Tag: coxswain

College Coxing Racing Rowing Teammates & Coaches

“Baseball bat!”

By readyallrow February 13, 2013

A few weeks ago I went to the What Works Summit coaching conference at CRI and one of the main things I was looking forward to was hearing Kevin Sauer of UVA speak. He was a huge reason why I looked at UVA in the first place when I was applying to schools so to get the chance to hear him talk was an opportunity I didn’t want to miss.

He gave two presentations, one on how to make the boat move and then another as part of a roundtable discussion on championship programs. During the roundtable he told this story that, even now, just kind of blows my mind because it’s so awesome.

So, a bit of background to start. UVA won the 2012 NCAA Championship led by the 1st Varsity 8+, which was the first time they’d accomplished that. They’d won NCAAs previously but never with a V8+ win too. After graduating a good class the previous spring (2011), they were now tasked with putting together a boat that could match or exceed the skill level of the rowers they’d graduated. When they came to Head of the Charles in 2011 and won (in a time of 16:11.519, eight seconds faster than 2nd place Radcliffe), he was pleasantly surprised. They weren’t going against the national team since they were training for the Olympics, but they beat the other college teams, which is obviously who they needed to beat. Then, when they went to Princeton Chase and won there too, he started to realize this boat had something.

Now, looking at the competition, Michigan was solid last year. They killed it all season, basically just blowing the other crews they raced out of the water. They only lost twice on their way to a Big 10 Championship and 2nd place finish at NCAAs. When Coach Sauer was telling us this, he started talking about this race that Michigan had against Princeton.

Michigan got out hard and controlled the entire race, winning with a length of open over Princeton and two lengths of open over Brown. He called a team meeting and played this video for the girls, without saying a word from beginning to end. They silently watched it and at the end someone asked, “So, how are we going to beat them?”, to which he replied “I don’t know.” They started throwing ideas out there on what their race plan and strategy was going to be, how they were going to train for this, etc. Everyone’s contributing ideas and he just kind of blurts out “baseball bat”, to which the girls were all … “what??”. And he said “Baseball bat! We’ve just got to keep hitting them and hitting them and hitting them.” At the time, and still now, he said he had no idea why that was what came out of his mouth because it didn’t make sense to anybody, including him.

Part of their strategy was this move that they make at the 1000m mark but because they knew Michigan’s tendencies, he told his coxswain on race-day that if she needed to take it right at the beginning of the race to avoid letting Michigan get away from them, do it. The goal was to not let them get an inch of open water on them, otherwise it’d be all over. Coach Sauer and another coach were following behind the race in the launch and saw that, like they’d predicted, Michigan got out hard and fast. They started to walk, seat by seat, until they were six or seven seats up and he said he was thinking “come on, make the move, gotta go, don’t let them break away, gotta make it now…” and then all of a sudden they started seeing UVA walk until they were even with them.

The other coach in the launch said “You’ve got it. They (UVA) won.” and he said he was thinking this guy was crazy because they were only 750m into the race. BUT, they had won at that point because by making the move and walking on Michigan, they broke them. Michigan couldn’t and didn’t know how to counter it, presumably because it wasn’t something they’d had to deal with all season (which you can look at as either a good thing or a bad thing). UVA ended up winning and the rest is history.

When they got back to the dock, Coach Sauer went up to the coxswain and said “What did you do, what did you call? What’d you say to them to make that move?” and she said “All I said was ‘baseball bat‘.”

That is like … wow. This random thing that he’d blurted out during a team meeting, something that meant nothing to anyone at the time, is what they all internalized to help them win a national championship.

My point with this story goes back to what I was talking about in the question I answered this morning (linked above) but it also touches on a lot of other things too. The moves you plan aren’t always going to happen when you want them to – sometimes you’ve got to do something spontaneous to reap the maximum benefits. The calls you make are important, which is why I try and stress to you guys to say what you say with a purpose. When you’re talking with the coach or your crew, pay attention to what people say – you never know what is going to resonate with people. Baseball bat?? I mean, come on!! That’s such a basic, meaningless term but it became the rallying cry of sorts for this boat. It is your job to figure out what it takes to get your boat to move, so always keep your ears open – you never know when you’re gonna hear the call that changes everything.

Image via // UVA Today

Coxing Novice Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 13, 2013

How do you deal with coxswains who just don’t really want to do what they’re supposed to do? I’m a very passionate novice cox but there are others who tend to slack off and don’t like going out on water and aren’t very helpful/motivating to the rowers. Some girls on their boats have come up to me and asked me to talk to the other coxswains.

If you were a varsity coxswain, I would probably give you different advice but since you’re a novice, same as them (I assume), I’ll say this: let your coach handle it. You can and should absolutely bring the issue to their attention but as far as talking to them I’d let the coach do it. If the other coxswains figure out that the rowers went behind their backs to talk to you and then you said something to them, even if you have the best intentions, shit could hit the fan. It could come off as you putting yourself on some kind of pedestal and thinking you’re better than or in charge of them, which will lead to them completely ignoring you and then taking it out on their rowers for being snitches.

I witnessed a similar situation in high school when I was a junior or senior and it made practice miserable for everyone. It sucks having people like that on your team but sometimes the best solution is to just let the person in charge deal with it. They actually have the authority to tell them to either shape up or get out.

Coxing Ergs Q&A Racing Rowing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 13, 2013

When do you call power 10s, both on the erg and the water? Would it be like when you see a girl’s split dropping and staying down on a 2k or during a race if you’re close and want to pass another boat? Or could it be any time just for a burst of energy? I don’t really know the strategy, I just know at some point I’ll have to sound like I know what I’m doing and call a few.

On the erg, I don’t call a power 10 unless the rower has asked me to beforehand. A lot of rowers don’t like to be bothered during 2ks so they can get/stay in their zone and randomly popping up behind them to give a power 10 can sometimes do more harm than good. When they’ve asked me to give them one, they usually say to do it whenever it looks like they need one or they’ll say “I want a 10 at 1500m, 20 at 1000, 10 at 750m, 10 at 500m, and 10 at 150m.” If they say to call it whenever I’ll try and do one at each of the major meter marks and/or within the last 100m. In between there if it looks like they’re falling off a little I’ll give them a quick 5 instead of a 10 to get them to refocus.

On the water, I always have a strategy ahead of time that I try and stick to. Nearly every burst I call is called with a purpose – I very rarely call a burst just for power but if I do it’s usually because I’m not feeling the power or because I want to get up with or past another crew. During sprint races in high school I was always trying to listen to the other coxswains and when I’d hear them take a 10 or 20, I’d wait for them to get about halfway through it before I’d start my own burst. Not only would that counteract their move nearly every time but it’d also put us a little bit more ahead at the end of it. Sometimes those spontaneous calls would interfere with my planned calls so I’d either go straight into the planned call or I’d skip it if we were far enough ahead that I could afford to do that. For head races, using the course map to find the landmarks, mile markers, etc. will help you a lot in figuring out where to make calls.

In sprint races, I don’t deviate too much from “the plan” each week since 1500m or 2000m courses are the same everywhere. They’ve all got 1500m, 1000m, 500m, and 100m to go marked along the course and since those are major points where I tend to call strategic bursts, I don’t change it up very much.

Normally my crew would also have a “special move” thrown in outside of my usual spots, usually to counteract another team’s move or to just open some water on the other crews. This was typically a 20 where we’d build for three, bump the rate up a beat or two for 15-18, then settle back into our regular pace over the remaining couple of strokes. These moves always had code words associated with them so that the other crews wouldn’t know we were making a move. “POWER 10” is really, really obvious (and easy to exploit by other coxswains), especially when you’re yelling it into your mic, so we’d talk during practice the week before and figure out what they wanted me to say. Usually it was something simple like “fire ’em up” and they would just know, without me saying it, that the move starts on the next stroke. They’d make the move and I’d cox them as normal. Even though I wasn’t calling it I could see it happening because we’d either be walking on or away from a crew and I could see the stroke rate change on my cox box. (We practiced this a lot to ensure everyone knew when to bring the rate up and when to bring it down too. Doing it on the fly I think would have been a mess.)

At bigger regattas where sprints were a bigger deal we’d take 5 to build into the last 250 but before that burst we’d take a build into the build that was purely for power. My senior year when I used the build-into-the-build nearly every race, I’m convinced that it’s what put our bow ball ahead in the few races we didn’t win by open water. I don’t remember what I’d say to start that build but it was always something synonymous with “power”. I think one of the things I said most often was “bend ’em”, meaning to hang on the oars so hard that you’re bending them as they go through the water. Going into the 5 to build into the sprint, the call was always “light ’em up” and then the start of the sprint was “afterburners”.

The best thing you can do is to sit down with your coach, your crew, and a course map. Figure strategic spots along the course to make a call then figure out what that call is going to be for. If you’re going to use a code word, discuss that with your crew. Make sure everyone knows what the word is and what means. Once you’ve got the strategy down, figure out your “special” move, what it’s going to be, where you’d ideally like to call it, and then make sure you practice it throughout the week so the crew gets used to hearing and feeling it.

Coxing Novice Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 11, 2013

Hi! I was wondering if you could give me some advice on how to cox rowers who seem to not be willing to push themselves? I cox the novice girls and there’s this one really tall girl who I know has great potential and probably tons of power in those long legs of hers but she just doesn’t seem to try at all during erg pieces. How do I help her live up to her potential?

As a coxswain I’ve always thought (and heard my coaches say) that each rower has to already be motivated when they get on the erg or in the boat, otherwise how can you be expected to motivate them? If you’re not going to motivate yourself first and I can see that you’re happy with settling for mediocrity, there is a 99.9% chance that I’m going to just shrug my shoulders and be done with it.

Looking back to the times in college when I had to do things that I wasn’t been totally thrilled about, I’ve asked myself the following questions:

Why am I doing this?

Is it because I have to do it (i.e. someone’s making me, it’s required, etc.) or because I wanted to do it? The answer to this usually dictates my level of enthusiasm for the activity. If it’s something I have to do then I’ll do the bare minimum to get by and get out of there but if it’s something that I want to do, I throw myself into it, heart and soul, if you want to be cliche. I’d start by asking your rower the same thing. Why did she join crew? Was it at her parent’s behest or was it something she wanted to do? If she wanted to do it, why did she want to do it? What persuaded her to sign up?

How committed am I?

When I sign up for something, I’m automatically committed 100%. It’s like a rule I have for myself. If I don’t want to do it at the end of the semester, month, year, or whatever that’s fine but until that specific time period ends, I have to stick with it and give my best efforts. If I’m not going to give at least 100%, the question then reverts back to the previous one – why am I doing this in the first place? I like to assume that there is always someone depending on me, even if no one is, thus I can’t quit. With crew, there are at least four or eight other people depending on you at any given time. You have to assume that they are giving 100% at all times and are counting on you to do the same. The next question I’d ask your rower is how committed she is – is she willing to give her all or is she just trying to make it to the end of the season?

What are my goals?

Goals are a requirement of crew. I really believe that it is just not possible to be a part of crew and not have personal and team goals. Ask your rower what hers are. If she doesn’t have any, ask her why and then maybe help her come up with some. Maybe the reason she’s not trying hard on the erg is because she has nothing to try hard for. If she doesn’t have a goal of pulling 7:45 on a 2k she’s certainly not going to try just for the hell of it. Help her figure out a goal or two and give herself something to work for.

I’d also tell her that she has potential and you can see it but are sure of what it’s going to take to make her see it. I don’t want to say that you should say that in a guilt trip-y kind of way but I know for me, I always hated when someone would say that they can see my potential, why can’t I? That was always motivation enough for me to get my ass in gear if need be. At the coaching conference I went to last week, something I heard that I know will stick with me forever was: “At the beginning of every season, the best thing a coach can say to you is ‘you have a tremendous amount of potential.’ At the end of the season, the worst thing a coach can say to you is ‘you have a tremendous amount of potential’.”

Talk to your rower one-on-one, somewhere away from all the noise of the boathouse. Sometimes just taking an interest can make her want to try a little harder because she knows that there’s someone on her side rooting for her. Figuring out why she’s there, what she wants to get out of it, and how hard she’s willing to work can be of huge help to both you and her.

When I was in high school I had a similar situation and looking back on it, if the girl I was coxing had had a personality different from mine, this wouldn’t have worked at all, but knowing that we were fairly similar I relied on the fact that I knew if someone did this to me, I’d go balls to the wall on whatever we were doing. She was doing a 2k and I knew she could go harder than she was going. I was pissed because she was in my boat so I went up behind her and yelled “harder” every. single. stroke. She’d take a stroke and I’d say “NO, not good enough, HARDER“…”NO, you can do better”…”NO, I’ve seen you give more than this”…”NO, more“…until she was pulling what I knew she could pull. When she reached that split, I’d say “YES, do it again”…”again”…”again“…”AGAIN”. I was right in her ear at every finish. After half-assing the first 1000m she kicked it into gear for the last half and ended up pulling a pretty decent time (and when you can do that and still end up with times that are up there with the fast girls on the team, you know you can be good if you just try).

After she’d cooled down (physically and mentally) we went outside and sat for awhile and talked about the piece. I told her that I never wanted to have to cox her like that again because I knew what she was capable of and more importantly, so did she. She was tall, strong, athletic … everything you want in a rower … and it shouldn’t take me yelling at her to pull harder for her to get a good time. For the next two months, her 2ks were some of the best on the team and she said that whenever she felt like quitting she’d imagine me yelling in her ear “NO, harder”, “NO, you can do better”, etc. Sometimes the motivation someone needs is as simple as a little tough love.

The best thing you can do is just talk to her. Let her know that she has potential and you want to know what you can do to help her reach it. I think framing the conversation that way is a lot more effective than pretty much anything else because it lets her maintain some control over the situation without feeling like she’s being pressured or guilt-tripped to give you an answer about why she’s not doing better.

Coxing Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 7, 2013

I never know what to say at the beginning of a head race. I know what to say once we get going but not before, any ideas/tips?

This past season with my eight, I think the only thing I consistently said to them while we were staging was “we’ve got a plan, let’s get after it” or something like that. I tried not to talk too much before the starting line (with the exception of telling people to row) because I wanted them to focus in and not be distracted and I needed the quiet time to focus on getting us lined up in the chute.

Coxing How To Novice Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 7, 2013

How long did it take you to learn how to dock correctly? It’s taken me this whole month, still trying to learn and it’s always a 50-50 whether or not someone on the dock has to pull our boat in.

It took me about 2-3 weeks to feel comfortable doing it as a novice (with our coach on the dock to pull us in and give hints on what to do if I needed it) and maybe a week or so after that (when it was just us with no one to catch us) before I felt like “OK, I got this”. My coaches were great because they’d have us dock, push off, row up a few hundred meters, turn around, dock again, and repeat the whole process until we’d gotten it right a couple times (like, at least five times) before the end of practice.

The trickiest part was coming in at the right angle. We practiced this in all kinds of weather – wind, rain, snow, etc. – so that I could practice coming in when I’ve got something working against me. Doing it over and over and over really helped me pick it up fast. The rowers were always super patient too (or at the very least they never let on how bored/annoyed they were), which was actually one of the most helpful parts of learning to dock.

One thing I realized pretty quickly is that you don’t need someone on the dock to catch you. Sure, it’s convenient when they’re there but it’s not at all necessary. What I would do is point my bow as close to the dock as I could and then when we landed, I’d have my bowman hop out and grab 6’s oar to get the stern of the boat in. Or, I’d just hop out and pull the boat in myself. Once the boat has stopped, for the most part, it’s not hard for the coxswain to stand up and step over on to the dock; you’ve just gotta be aware that it’s probably a foot to a foot and a half (if you docked right) of water you’re stepping over. I’m experienced enough with it now that I tend to bound right out of the seat while we’re still moving and think nothing of it.

It’s helpful to have someone on the dock but it’s really not necessary and definitely not something you should rely on. I think it’s way better for you to learn how to dock with no one there than it is to only learn how to dock when you’ve got someone to pull you in. I guess the only time I’d say it’s really necessary is if you’ve got a strong crosswind that’s hitting you from the dock-side and making it hard to get as close as you normally would. In those situations though, hopefully it would be common sense for the people on land to come down and help the boats that are coming in.

The key is to have control of the situation and to not get visibly frustrated. There were many, many times when I got frustrated but even when it failed miserably my rowers and coach always said that I seemed pretty calm. If you get frustrated and it’s obvious that you don’t know what to do or something’s not going the way you want, your rowers will be less likely to listen to your instructions and more likely to start telling you what to do. Stay calm, assess the situation, take your time, and be smart about it.

Coxing How To Q&A Rowing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 6, 2013

If the wind pushes the boat into the grassy reeds, how do you get out of it without being pulled out by a coach? Do you have the side that’s not stuck back? Thanks!

First things first is to tell your boat to be quiet. Everyone is going to have an opinion on the best way to get out of there and there’s a good chance that someone or everyone will be annoyed at the situation. It’s your job to tell them to listen to your instructions because the more at-attention they are, the faster and easier it’ll be for you to get out of there.

The biggest thing here is making sure your skeg doesn’t get broken or bent. If it’s shallow or the weather’s been bad lately (and there’s a lot of debris in the water), you’ll need to listen for any bumps or noises that indicate you might have hit a log. Sometimes they can get caught up in the reeds too which makes it hard to avoid them. Make sure you don’t push it straight down because it’ll just pop right back up and do more damage (possibly catching your fingers in between it and the skeg, which would probably result in some form of bloodshed). If you don’t here any bumps or anything but still find it hard to steer with the strings, you might have to stick your arm under the boat and pull off anything that’s gotten caught around the skeg and the rudder.

As far as actually getting out of the reeds, if you’ve been blown in from the port side, for example, would require some backing mainly from the port rowers. You can have the starboard side assist but it could be hard for them to row if their oar is in the reeds. As soon as rowers (starting from bow pair) start getting clear though, have them row.

To clear your the blades if you’re really stuck in there, I’d feather the blade and just hack back and forth a bit to cut the reeds down a little. I saw a crew do this at a regatta once on the way to the start line and they were out of there in about two minutes. Unless the wind is really bad and negating anything you try and do, I wouldn’t do more than arms and body rowing. This is to avoid swinging the boat to quickly and sharply, which could cause damage to it if you hit something under the surface.

I’d start out with 6 and stroke backing to get your bow pointed towards open water and then have bow and 3 row to swing the bow out. Once your bow pair or bow four are clear of any visible reeds, have them row full slide to get the rest of the boat free. Once you’re clear, quickly put your arm back in to pull off any lingering reeds on your skeg/rudder, get your point, and row on. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen a crew get out of a situation like that only to sit idle once they’re clear and then get blown right back into the reeds. You have to get away from them if you want to avoid getting stuck again, so row up a few hundred meters to a spot where it’s clear and then stop if you need to.

Coxing Novice Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 6, 2013

Is there some sort of quote/song/inspirational thought you have to help boost your mood when you’re depressed/after a bad practice/race? And how do coaches “pick” novice coxswains? Is it initially by size, then trait/abilities? Or do they actually take the time to “watch” who they’re thinking of coxing before deciding? I think last year on my team our coach chose the two smallest people but for the first two weeks (on land) watched us interact with each other.

I don’t have anything specific, I just turn the radio up and try to use the music and the drive home to help clear my head. It’s a good way for me to zone out and let everything else go.

I think coaches do both of what you said; some choose by size, some by traits and abilities, and others look at both. There are way too many coaches that pick coxswains based purely on how small they are which they then come to find out has no bearing whatsoever on how skilled they are. Ultimately, I think a coach would rather have a slightly taller coxswain who has the personality and affinity for coxing vs. a small person who has neither. I know I would.

During winter training I think they do watch the coxswains to see how they interact with the team, if they’re capable of taking charge and leading them through a circuit, do they show up on time (or at all), etc. Once they get out on the water, he/she will watch to see how quickly they pick up steering, how confident and trustworthy they are, how safe they are, do they follow the rules of the river, etc. If they put a novice in the varsity boat to get some experience, he might ask those rowers for a quick opinion on how they thought he/she did. In the end they’ll take all that information and make a decision from there.

That might not be how every coach does it but it’s how I’d do it. If you’re curious why you weren’t boated or why you were put in the boat you were, ask your coach. Unless you have seriously messed up somewhere along the line and know that that’s probably the reason why you’re not in a higher boat, the only person who can give you that kind of insight is the person who made the lineups.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking why you were put in certain lineups either as long as you aren’t petty or accusatory about it – “Why did you put me in that boat? Those rowers suck!” or “I am such a better coxswain than Emily (with zero evidence to backup that statement)” are two easy ways to get on your coach’s (and teammates) bad side. Done correctly, it’s a great way to get feedback on how you’re doing so far and what you can improve on so that the next time lineups are made, you can possibly move up a boat.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 6, 2013

I know a coxswain’s number one job is to steer straight but one of my fellow rowers decided that sounding aggressive and making good calls is what MAKES a cox. There’s a girl who she says “just sounds like a cox” but hasn’t perfected steering/navigating yet. The view is that you can teach a cox to go straight/proper channels with time but you can’t teach them to sound passionate, aggressive, motivating, etc. What do you think?

Yea, I mostly agree. It’s very easy (well, not easy, but easy by comparison) to teach the basic skills – steering, what to say, etc. – but it’s damn near impossible to teach a coxswain how to be passionate, encouraging, assertive, intuitive, self-aware, etc. if they aren’t already all of those things.

When I was a novice people told me I sounded exactly like a coxswain should before I’d picked up any of the actual necessary skills because the majority of the personality traits of a coxswain are my part of my natural personality. It’s just who and how I am so already having that foundation in place made coxing come very naturally to me. My coaches could focus on teaching me how to steer, spot technical inaccuracies, etc. and know that I had everything else already covered.

Related: The “Three S’s of Coxing”

What makes a coxswain is both set in stone and completely flexible. As experienced coxswains, we all just kind of know what makes a good coxswain in the general sense but what makes a good coxswain to each individual crew can be completely different. The basic stuff (steering, execution, leadership, etc.) is all a given – you just cannot be a good coxswain if you aren’t strong in those areas – but your individual style is what makes you good for your crew.

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 4, 2013

What are your thoughts on oars? Who should bring them down to the dock and take them back up? Should it be a responsibility for each boat to make sure their oars are down or should the coxswain of the boat bring down oars for her own boat or even coxswains bringing oars down for the whole team … it’s kinda disorganized on my team and many times oars don’t get brought down. I want to fix this … what method do you think is best?

Coxswains aren’t responsible for the oars. They already carry their cox box, shoes, water bottles, etc. – you want them to carry the oars too? They’re not pack mules. Each boat brings down their own oars. The way I usually due it is stern 4 takes the oars down, bow 4 brings them back up. The following day, week, whatever … they switch. Sometimes I’ll do starboards vs. ports too just to switch it up.

If it’s really that difficult to remember who’s supposed to do what, make it a set responsibility – for the entire season, stern 4 is responsible for taking them down and bow 4 for bringing them up. If a boat’s oars don’t get brought down by the time I’m ready to go out, you’re literally just wasting everyone’s time. The fact that people would shirk the responsibility of bringing oars down blows my mind.

Give boats direct assignments as to who is in charge of taking them down and bringing them up and leave it at that. If they don’t get brought down, that’s the boat’s problem to figure out. They’re the ones that are wasting practice time. If you think of it as every second you waste of practice time is one second you’re NOT getting faster, people will get stuff done ahead of time.

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