move but they’re walking on him as he does it. The next time she mentions them (thirty seconds later) is when she says they’re gonna take a move when she’s next to their bow man … but the move isn’t for the other boat (i.e. to take another seat, get the bow ball, etc.), it’s for them (five for timing, five for the legs) and that is one of the key things about calling pieces in practice like this. Are you “racing” the other boat? Yea sure, but you’ve gotta get your own shit together first if you want to actually be able to race the other boats like you would other crews during an actual race.

She does a really good job of telling the crew where they are and what she wants while keeping the atmosphere calm and focused. They’re racing but she’s keeping them more in tune with what’s happening in their boat instead of constantly calling out the other crew and ignoring the technical issues that you hear her making calls for. THIS is one of those key things that, as a coxswain, the sooner you get it the better – she could have just called this like a normal race and made a third of the technical calls she’s making and the crew might have still finished ahead … but at the end of the day they wouldn’t be any faster. Because of the technical calls she’s making and the way she’s incorporating them into her race strategy, she made them faster that day by being relentless about holding the crew accountable for their strokes. (And now she’s coxing the national team so take from that what you want.)

At around 4:10 you can hear her stroke or 7-seat say “let’s open it up … open water” and then the next series of calls she makes is that ten to get some separation between the two crews. THREE MINUTES AFTER THE START OF THE PIECE and that’s when her boat starts to really race the other one. THREE MINUTES. THREEEE. MINUTESSSS. Her tone intensifies, her calls intensify, and the focus has clearly shifted to walking away. I also really like the call “do not get up and sit up” call she makes towards the end of the ten. They’re not being walked on (yet) but they’re also not walking away either … in that situation they’re the easier target.

6:41 is probably one of my favorite “speeches” I’ve heard a coxswain make in awhile. A lot of coxswains are … for some reason … afraid to say shit like this to their crews but sometimes you really do just need to get on them and say it’s really fucking unacceptable that we – WE – let this happen. This is also a perfect example of the difference between being a bitch and being authoritative and really reiterates the point I was trying to make in the post linked below from November. Next time someone tells you to “be more bitchy” when you’re coxing, this is what they want you to do.

Related: The Bitch in the Boat

University of Washington 3x1500m, Piece #2

The tone of this piece is a little different because they lost a length at the end of the last piece so they’re fired up and planning on going hard right off the line to match the other boat. Spoiler alert, this backfires. Now don’t get me wrong, I love that she says “we’re not waiting to make the move” (that’s a great call, especially for situations like this) but as the piece goes on you can hear how that mindset, while good in theory, probably contributed to a lot of the slide control issues they experience. I don’t think you need to spend three minutes waiting to get into race mode on every single piece but at the very least you do have to establish your in-boat presence first (whether that takes ten strokes or two minutes, whatever) before your focus shifts to walking on or away.

At 3:44, I like how she splits up this ten. A lot of coxswains, particularly younger, less experienced ones, will call for a ten and then trail off midway through because whatever they called for didn’t actually need to be ten strokes long whereas here, she calls for a ten but it’s actually two fives that are focused on timing at both the front and back ends of the stroke. This is a much more effective way of matching up the timing without saying “move together”, “watch stroke seat’s blade”, “ten for catch timing”, etc.

Related: All about Power 10s

At 5:11 you can hear her stroke seat yell out “get long, get longer!” and then the next set of calls she makes after she finishes the ten are for length on the slides. Normally if my stroke says something to me or yells something out to the boat when I’m calling a ten (it’s always during bursts) it knocks me out of my bubble for a second and I’ll stutter on the next call because it’s like “wait, what just happened?” … I hate that. I can’t tell if that rattled her focus or not (which is good, obviously) but even if it did, she did a great job of finishing up the ten and then immediately incorporating in calls to reiterate what her stroke said. This is another thing you should talk about with regards to communicating with your stroke. I’m OK with my stroke talking to me (as you hear her stroke doing throughout the pieces) or occasionally yelling things out to the boat but one of the few no-no’s I have is if I’m calling a burst, don’t say anything until we’re done because I just go into a zone when I call those 10s and 20s and them saying something just jolts me out of it. If you don’t like your stroke yelling out to the boat or talking to you when you’re calling 10s or whatever else, make sure you have a conversation with them about that off the water.

Her point at the end about it not being a big deal if they get up a couple seats applies to pretty much any situation with any boat ever. A few seats isn’t a death sentence so long as you regroup and focus your energy through the drive and not on trying to get to the catch faster just so you can get your blade wet again.

University of Washington 3x1500m, Piece #3

Her stroke makes a good point at the beginning about it being the same number of strokes and that they just need to get longer on each one. If you’ve ever done those “how far can you go in X number of strokes” pieces then you’ll get what he’s saying. The crew that controls the slides and accelerates the handles on each stroke is going to be the one that covers more ground and does so more effectively, not the crew that is rowing at the same stroke rate but has lost their ratio in the process.

Compared to the previous piece, you can hear the difference in her tone at the beginning here. It’s pretty similar to those pieces from the last set of recordings where the stakes are high but you know that she knows that the key to her crew’s bow ball being in front at the end is staying calm, focused, and loose right from the start.

At 2:11, that’s the kind of positive reinforcement you should put out there when your crew does something well, particularly the “nice fucking response, that’s the way to get it done” part. Obviously you don’t have to say it exactly like that but you can’t deny that just hearing “nice response” would probably make you sit a little taller and push a little harder on the subsequent strokes. (Also another example of swearing with a purpose.)

2:52, “let ’em know it’s over” … this is one that I would save for just the opportune moment – it’s one of those afterburners calls that just reignites the fire at the end of a piece. I distinctly remember using this call once during a similar workout where we’d been sitting on the other boat for probably 5-7 strokes after having walked up on them about half a length on our previous move to get almost even (we were maybe half a seat to a seat back).This was a crew I knew we could beat (I was in the 2V and we’d been evenly matched with our 1V on the ergs and the water for pretty much the whole season) and I could tell the other crew was getting comfortable with us being beside them, to the point where they thought we were starting to fall apart because our progress on them had stalled. I heard the other coxswain say something to the effect of “show them why YOU’RE the 1V” and my stroke said “fuck that, let’s go” so I called a ten and made the “let ’em know it’s over, go now” call. We ended up finishing two seats up and me, my stroke seat, seven seat, and three seat all got switched into the 1V.

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

College Coxing High School Teammates & Coaches

Coxswain Evaluations 2.0

By readyallrow February 11, 2016

Last spring when we were in Florida for spring break the coxswains decided they wanted to update the evals we’d been using with questions that were more specific and kinda forced the guys to think deeper about what they wanted in a coxswain and how our current group measured up to that. We spent about two hours in my hotel room tossing around ideas for what to change, add, etc. and came up with Eval 2.0, which I’ve linked as a PDF below.

Related: Coxswain Evaluations 2.0

With the exception of one or two questions we didn’t really eliminate that much from the original eval but there were a lot of changes and additions made. Here’s what we added:

Added a section on communication

This was an area where we struggled last year (to the point where the rowers noticed, which was a wake up call for the coxswains over spring break) and after strategizing on ways we could improve (individually and collectively) they wanted feedback on whether or not the changes were coming across. (We also added a section for calls – previously it was tacked onto motivation but there weren’t any specific questions for it so we separated it and made it it’s own section.)

Added several new questions

Many of the questions carried over from the first eval but we also added a couple new ones to address specific areas of concern/interest. For example, under “execution” there weren’t any questions that directly addressed the coxswains’ knowledge. It’s one thing to say you know what you’re doing or talking about but when it comes time to call drills, make technical corrections to an individual’s stroke, etc. can you actually do that or no? (This has consistently been one of the questions that gets the best responses too.)

Execution

Knowledge and communication of technique issues – do the coxswains appear to have a good understanding of the rowing stroke, as well as the ability to pick out technical problems during practice and provide the appropriate feedback?

How well do you feel the coxswains manage practice in terms of running warm-ups, understanding what the coaches are looking for, what the goal of the practice/pieces are, etc.?

Motivation

How would you describe the energy the coxswain brings to the boat? Are they someone that can lift the boat when they’re having a bad practice and maintain a positive atmosphere when things are going well?

Calls

Conciseness of calls – are the calls too wordy (5), just right (3), or too vague/ambiguous (1)?

Clarity of calls – how clear is the coxswain when making a call and how well do you understand the calls that are being made? (This question has two meanings – are they clear as in (1) not mumbling and (2) do their calls make sense and can the rowers easily process and translate them into actions.)

What calls do you like, what calls do you think aren’t effective, and/or what calls do you not understand?

Communication

Do you feel the coxswains communicate effectively and work well with each other, the coaches, and the crew during practice? Are there any areas in which you think they can/should improve?

Expanded on which coxswains are best in racing + practice situations

Asking which coxswains they prefer for races and practice is helpful for the coaches but it never really did much for the coxswains other than create animosity. Adding in an open-ended “why” component helped them see why the rowers chose who they did and where they could make improvements. There was also some … ok, a lot of … debate on what makes a good varsity coxswain last year so to settle that we came up with two questions that addressed not just the specific qualities the rowers want in their coxswains but also asking who they felt could get in the boat and maximize the crew’s potential.

Both questions were initially a little self-serving (one of the coxswains definitely thought their point was going to be made and the responses would lean in their favor … which didn’t end up happening) but the underlying thought behind the latter question was that it’s not just about being a good coxswain because not all good coxswains can get in a boat and make it faster (which happened last year too). The question about maximizing potential looks past all the “surface aesthetics”, their weight, etc. and focuses solely on who can pull something out of the boat when its needed the most.

In the fall I go over the evals individually with the coxswains but in the winter/spring I like to go over them as a group. This winter we did a combination of both (at their request) and started off by going over them individually (three coxswains = three practices to go over them, roughly an hour each) before meeting as a group to discuss everything and address some particular points that came up. (We spent about two hours doing this during one of the team’s steady state days.) Instead of doing individual sheets like I do in the fall (you can see an example of those in the original evals post linked at the top) I just put all the comments on one page and color-coded them for each person.

This was then shared with them the night before the first one-on-one so they could see not just the comments they got but what was said about everyone else as well. I have my reasons for letting them see each other’s comments so use your best judgement since that approach obviously won’t work for everyone.

So, what do the guys think of these new evals? Surprisingly, they like them. They’re obviously a lot more labor-intensive than the original ones are (those usually took 15-20 minutes to fill out whereas the guys tend to spend 45-60+ minutes filling these ones out – seriously) but the quality of the feedback also matches the amount of time they spend on them so the trade-off is worth it. Naturally they all complain about how long they are but I think they recognize that the coxswains really look forward to the feedback they get so it’s mostly in jest at this point.

If you don’t have a ton of time to spare then definitely stick with the original ones but if you do, I’d consider doing a longer eval like this at least once a year. I’m mulling the idea of making these into a Google Form for next time and having the guys fill them out that way but the downside to that is they don’t get donuts if we aren’t doing them at the boathouse sooo … there’s that.

Pro tip: bring the rowers donuts and they’ll do whatever you ask. FACT.

Image via // @mitmensrowing

Coxing Rowing Technique

Top 20 Terms Coxswains Should Know: Over Compression

By readyallrow February 10, 2016

Previously: Rush(ing) || Body angle || Pick drill || Suspension || Skying the blade || Quarter feather || Pin || Run || Lunge || Washing Out || Missing water || Footboard || Check || Ratio

What part of the stroke/stroke cycle does it refer to

The catch.

What does it mean/refer to

The position your body is in at the catch – hips behind the shoulders, shins vertical, etc. – is called “full compression”. Over-compression is when you go beyond this point and your knees end up over your toes (instead of in line with your ankles). Shorter rowers (and novices) have a tendency to over-compress at the catch as a way to get more reach.

Relevant calls

I don’t make a lot of calls for this on the water because I can’t see when it’s happening (unlike other things I can’t “see” where I can pretty closely guess what’s going on based on the bladework). Plus, over-compressing on the water is a more rare occurrence than over-compressing on the ergs so even when I’m coaching it’s not something I see that often (at this point though that might be more of a factor of who I’m coaching than anything else though).

When we’re on the ergs most of what I’ll say will be simple stuff like “too far…”, “stop a little shorter…”, etc. if I see them coming too far up the slide and then once they’re stopping closer to full-compression (rather than going past it) then I’ll have them pause at the catch and tell them to think about what this position feels like and if we’re beside any mirrors I’ll have them look over to see what their bodies look like, where their slide is in relation to their heels, the angles their shins are at, etc. If you have less-experienced rowers who haven’t fully figured out where full slide/compression is yet then utilizing mirrors/video while on the ergs during the winter is the best way for them to figure this out. (You can also use the tape trick to help with this – figure out where full slide is and then put tape on the slide so that the rower feels the slide hit it if they compress too far.)

Sometimes over-compressing can be a byproduct of not getting the bodies set soon enough so if I see that happening then I’ll address that first (read the post linked below for more on that) and usually the over-compressing (which has them sitting straight up, heels right up against their butt, and hips directly under the shoulders) corrects itself.

What to look for

This is what correct full compression looks like…

…and this is what over-compression looks like (note the positioning of her shins at the catch)…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q97MlxjkZ6o

In some cases on the water, usually at the beginning of the season or if the rowers are switching seats a lot, you might find that the foot stretchers (if they’re set too far towards bow) need to be adjusted to prevent them from over-compressing. This shouldn’t be the first thing you jump to though to fix the issue unless it’s completely obvious that it’s the cause and not the rower’s technique.

Effect(s) on the boat

The effects of over-compressing obviously have an effect on the boat but they more drastically (and obviously) impact the individual’s stroke than they do the entire boat. The biggest impact is on their power output because it puts you in a weak position when you go to initiate the leg drive; instead of relying on the quads and glutes to help you generate power as you drive off the footboards, you’re now relying on the smaller muscles of your calves as you start the drive. If you’re trying to get more reach you might get an extra inch or two but in the end you’re sacrificing some of your power to do so.

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 4, 2016

Hi! So I am in my fourth season of crew, and my second season of coxing. Our season started Monday and the novices were already on the water. I was not with either of the novice boats that day but I coxed one today. I found it really difficult to teach them everything. Do you have any advice on how to teach the novices? Also, our first race is in 4 or 5 weeks, so the novices need to get the hang of it as soon as possible so that we can get “normal” boats put together. My boat today was able to row all 8 (6 novices and a 2nd season rower and stroke) fairly well. Any and all advice would be super helpful. Thanks so much!!! I love your blog- I’ve used it since I started rowing.

Therein lies the problem – you can’t teach them everything all at once. Imagine you’re sitting in math class and your teacher starts the day by teaching you to add two numbers together and finishes 90 minutes later by trying to get you to do differential equations … that’s what most coxswains (and new coaches – I was definitely guilty of this) try to do when they’re in charge of a novice crew. You have to start really simple and build from there once you’ve established a solid foundation. 4-5 weeks is plenty of time to get them rowing well enough to race so don’t rush through everything or try to pile on too much in a short period of time just because it feels like you don’t have that much time to work with.

I run our walk-on program in the fall and what we always start off doing (both on the ergs and in the boats) is a super basic pick drill. We’ll start off doing arms only for awhile (like, 15-20min) and I’ll walk around the ergs adjusting peoples’ form and making sure they’re getting the motion down. It’s obviously not going to look great but if it’s like, 75% there I’m happy. From there we’ll take a break and then do arms + bodies. Same routine, I’ll walk around and coach people as necessary but for the most part I want them to just focus on getting the motions down. Even though there are like, a thousand things I could say to them I try to err on the side of letting them figure it out for themselves (unless it’s so egregious that I have to say something) since I think that’s goes a lot further than if I were constantly in their ear nitpicking everything they’re doing.

Once they’ve got arms + bodies down we’ll go back to arms only and blend the two together, so 10 strokes doing that and 10 strokes adding in the bodies, and then we’ll repeat that once or twice more. The next day we’ll start with what we finished with the day before, cycling through arms and arms + bodies before adding in the slides. We’ll start with determining where half-slide actually is, what it should look like, feel like, etc. and then I’ll have them row at half-slide for a bit, similar to what we did the day before with arms and arms + bodies. Most of the coaching I do here is just reminding them to get the hands away and bodies over before the slides start and to not go too far past where half-slide should be.

Another point of focus is feeling what it’s like to drive off the footboards with the legs at the catch, although I don’t bring this up until I feel like they have a comfortable grasp on the recovery sequence. After they’ve got half-slide down we’ll lengthen it out to full slide and repeat the whole process again. Points of emphasis here are, again, hands away/bodies over before the slides start and not flying up the slide just because your butt is on wheels.

Assuming our first practice is on a Monday, we’ll do all of that on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (with Wednesday just being a “review” type day of everything up to that point … nothing new gets added) and then on Thursday/Friday we’ll start off with the pick drill (15-20 strokes each) before going into 3-5 minutes of continuous rowing (ideally in the tanks if they’re available). After that we’ll take a break and then do some kind of drill – like cut-the-cake or a pause drill or something relatively simple like that – before going back to a few minutes of continuous rowing.

Once we get on the water (and after spending the first day doing “admin”-type stuff – i.e. how to set the boat when you’re rowing and not rowing, what stern four, bow six, etc. means, how to spin, and all the other basic stuff) we’ll repeat what we did on the erg, either by pairs or fours depending on if we’re in a four or an eight and what the weather is like. The more stable you can make the boat, the less frustrating practice will be for them and you so always lean towards having less people rowing when it’s safe to do so. Oh, and don’t even think about rowing on the feather for at least a few days (or longer…). Stay on the square while going through the stroke sequence, rowing by 6s, etc. and get them comfortable with figuring out blade heights, setting the boat, etc. before you teach them the feather. Keep in mind that square blade rowing is a pretty useful drill in itself.

What my coaches always did (with us as novices and as an experienced crew) and what I try to do with the walk-ons is once we were able to row by all eight (and not have it be a total shitshow), we’d row 20ish strokes by sixes and then all eight for 10 on the feather, rotating through the sixes for … probably 30ish minutes or so. A couple practices later we’d do the same thing except reverse it – 20ish strokes by all eight on the feather and 10 by sixes on the square – before eventually making our way to all eight on the feather (at which point we’d eventually work in varying rates and pressures to keep things from getting too boring).

All in all, everything I just said could be covered in roughly three to four weeks, depending on how quickly you moved through it all, which gives you a week or two to introduce them to racing and how all that works.

Related: Managing novice coxswains

All that aside, the best advice I can give you is to talk with your coach and figure out what their plan is for coaching the novices. If they want you to be in charge of coaching them while you’re coxing (which isn’t uncommon) then at least discuss with them what you should cover each day so you’re not trying to come up with stuff on the fly. If you’re going out with your coach then let them do the bulk of the talking/coaching while you act as the reinforcer of what they’re saying as necessary. Make sure that whatever you are saying is communicated as clearly and in the most simple manner as possible too. If it can be broken down into simpler concepts, do it. You’ll end up saving a lot of time in the long run when you don’t have to go back and re-explain something that you didn’t cover initially because you thought it was obvious or assumed. (I touch on that in the post linked above – it’s about coxswains but the ideas behind the first three bullet points could all easily apply in this situation too.)

Coxing Rowing Technique

Top 20 Terms Coxswains Should Know: Ratio

By readyallrow February 3, 2016

Previously: Rush(ing) || Body angle || Pick drill || Suspension || Skying the blade || Quarter feather || Pin || Run || Lunge || Washing Out || Missing water || Footboard || Check

What part of the stroke/stroke cycle does it refer to

The recovery and the drive, but it’s primarily referenced while on the recovery.

What does it mean/refer to

Ratio is the contrast between the drive and recovery. The standard ratio for rowing is 2:1, which means that the length of time spent on the recovery should be twice as long as the amount of time spent on the drive. To understand why this is necessary, read the first paragraph of #2 in last week’s post on check (linked below). Pretty much everything that’s discussed in the “check” post and the “rush(ing)” post, as well as any of the other posts linked in there, will be relevant to this one.

As you start rowing at higher rates the ratio is going to get closer to 1:1 (the boat has more momentum so the recovery doesn’t need to be as long) but you can still maintain the same sense of rhythm that you have at lower rates by focusing on letting the boat run under you. Another way of looking at it is letting your feet come to you rather than you moving towards your feet. This ensures a consistent recovery speed by minimizing the chances of you throwing your weight forward or rushing the slides.

Relevant calls

Several of the calls I make for ratio are detailed in the two posts linked below. Another call I recently picked up was “execute some patience”, which refers to keeping the recoveries controlled and consistent.

Related: Top 20 Terms: Run, specifically the “relevant calls” section

You want to avoid generic calls like “slow the slides” or “let me see that ratio” (I hate that call) because they’re not effective and don’t give the rowers anything to go off of. Saying “slow the slides” is just asking for all eight people to slow them down at different times/speeds so if you’re going to make a call like that (which you really shouldn’t unless you’re with a more experienced crew that can infer what you mean from that … and even then, use it sparingly), be specific about what you want and use a call for the drive to emphasize the contrast between it and the recovery.

Another thing I do here is to make a call about getting the hands away together and at the same natural speed (which should be at whatever speed the boat is moving) – usually I’ll say something like “let’s re-establish the ratio, hands away here … hands away here” where “hands away” is said midway(ish) through the drive and “here” is said (aggressively and succinctly) right as they tap down. Tone and inflection are important here but in my experience it really helps to establish a good rhythm through the back end which you can then carry over into the ratio by following it up with calls to stay long, composed, feel the run, stay steady on the slides, etc.

What to look for

When the ratio is off at lower rates you’ll feel (and occasionally see) the boat move backwards a little when the rowers are on the recovery. It’ll also usually feel like you’re rowing at a much higher rate than you are. At higher rates it’ll feel like you’re spinning your wheels and like the rowers are just moving back and forth on the slides without any real purpose.

Effect(s) on the boat

Moving faster on the recovery than you are on the drive will cause check in the boat, which decreases your speed minimizes how much run you’ll get per stroke.

Coxswain Skills: How to handle a negative coxswain evaluation

By readyallrow February 2, 2016

Previously: Steering, pt. 1 || Steering, pt. 2 || Boat feel

This might seem like an unconventional topic to put under the “things you should know how to do” umbrella but after spending many hours on coxswain evals over the last year and a half and occasionally feeling like pulling teeth would have been a more enjoyable experience, I think learning how to handle negative feedback/constructive criticism is an important skill that coxswains need to pick up sooner rather than later.

Feedback, both positive and negative, is essential to your growth as a coxswain. When communicated properly, it should touch on three main things – what you’re doing well, what you need to improve on, and areas where you’ve made improvements since your last evaluation. This is a big reason why I revamped how the info on our evals is communicated to the coxswains. Before the coaches just handed them the 20+ pieces of paper and left them to their own devices but now it’s all laid out in a single spreadsheet that hits the three points I mentioned before.

Where going over evals becomes a contentious and unproductive process is when you take the negative feedback personally. Being told you aren’t doing something well can sting because of the amount of time we put into coxing but if someone is critiquing your coxing, they’re not critiquing you. You have to be able to separate you the person from you the coxswain and look at these situations objectively. On the flip side though, if you’re not putting in the necessary extra effort outside of practice (or hell, even at practice…) or you show up every day with a shitty attitude then you really have no right to complain about whatever’s being said, which I think more coxswains than not need to understand.

With that in mind, here are eight things (some of which may or may not be inspired by our coxswains ?) that you shoudn’t do when going over your evals.

Don’t get defensive

In most cases it’s the natural reaction to have but it can also come off as pretty immature. There’s a difference between defending your actions or making a case for why you did something a certain way and straight up making an excuse. You can defend something you’ve done one time (i.e. going through the wrong arch because you were unsure of which one to use due to construction on the bridge – a common problem on the Charles where this is always changing) but if you’re trying to defend something you’ve done multiple times (i.e. hitting the dock when coming in at the end of practice) then you’re just making excuses for why you haven’t adapted your steering to account for whatever was causing you to run into the dock in the first place (i.e. your speed, angle, line, etc.).

Don’t have an attitude or be sarcastic

Full disclosure, I started putting this post together after a particularly … uh, heated … meeting with one of our coxswains this past fall where this was the biggest issue I faced in trying to communicate with them the feedback that was on the evals. The bottom line is that you can be annoyed all you want but don’t be an asshole to the person taking time out of their schedule to go over this stuff with you because I promise, it just makes them not want to do it in the future … and if you have someone willing to go out of their way to discuss all of it with you, you are foolish if you don’t take advantage of it.

Don’t apologize 47 times for whatever mistake(s) you’ve made

Mainly looking at you, high school girls. Say it once sincerely and move on. Don’t make your coaches coddle you and have to keep saying “it’s fine” – I’ve had to do this recently and eventually it gets to the point where I’m like “I literally do not care if you’re sorry or how sorry you are, just do something different“. The more times you say sorry (especially for really trivial things that don’t require an apology) without actively changing your actions or behavior, the less your apology is going to mean when you really do screw up.

Don’t react immediately

If your immediate reaction to the feedback you’re getting is to blurt out “that’s not fair”, “I completely disagree”, etc. you will look so immature, even if the comments are unfair (which they rarely are) and you do disagree (which is fine but see point #1). Absorb the comments and think about what’s being said so you can try to understand why someone made that comment and then say that you’d like to come back to it later, either at the end of practice, tomorrow, etc., after you’ve had time to think about and process it.

And coaches, if your coxswain goes this route … respect it and say “OK, let’s touch base later”, even if that means spending an extra 20 minutes at the boathouse. If you force the issue by saying”no, we’re gonna do this now” you’re just gonna make them resent the whole evaluation process and their confidence/abilities will suffer as a result.

Don’t dwell on it, let it affect future practices, or use it as a reason/excuse for why you have a bad practice the following day

If you were caught off guard by the comments then that’s fine and you should take some time to deal with that but you also need to commit to letting them go, particularly when it’s time to get on the water. No pity parties or “woe is me” attitudes because the rowers don’t give a shit and the coaches are just gonna get annoyed because we have other stuff to focus on.

Don’t ignore comments you disagree with

Not all feedback is useful but disagreeing with a comment doesn’t mean you can straight up ignore it, particularly when getting any kind of feedback is so tough in the first place.

Don’t waste the opportunity to discuss, strategize, etc.

It’s like at the end of a job interview when they ask if you have any questions. You should always ask questions. I’m currently in the process of going over our winter evals with the coxswains and I told them ahead of time to bring questions, comments, things they wanted/needed clarification on, an action plan for the rest of winter training, a list of goals based on the feedback that was given, etc. because this is the prime chance to discuss all of that stuff with me. I see and talk to them every single day but direct one-on-one time like this is rare, as I assume it is with most of you and your coaches, so don’t waste the opportunity to pick their brains when it’s offered.

Don’t be resentful

If your coach(es) or the rowers have been telling you something for awhile and then it comes up again in the evals, you can expect that they’re all thinking “well … we told you so”. This shouldn’t piss you off or give you cause to be bitter towards them, it should instead act as a wake up call (or a “come to Jesus” moment, as our head coach calls it) that you need to do some serious self-analysis and get your shit together. They are telling you this stuff for. a. reason. Don’t ignore them just because you don’t think it’s important because it will bit you in the ass later.

Obviously these critiques are about what’s being said but ultimately their effectiveness is measured by how you handle and respond to them. This will also dictate how future evals go – the more receptive you are to feedback and the more diligently you go about addressing whatever issues are brought up, the more likely the rowers will be to continue giving you feedback because they can see that you’re taking it seriously. If you come off as aloof or combative in response to what’s being said, you’re not going to get better because the rowers will stop giving you any sort of feedback because it looks like you’re not taking it seriously. It’s your call.

Image via // @merijnsoeters

College Coxing Racing Recordings Rowing

Coxswain Recordings, pt. 34

By readyallrow January 28, 2016

As most of you know I got to coach at the coxswain camp that Sparks hosted in Tampa the week after Christmas. One of the other coaches was Katelin Snyder, current coxswain of the USA women’s eight, and she graciously offered to send me a bunch of her recordings to put on the blog. I’ve been obsessing over these things for the last week so I’m really excited to finally share some of them with you guys. The three I’m posting today are all in a playlist on my YouTube channel that I’ll keep updated as I share more of her audio in future posts.

University of Washington Opening Day 2008 vs. Navy and Poland

This is from Katelin’s junior year at UW, her second year in a row coxing the varsity eight.

Right off the bat you can hear how she calls the start isn’t like how a lot of coxswains call it. There’s some punch behind her words but for the most part she’s very calm and relaxed. One of the big concepts that we’ve talked about with coxswains at the Sparks camps is not losing your shit at the start of the race and instead remaining composed and keeping your focus on steering straight through the first five or so strokes. This is a perfect example of what that should sound like.

At 0:45, I really like how she called their stride – “we’re striding in three strokes, increasing boat speed in two…”. She says what she wants (stride) followed up with an objective (increasing boat speed), and says it all as succinctly as possible.

When calling something like a minute move like she did at 1:17, it’s easy to think that in 60 seconds you can take a handful of seats on the other boat(s) but I like that she kept it simple here by going after just one seat and calling out the guy in her boat whose seat they were targeting (and then told him when they’d got it).

In between her calling “inches” you can hear her stroke say “length!” at 4:13, which she immediately follows up with on the next call by calling for more length through the water. That’s a fairly common question that I get, how to communicate with your stroke during the race and this is a good example of how simple it really is.

University of Washington vs. California 2009 Duel

OK, so for some context watch this video of the race that was taken from the launch. Turn your volume up too and prepare yourself for the single greatest move that I think I’ve ever seen at 1:41. (TBH I’m kind of excited to hear from inside the boat how this move played out because we saw Washington do something similar several times at IRAs last year, including when they were in our race in the V4+, so … it’s nice having some insider knowledge now of how they do it.)

I really like the “lengthen and increase boat speed” call she makes out of the start at 0:40 as a reminder to not let the power fall off as the stroke rate starts to ease out into their base pace. Also saying “hold the knees” instead of something related to the slides is a good alternative; it’s a more active call than just “slow the slides” or whatever we normally say.

I like that they take their move at 650m in. Calling moves at the 500m, 1000m, etc. is fine but these moves taken at relatively unconventional spots are what gets your bow ball in front. Starting at 1:52, I’m obsessed with this chunk of calls, particularly the “get outta here!” one. I’ve looped it so many times because even without watching the video, I can feel California’s souls getting crushed and as a coxswain there are few better feelings than seeing that moment when the other crew realizes they’re about to get dropped. After you make a successful move on another crew, the next thing you have to do is watch them for the counter attack because it will happen and you don’t want to be caught off guard when it does. I like how she stays calm at 2:25 and reminds them to defend it by completing the strokes (nothing fancy, just relying on flawless execution of the basics) before calling that ten at the thousand to “end it”.

Lengthening out at 1250m is a really solid strategic move. It’s not necessarily a move to gain anything, rather it’s an internal move to get the bodies ready for the last 500m. By 1250m – the middle of the third 500 – this is probably the peak of pain before the rowers catch that second wind leading up to the sprint. Reminding them to breathe, stay long, etc. eliminates any tension that could otherwise shorten the strokes and decrease the boat speed.

At 3:55 you can hear the stroke say “They’re going!”, which is Reason #875 why stroke-coxswain communication is important. If you’re far enough ahead that you don’t have a clear view of the other boat in your peripheral vision, you’ll need to rely on your stroke seat to alert you to when the other boat starts to move on you.

Team USA Women’s 8+ 2010 World Cup III Heat

This is my favorite of these three recordings. Note how, similarly to the other two recordings, she has a very focused calm in her voice during the start. It isn’t until about 60 seconds into the race where her coxing voice really comes out.

At 4:48 when they’re approaching 750m she makes this call: “…5 more and we lengthen back out. I wanna do it by sending … now send through the back end.” Similarly to the “lengthen and increase boat speed” calls, I like this one because the objectives are clear and she’s calling for them to do it by calling on her knowledge of the stroke and by emphasizing their swing and acceleration (which if that’s something you know your crew does really well, you should incorporate that into calls like this and work the rhythm that comes from it). I also love how her voice is pretty chill at the start of this and then there’s that kick in her voice when she says “fuck yea” – the excitement there is motivating in itself but the contrast in her tone would for sure make me drop a split or two if I were rowing.

Similarly to the lengthen move at 1250m in the previous recording, I like this “breathe for 5” move that they take at 6:45 coming into the last 500m. This has always been one that I do too with my crews just as another way to get them to stay fluid and loose and refocus before we make the final push to the line. The thing to remember with calls like this (that Katelin does really well) is you have to match your tone to the intensity of your call – a call like this can’t be said in the same tone as the “we’re gonna send a fucking message to Canada” call.

Side note, one of the many amusing stories that the guys told me last year about our V8+ coxswain was how during a race he was trying to get the crew to relax and because he was getting progressively more frustrated with how the boat felt, eventually he yelled “JUST. FUCKING. RELAX!!!” which obviously accomplished absolutely nothing. Don’t do that. If you’re gonna make a call that falls under the “relax” umbrella, your tone has to be a little more subdued that it is during the more intense parts of the race.

One last thing I want to point out is the swearing, which I’ve talked about on here a few times (most recently in this post). These recordings are some more good examples of how to swear and how to make it work without sounding like a try-hard. If you’re a junior coxswain and even less so as a collegiate coxswain, very few people are ever going to actually care that you said “fuck” during a race if you use it to punctuate your calls like she does. It’s when it gets gratuitous that coaches get annoyed because it’s just unnecessary and can be borderline unsportsmanlike.

Other calls I liked:

“Hold your momentum…”

“Third 500 is crushing … base … speed!”

“We’re gonna send a fucking message to Canada!”

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

Coxing Rowing Technique

Top 20 Terms Coxswains Should Know: Check

By readyallrow January 27, 2016

Previously: Rush(ing) || Body angle || Pick drill || Suspension || Skying the blade || Quarter feather || Pin || Run || Lunge || Washing Out || Missing water || Footboard

What part of the stroke/stroke cycle does it refer to

The recovery, primarily the second half.

What does it mean/refer to

“When a crew is on the drive, they’re moving the boat FORWARD. As soon as they tap down, get the hands away, and start coming up the slide, the momentum of the boat shifts. This is completely natural. The rowers are now moving in the OPPOSITE direction of the shell’s momentum, which is still going forward.

The reason the ratio of the stroke is 2:1 is because in order for the boat to continue moving forward at the same speed, the disruption in momentum by the rowers has to be minimal. It’s going to happen, but you want it to be as unnoticeable as possible. If the rowers get to the catch and fly up the slide (eliminating the ratio), it’s comparable to driving at 60mph and then SLAMMING on the brakes…then hitting the gas to get to 60mph again…then SLAMMING on the brakes. When you hit the brakes in your car, what happens to your body? You jerk forward towards the steering wheel, right? In the shell, you’re the steering wheel. When the rowers hit the brakes and then rush up the slide, the boat jerks towards you. If you watch slow-motion video (and on rare cases, live video) you can visibly see the boat STOP and then start again with every stroke. Just like starting and stopping wastes gas in your car, it does the same thing in the boat. Your rowers are WASTING their energy because on every drive they’ve basically got to kick start the boat again.”

Other things that can cause check in the boat include overreaching at the catch (dropping the shoulders down into the catch pushes the stern of the boat down which in turn slows the run of the boat – it’s like dragging your foot on the ground while skateboarding), not keeping your body stable on the seat during the recovery (this will also mess with the set of the boat which only slows the boat down further), and not getting the bodies set before the wheels move (throwing your upper body weight forward at the last second does the opposite of minimizing the disruption in the shell’s momentum).

Relevant calls

Outside of the general calls to lengthen out the slides, control/emphasize/exaggerate the recovery, ratio shifts are the go-to call I make when I feel the boat’s momentum starting to shift.

That is step one. Sometimes that’s all it takes to fix the problem but other times it’ll persist which means I’ll work through the stroke from the finish to the catch and make calls that hit each of the four components (finish timing, hands away, body swing, and slides) in order to smooth out the recovery and re-establish the boat’s run. (How much time I spend on this is dependent on whether or not we’re doing steady state (more time) or sprint pieces (less time) but if you’re communicating clearly with the crew then you should easily be able to parse down your calls from longer explanations of what you want (like what you’d make during steady state) to short 3-5 word calls without losing any of the meaning.)

Step two is starting at the back end of the stroke and getting the finish timing together. Calls to accelerate and hold the blades in the water (“squeeze” is my go-to here) are what I’ll start with before moving on to getting the hands to match the boat speed immediately out of the finish. From there it’s about watching the shoulders of the (wo)man in front of you, swinging from the hips, and establishing your body position before the wheels move. Once the slide starts, it’s all about maintaining a controlled float into the catch and locking on to stern pair’s rhythm.

What to look for

It’s less about what you see and more about what you feel (see the post linked below on boat feel for more on that). As I mentioned before, it’s like being in a car that’s hitting the brakes then hitting the gas then hitting the brakes again … your body’s response to that is to jerk back and forth (sometimes more violently than others, depending on how bad it is), which almost always causes a line of bruises across your low back from where you hit the back of the coxswain’s seat.

Related: Coxswain skills: Boat feel

If you also notice that your body is particularly tense – like you’re bracing yourself pretty aggressively in the boat to avoid getting thrown around – that’s another sign that you should shift your focus to what’s going on with the slides. The latter is one of the things I try to pay attention to a lot because it’s something I unconsciously do but because I try to make a lot of “keep the shoulders loose”, “stay relaxed with the upper bodies”, etc. type of calls (and shake out my own shoulders as I make them), it makes me spend a quick second checking what my own body is doing. From there if I recognize that my legs, core, and shoulders are really tense, I most likely need to pay attention to the slides and run for a stroke or two to see if a ratio shift or other check-related call is necessary.

Communication with your stroke seat is also important because sometimes they can feel things that are there but at that stage are too subtle for us to notice. I always talk with my stroke between pieces and ask how that piece felt, was there anything happening with the slides that you felt that I didn’t notice, etc. and if they say “yea, when we shifted from the 26 to the 30 I was getting pushed up the slide a bit” then I know to tune in a bit more to the recovery speeds after we make a shift in the rates on the next piece.

The thing with check, rush, ratio, etc. is that we tend to only notice it when it’s bad enough to be noticed … so on a scale from 1-10, we probably only feel it ourselves when it’s at a 5 or higher (depending on your level of experience – less experienced coxswains might not pick up on it until it’s at an 8 or 9 and they’re getting whipped around like a rag doll). This is why I talk to my stroke seat a lot because I know that the rowers are going to feel it when it’s at a 1-5 and having them point out to me that it’s there, even if it’s subtle, gets me to tune into it so I can make the calls early enough that it prevents it from getting worse.

If you’re riding in the launch, 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” (as discussed in the post linked below). Assuming the ratio is on point and there’s no check occurring you should see minimal movement of the boat/rowers back towards the coxswain at the catch. If the boat is getting checked down for whatever reason (99.9% of the time because of rush) then you’ll see the rowers move in front of whatever object you’re pairing them with on land.

Effect(s) on the boat

Check = loss of speed because … physics.

Defining the role of the coxswain: Motivation

By readyallrow January 19, 2016

Despite not being that high on the list of things you’re responsible for doing, helping to motivate your crew is still an important part of your job as a coxswain.

I’ve talked a lot about motivation in the past and there’s definitely no shortage of inspiration in the quotes, videos, and recordings I post but if you want something simpler to go off of, here are the two most basic things you can do to motivate your teammates.

Lead by example

Be present because even on days when practice is boring, you can’t be. If you’re motivated by something, whether it’s a personal goal or a team goal, bring that energy to practice and on the water. Your interactions with the rowers, coxswains, and coaches, your engagement during team meetings, etc. are all things that might seem inconsequential but can actually be strong motivating factors for the people around you.

Know what your teammates want

If you’ve asked me any version of the question “what’s a good call to make to motivate my crew”, you’ll know that my first answer is ALWAYS to talk to your teammates. Everybody is driven by different things which means you have to pay attention and get to know the people on your team so you know where their motivation lies. Remember, your job isn’t necessarily to give them motivation, it’s to draw out what’s already there.

Both of these should be considered “non-negotiable” – you should be doing them every single day without thinking about it and without being asked. Given that most of us are in the midst of winter training and are likely to be stuck inside for at least another six weeks, doing both of these is a good way to start setting yourself apart from the other coxswains.

What part of the stroke/stroke cycle does it refer to

What does it mean/refer to

Relevant calls

What to look for

Effect(s) on the boat

Related posts/questions

Image via // @rowingcelebration

University of Washington 3x1500m, Piece #1

University of Washington 3x1500m, Piece #2

University of Washington 3x1500m, Piece #3

More specificity to most of the questions

Added a section on communication

Added several new questions

Execution

Motivation

Calls

Communication

Expanded on which coxswains are best in racing + practice situations

Image via // @mitmensrowing

What part of the stroke/stroke cycle does it refer to

What does it mean/refer to

Relevant calls

What to look for

Effect(s) on the boat

Related posts/questions

Image via // @row_360

What part of the stroke/stroke cycle does it refer to

What does it mean/refer to

Relevant calls

What to look for

Effect(s) on the boat

Related posts/questions

Image via // @merijnsoeters

Don’t get defensive

Don’t have an attitude or be sarcastic

Don’t apologize 47 times for whatever mistake(s) you’ve made

Don’t react immediately

Don’t dwell on it, let it affect future practices, or use it as a reason/excuse for why you have a bad practice the following day

Don’t ignore comments you disagree with

Don’t waste the opportunity to discuss, strategize, etc.

Don’t be resentful

Image via // @merijnsoeters

University of Washington Opening Day 2008 vs. Navy and Poland

University of Washington vs. California 2009 Duel

Team USA Women’s 8+ 2010 World Cup III Heat

What part of the stroke/stroke cycle does it refer to

What does it mean/refer to

Relevant calls

What to look for

Effect(s) on the boat

Related posts/questions

Image via // @radcliffecrew

Lead by example

Know what your teammates want

Image via // @spsbc_17