Tag: coxswain

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 24, 2013

How can a novice coxswain annoy her coach? I’m trying to not annoy the coach, so in a coach’s perspective, what would you say?

The biggest things for me (and this goes for anyone, not just novices) are not taking their job/role on the team seriously, not following instructions, not making an effort to improve, showing up late to practice, not respecting his/her teammates, etc. Personally I also get pretty annoyed by super peppy, cheerleader-y coxswains. Tone it down a notch, take your responsibilities seriously. Also never assume you know more than your coach – ever.

Rowing Training & Nutrition

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

By readyallrow February 24, 2013

This is one of the few posts I plan on writing that is a little off the topic of rowing and coxing but I think it’s an important one that needs to be discussed, mainly because I don’t think anyone else will or has discussed it. February 24th through March 2nd is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week and I want to take the opportunity to utilize the (small) platform I have here to shed some light on the issues rowers and coxswains face with regards to disordered eating, pressures to maintain or lose weight, etc. Eating disorders are a taboo topic regardless of what “world” you’re in (rowing or not) and people tend to shy away from the topic because it’s an uncomfortable one to talk about. With regards to rowing, most coaches don’t have the breadth of knowledge to recognize and understand the signs and symptoms of an ED, let alone what to do about it if they’re confronted with one of their athletes dealing with one.

I can’t and won’t claim to know everything there is to know about eating disorders, but it is something I studied pretty intensely in college as part of my major and something I’ve witnessed first hand several times. Even though I’m 15 pounds below the women’s minimum for coxswains, I’ve still been pressured by coaches to keep my weight down so I’ll admit to doing some not-to-healthy things on occasion for the sake of keeping my boat fast. Believe me when I say it’s never worth it.

It’s important to remember that eating disorders aren’t just physical, they’re psychological as well. The stigma surrounding mental health disorders is tends to perpetuate the disorders even more. Please don’t let other people’s opinions, actions, offhand comments, etc. discourage you from asking for and/or getting help. I think it’s important in situations like these for people to recognize that they aren’t the only ones dealing with these issues, so if you are a rower or coxswain who has dealt with an eating disorder (either in the past or currently) and wouldn’t mind sharing your experience, please send me an email. The point of this is to let other rowers and coxswains know that they aren’t the only ones going through this and to encourage them to seek help, whether it be from their peers or a professional.

Check back for a new post each afternoon this week. You can find all the posts (and other related questions and posts) under the “eating disorders” tag.

Image via // @rowingcelebration

Coxing How To Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 24, 2013

The other day I was stuck in the center lane. Let’s just say it didn’t go so well. How do you concentrate on boats on either side of you/your point, your rowers, making calls and stroke rate? Ack, overwhelmed!

This is why I always wanted to be in the center lane – it forced me to focus on everything and really helped me get better at multi-tasking while coxing. Now I think I can probably do eighteen things at once and not even blink. It is overwhelming though, especially if you’re a novice and still trying to learn how to steer and talk at the same time. My biggest thing with being in the center wasn’t so much what I was doing, because obviously I knew what I was doing (as in, what adjustments I was making), but what the other coxswains were doing. I knew that I could steer a decent line and keep away from the other boats, but what about them? Can they do that? Or am I going to have to constantly be worrying about whether or not they’re going to steer into me?

Trust between coxswains is huge so you’ve got to establish before you get out on the water that each person is going to be aware of the other boats and make it a point to try and maintain a certain distance between all of you at all times. If you notice someone is getting a little too close for comfort, don’t be afraid to call over and say “Hey, watch your starboard blades!” or simply “Move to port!”. With girls this is always such a bigger issue than it needs to be because I think it gets interpreted as the other person being unnecessarily bitchy but it’s not like that. Even if it comes out in what may sound like an angry tone, unless she’s already asked you eighty times to move and you aren’t listening, most of the time it’s not meant in a bad way. If someone asks you to move, just do it. It’s for their safety and yours.

When I get out on the water, I just have this mindset of this is what I have to do and there are no other options. Once I got the hang of steering, I pushed it to the bottom of my list of things to pay attention to and basically went on auto-pilot. The only time I actively think about steering is during steady state when I don’t have to talk as much or when there are a lot of other crews around, in which case I tell the rowers “OK guys, traffic’s a little heavy so I’m just gonna steer for a bit”, that way they know that I’m focusing on something and not just being unreasonably quiet. I’m always aware of what I’m doing but at the same time I’m not, if that makes sense. It’s like driving a car – you know what you’re doing but you’re not always actively thinking about it. You can hold a conversation while singing along to the radio while driving and not think anything of it. That’s how I approach coxing. Every 20-30 strokes or so I’ll pop my head out to the side and see if there’s anything up ahead and then make any necessary adjustments, but other than that I don’t worry about my steering too much.

The #1 thing I focus on is the rowers. Hands down, always, they are (and should be) my priority. I’m constantly moving my eyes back and forth between starboard and port, bow and stern. I’ve gotten to know my rower’s tendencies pretty well so I remind them of things I know they’re working on and then just ad lib the rest. I basically just tell them what I see. It really is that simple. If you see someone’s timing is off, tell them. If you see someone washing out, tell them. If you see someone rowing it in, tell them. None of that requires any extra brainpower on your end so it takes minimal, if not zero, effort for you to make that call.

As you get more experienced you’ll be able to talk without stopping while doing everything else you do and not think anything of it. I actually surprised myself a lot this past fall when I’d record myself and then find later when I listed to it that I talked for 25, 30, 40 minutes straight with a decent amount of intensity during race pieces or hard steady state. At least 85% of what I said wasn’t anything complicated either – it was all what I saw, pointing out locations, etc.

With stroke rate, I don’t pay attention to it unless we’re doing a drill or steady state that requires us to be at a specific rate. If we’re doing that then I’ll glance down every few strokes to make sure we’re on pace but I usually won’t say anything unless it’s starting to fall off, in which case I’ll say something like “We’re down at a 26, let’s bump it back up to a 28 on this one…”. Usually when we do have a specific rate we need to be at I won’t say anything unless we go +/- one beat, just because being that hyper-focused on the rate can lead to rush in the boat as they try to make up that half a beat. Ultimately though, all you’re doing is shifting your eyes down and back up over the course of like, a millisecond, and then reporting what your cox box says so again, it doesn’t take much effort to do this alongside everything else.

What makes your job easier is having a stroke who makes it a priority to stay consistent. I had a stroke in high school once who I went off on during practice because she, for the life of her, could/would not hold a steady pace. The crew obviously has a part to play in this, the stroke can’t do it entirely on their own, but it starts with them. The rest of the rowers were already super frustrated because they were trying to follow and couldn’t because the rate was so inconsistent and I got pissed because I was trying to watch so many different things and our coach kept yelling at us that he knew we weren’t at the stroke rate he wanted because he had his SpeedCoach out and why wasn’t I telling her to be at a 24, blah blah blah. The next time we stopped I said something along the lines of “This is your responsibility to hit a certain rate. Either make the effort or switch with 6-seat because I’m getting sick of telling you to get the rate where it needs to be and you not making the effort to change anything.”

If your stroke is having issues with holding a consistent rate, find out why. Is the rest of the boat rushing her or can she just not maintain the pace? Once you determine the cause, help her figure out a solution. If it’s the boat rushing, make calls that address moving out of bow together (the hands coming away, bodies swinging forward, etc.) and starting the wheels together. If your stroke is having problems on her own, one thing I do is when we’re doing steady state or something, I’ll take my mic off and tell her the stroke rate every … single … stroke for at least 10 strokes or so, that way she’ll know what range she’s in and can try and tighten it up to whatever rate we actually need to be at. One of my coaches had me do this a few times and it took a lot of time and was super annoying for both of us but it actually did help a lot.

So, circling back to your original question (sorry for going off on tangents), you have to tell yourself “these are my responsibilities, this is what I have to do, and I’m going to do go do it.” You’ve got to commit 100% to multi-tasking, which sounds almost like an oxymoron, but you have to commit 100% to each thing and then do each thing at 100%. It takes a lot of practice, focus, commitment, and patience on your end but once you get the hang of it you’ll wonder why doing all this was ever an issue in the first place. If I’ve had a bad practice because something went wrong or I just got overwhelmed by everything, when we go out the next day, I just take a deep breath and think “Get your shit together. Do not get overwhelmed. You know what you’re doing, you’re in control.” Usually I say that to myself in my head but there have been a few times where I’ll say, in a mildly frustrated voice, “Get your shit together!” out loud, which usually elicits a laugh from my boat.

One piece of advice I can give you though is to never let an overwhelming situation affect your mindset after you’re off the water. If something during practice overwhelmed you, instead of dwelling on it figure out what the situation was, what caused the stress, why it caused you stress, and how you can fix it so that doesn’t happen the next day.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 23, 2013

Are the way boats lined up in practice a reflection of a coxswain’s steering ability? There were three eights today and our cox was put in the center lane. Personally, I would think shore side is easier because you can follow it better but … what are your thoughts?

It could be or it could just be your coach decided on a whim that that was the order for the day. Personally, I like being in the center because I’m always trying to work on my steering and being in the center lane forces me to be aware of both boats on either side of me while still maintaining a good line. I hate getting stuck on the shore side because it’s very easy to get pushed over and you always have to worry about things lurking in the shallow water. Being on the outside isn’t the worst spot to be in but you’ve got to be careful not to go too wide and venture to the wrong side of the river. That’s more so a problem on narrower stretches of water but it’s still something to be aware of.

There are advantages and disadvantages of each lane so on neutral water I don’t think there’s necessarily a “best” or “easier” side to be on. Each lane tests your steering skills in a different way so, in my opinion, it’s good to get experience in all three if you can.

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 23, 2013

I cox a very close-knit men’s team, and sometimes it makes me feel excluded. They all live together and hang out together. If I happen to be there when they’re making plans, they always invite me, but they’d never think of including me if I wasn’t there. Is this a normal team dynamic between coxswains and rowers or only when you’re coxing a different-sex boat or does my team just not like me very much?

I wouldn’t say that it’s a normal coxswain-rower dynamic but I wouldn’t read too much into it either. If they didn’t like you at all they wouldn’t bother extending an invitation when you are around.

The fact that you’re a girl and they’re guys could play into it a little – maybe they don’t think you’d enjoy playing video games or doing whatever else it is they do. My suggestion would be to come up with your own plans and invite them to hang out with you. Conference tournaments and March Madness will be here before you know it – invite them over to watch the games, eat tons of nachos, and just chill as a team. It’s entirely possible that they’re just completely clueless as to how much fun you are to hang out with so it’s up to you to show them!

Coxing Novice Racing

Race skills: Pre-race prep

By readyallrow February 22, 2013

We’re getting closer to the start of the spring racing season, which means I’m getting a lot of questions on racing starts – what they are, how to do them, what it’s like at the starting line, etc. The simple explanation is that it’s tense … super tense. It’s also exciting, nerve wracking, intense, incredible, and terrifying all in one. The bigger the regatta, the better the feeling. The trick (and honestly, a sign of total badass-ness) is the ability to reel in the emotions and stay completely pokerfaced while you’re getting staged.

I always thought of it like a slingshot. As we’re being backing into the stake boats and I’m getting my point, it’s being pulled back farther and farther until the official finally says “GO” and that’s when the slingshot releases and all the pent-up energy goes into coxing the race. For me, there are few places I enjoy being more than the starting line of a sprint race.

Getting to the line

The hardest part of the start isn’t even part of the start. Getting there is the hardest part, for a number of reasons. It is imperative that you know what time your race is set to begin. At most major regattas, you have to be locked onto the stake boats no less than 2 minutes before the start of your race. If you’re not there, they will not wait for you. Ideally you would know the race schedule before you even leave to go to the regatta but worst case scenario is you find out the morning of at the coxswain meeting. Commit your race time to memory and then determine how much time you’ll need to get everyone together, get the boat down to the dock, and get up to the starting line.

Our band director in high school used to say “to be early is to be on time and to be on time is to be late” all the time and it’s something I carried over to rowing as well. When in doubt, always be early. I used to tell my crews that we would have hands on the boat 35-45 minutes before the start of our race and preferably we’d meet an hour before our race, spend fifteen minutes stretching and having a quick meeting with our coach before getting hands on and making our way down to the dock. You never know if the dock is going to be backed up, so getting down there with a little bit of time to spare is always a plus.

Once we’d get out, we’d do our warm-up and get up to the line as quickly as possible without rushing through anything. It’s important to still get a good warmup in and go through everything you want to do while still moving at a good pace. It doesn’t need to be frantic but your job is to keep things moving.

Staging

Depending on the regatta, staging will either involve stake boats or they won’t. Smaller regattas typically don’t use stake boats and instead do what is called a “floating start”. Floating starts mean that all the crews gather about 200m or so above the starting line and then paddle down together. As I paddle down, I like to go by 4s unless I’m told to go by 6s or all eight. Usually I’ll end up doing what everyone else is doing but if I’m the front boat I’ll row down by 4s. Whatever pairing you choose to row by, don’t switch in the middle (i.e. don’t go from stern four to middle four to bow four).

When you get to about 100m before the starting line, the starting marshal will typically have you go down to 4s (if you’re currently at 6s or all eight) or bow pair to row it up closer to the line. They’ll be off to the side so they can see where everyone’s bows are. It’s important that you and your crew (especially your crew) are quiet so you can hear what they’re saying. Sometimes they’ll talk directly to you, other times they’ll talk to whatever pair you have rowing. You don’t need to repeat their instructions to your crew and personally, I think it’s best if you don’t. Tell them before you launch to listen to the instructions of the marshal and immediately respond to what they say.

All the crews will row up to about 20ish meters before the start before they’ll have you weigh enough and hold water. At this point, everyone should sit at the ready position with their blades buried, holding water, while the marshal finishes lining up the crews. As he lines them up, you’ll hear him say “Dartmouth, tap it one stroke. Harvard, hold water. Princeton, two strokes.” When your crews take these strokes, they should be LIGHT. I am known to make the biggest “WTF” face when I see a crew take a full slide, full pressure stroke (or two) when they’re being lined up. It throws everything off, really pisses off the marshals, and really pisses off the other coxswains. Strokes shouldn’t be more than 1/2 pressure at most. Make sure your crew is aware of that, especially if you’re coxing a men’s boat (they tend to use more pressure than is necessary).

When the marshal sees that the boats are lined up evenly, he’ll call the start. If you’re doing a floating start, it’s pretty likely that you’re not on a buoyed course so make sure that as you’ve rowed down you’ve spaced an equal distance away from the crews on either side of you to avoid a collision or clashing of oars right off the line.

Stake boats

The other staging scenario is when you’re using stake boats. It takes a little effort and skill to get into them quickly and correctly but compared to the potential hassles of a floating start, they’re worth the extra time.

Stake boats, if you’re unaware of what they are, are anchored docks or boats that run perpendicular to the crews. A stake boat holder lies on their stomach and holds on to the stern of your boat and is responsible for moving it in or out to ensure the crews are aligned. Some examples of various stake boats can be seen here, here, and here. The ones from the Olympics this year are similar to the most common ones I’ve backed into. A long diving board-like platform extends from the main dock and that is where the stake boat holder lies.

Getting into stake boats is admittedly not easy for novices. It’s best to practice it with your coach before you get to the regatta (you can do this by either backing into the launch or into the dock) but not all coaches will think of this as something to practice with their coxswains so I’d suggest proposing the idea to them yourself.

Similar to how crews stage for a floating start, boats will row up behind or beside the starting platform and wait to be called in. Typically they’ll call you in in the order of your lanes, so pay attention to the crews you’re near and be prepared to move out of their way if necessary. As they call you in, you’ll row across the lanes (which are almost always marked with buoys), spin, and then back up to the starting platform. It sounds tricky but it’s really not that hard once you’ve done it a few times. The two biggest things to remember are:

Don’t be an unnecessary distance away from the platform when you spin. You want to be as close as you can get to it when you spin so that you don’t have to spend a ton of time (and energy) back rowing. 50m away from the platform is more than enough.

When you back, only back by stern pair or stern 4 if necessary. Don’t use your bow 4 to back because it’ll be harder for you to control the boat’s direction than if you were using the rowers in the stern. Backing should be done at 1/2 – 3/4 pressure at most. Make sure you’re looking behind you and lining yourself up with the platform too. I find it easiest to keep the rudder straight and use the rowers to guide you in vs. trying to steer yourself. When your stern is a couple of feet away from the platform, weigh enough and let it drift in. If you come in too fast the holder can’t grab you and you can end up breaking your stern by getting it caught under the platform. I’ve seen it happen before, so go in slowly. Better safe than sorry.

To line the crews up, the marshal will talk directly to the stake boat holders and will usually say “Lane 1, in 6 inches. Lane 4, out one foot. Lane 5, in 2 inches.” As soon as my crew gets locked on I like to have them sit ready, blades flat on the water until we’re finished getting lined up. When they’re done aligning us that’s when I’ll have them square up.

Below I’ve posted some videos that do a great job of demonstrating how to get into the starting blocks. The first video is by far the best one I’ve been able to find in terms of explaining how it’s done. The second one also does a good job of showing the do’s and don’ts. (Shout out to my high school team from senior year at 1:01.) The third video let’s you see the boats back in the last few strokes and hear the announcer telling the holder how much to move each crew and the fourth video is a stake holder’s view of the start.

Image via // @rowingcelebration

Coxing How To Novice Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 21, 2013

One of the varsity rowers told me about a certain race move/call-10 for pairs? Like having all 8 take a 10, but emphasis for specific pairs. I’m not sure how to call that, can you help me out? I was thinking maybe ” Alright, we’re all 8 we’re going to take a 10 by pairs.. in two… in ONE.. on THIS one, stern pair let’s see what you got! That’s one… two… 5 and 6 right here 3… 4..” and so on..” I don’t know if that’s how you call it…

Yup, I know exactly what you’re talking about. I use this frequently with my boats, usually in the second thousand of a sprint race or during the final 30ish strokes of a head race. I like to do 5 “hard” strokes per pair + an all eight power 10 so that I’m not making the crew do a straight power 40 or something. I usually say something like: “OK, coming into the last 30 strokes, let’s feel it – stern pair 5 … give it to me, on this one… (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) … 5 + 6, now, (repeat down to bow pair) … and all eight, 10 to bring it home, on this one…”.

I like to use each pair’s five strokes as “focus” strokes to get them to maximize the stuff they’ve been working on … like, they’re obviously still power strokes but I’ll usually say something like “grab those catches, bow pair”, “5 + 6, let’s see that jump!”, “squeeze the finishes 3 + 4!”, “Stern pair, work that rhythm now...”, etc. At the end when I call the final ten I’ll say something about driving across the line just to remind them how close we are to the finish and to give that last little bit of “oomph” to get us over.

Coxing Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 21, 2013

Is it a good idea before our first spring race this weekend to get together at someone’s dorm and “go through” the race? Like, I’ve heard of coxswains sitting their rowers down in a dark room, eyes closed, and imagining the race while the cox does the calls.

For sure! It’s definitely always a great idea to go over the strategy with your crew before you race because then there are no surprises and they can anticipate things a little better. Make sure you go over Plan A and Plan B, that being what you’re going to do if something during the race doesn’t go as planned and you have to deviate from Plan A.

I like the idea of the rowers visualizing the race while the coxswain makes the calls. I know that’s a thing that some of the national team coxswains do and if you take it seriously and really commit to it, it could be a useful tool for you and your boat. Even if you just have them close their eyes while you walk them through each 500 and point out the highlights of your race plan, that’s another great way to help them stay calm and prepare for the race.

Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 21, 2013

How did you get in to answering all these rowing questions?

Once I started coaching I think I probably just started talking about crew a lot more on social media and then even more so when I started coxing again. Around July the questions really started to pick up and I thought it’d be useful to collect everything in one place so other people could read what was being said. This whole thing has made me realize though that there’s definitely a need for more coxswain education and if I can somehow provide that, I’m more than willing to share all the knowledge I’ve gained over the years.

Coxing How To Novice

How to Make Improvements as a Novice Coxswain

By readyallrow February 21, 2013

Previously: Steer an eight/four || Call a pick drill and reverse pick drill || Avoid getting sick

How a novice coxswain improves is really the same as how any level of coxswain improves – it’s all about goal setting and purposefully reflecting on those goals throughout the season.

I’ve talked about setting goals before but in addition to outlining some objectives for your season, here are a few other tips on how to continually improve your coxing prowess.

Be a student of the sport.

The thing with sports (or any hobby) is that you first have to learn their nuances before you get good at whatever it is. With crew, the best way to learn is to become a student of the sport. Listen to your coach (intently, purposefully, and diligently), learn the techniques they’re teaching (how they’re executed, their purpose, etc.), and get on the erg and practice. One of my biggest pet peeves with rowing is coxswains who don’t know how to row and worse, won’t make the effort to learn. In my opinion, you should be one of the most technically proficient people in your boat. Why? Because if you’re telling the rowers what to do and critiquing every minuscule movement they make you should be able to replicate what you’re telling them to do and do it pretty damn well

When you’re in school, you expect to learn from the best, right? What’s the point in learning differential equations or organic chemistry from someone who can explain it but can’t solve the equations or create the reactions themselves? I’ve had professors like that and my confidence in their abilities to teach me was pretty nonexistent. I and my classmates really suffered for it too. You don’t want your rowers to feel that way about you so developing a thorough understanding of the stroke, the drills, how things should feel, what it should look like, etc. will help you get better at communicating with your crew and invoke a sense of confidence in you from them.

Improvement #1: Instead of just “showing up”, learn everything you can about the sport – the more you do outside of practice, the more you’ll benefit during practice.

How to do it: Study. Look online for examples of things you don’t understand. Talk to your coaches. Listen to them when they’re coaching. Ask questions. Practice the drills you call on the water. Figure out what makes sense, what doesn’t, and how you can explain it better.

Exude confidence.

I’ve talked about this more times than I can count – at least in 75% of the questions I get related to coxing I say something about confidence – so to avoid belaboring the point, I’ll just say this: a confident coxswain is a trustworthy coxswain. There’s a big difference between being confident and cocky though so don’t get the two confused.

In talking with numerous novice coxswains, confidence is their biggest concern. Your boat has to believe you know what you’re doing, as do you. Establishing control the moment you step in the boat allows the rowers to focus solely on rowing without having to worry about whether or not you know what you’re doing. Your only option is to step up and rise to the occasion.

Improvement #2: Be confident.

How to do it: Regardless of how good you actually are (or aren’t), go out every day and cox your boat like you’re the baddest bitch on the water. Speak up and provide input to your coach or crew on a regular basis. Accept your responsibilities. Tell yourself you can do this and then do it. Congratulate yourself on a job well done and let mistakes go (but commit to learning from them).

Open and maintain lines of communication.

Communication is one of the many things that fall under the “#1 Responsibility” category. It’s important that you develop a relationship between not only you and your crew but also with you and your coach(es) and you and the other coxswains. The more communication there is between you and each of those groups of people, the better and smoother your practices will run, which results in greater efficiency all around. It also just makes the team environment a lot more tolerable for everyone when the coaches and coxswains aren’t pissed at each other for something that could have easily been cleared up if some had just said something.

One of the most satisfying things for me as a coxswain is when I tell my boat something during a drill or piece that I know our coach would say and then the next time we stop, our coach says exactly that. It’s great for you in terms of building your confidence but it’s also great for the boat because they hear you and your coach reiterating each other’s points, which means you’re both on the same page, which means the rowers don’t ever have to “choose” who they’re going to listen to.

Improvement #3: Communicate.

How to do it: Talk to your coach every single day. Find out what they expect of you, how they want you to do things, how they do things, why they do things a certain way, etc. Also talk to the other coxswains about where you’re meeting up if you’re going out together, where your points are when you’re doing pieces, how practice went that day, etc.

Record everything.

In school, we take notes and record our lectures so that when we’re studying for exams, we can go back and refresh ourselves on everything we’ve learned up to that point. We see the mistakes we’ve made on math problems and learn how to not make those mistakes again. We read about what strategies worked and didn’t work during times of war in our history classes. We study and study and study so that when the time comes, we’ve made the necessary tweaks and prepared ourselves to execute everything perfectly.

This is why coxswains (should) record everything. You have a recorder so you can hear the calls you make and the drills you do and you’ve got a notebook so you can write down lineups, the practice plan, what worked, what didn’t, etc. Combine the two and you have everything you need to make your crew the best one on the water.

Listening to your recordings gives you the opportunity to be your own best critic. It allows you the chance to hear yourself and then go out the next day and experiment with something new while continuing to do what you know works. Experimentation with your calls is critical; if you don’t practice it, you can’t execute it, and if you can’t execute it, what’s the point? Keeping a notebook gives you space to elaborate on what your thoughts were during practice and lets you go back and study what you’ve done in the past to determine what needs to be done to fix things in the future.

Improvement #4: Get a recorder and keep a notebook.

How to do it: Go to the store and buy one. Keep them in your coxswain bag and bring them with you to every practice/race. While on the water, make quick notes of things that are or aren’t going well by talking to the recorder and then once you’re off the water, spend some time elaborating on the details in your notebook. Share your recordings and notes with your coach on a regular basis. Get their feedback on your recordings and advice on how to deal with any issues you’ve made note of in your notebooks.

At the end of the day it’s up to you to identify the areas where you can improve (either through your own objective observations or through conversations with your coach) and then actually take the steps to get better. It’s one thing to say you want to get better, it’s another to actually commit and do it. Talk the talk, walk the walk, etc.

Image via // @rowingcelebration

Getting to the line

Staging

Stake boats

Image via // @rowingcelebration

Be a student of the sport.

Exude confidence.

Open and maintain lines of communication.

Record everything.

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