Tag: novice

Video of the Week: “Knuckleheads”

By readyallrow April 22, 2013

People in the comments here were saying the announcer was way too harsh on this crew – they are novices after all. Um, no. No, no, no. Being a novice does not exclude you from being shit on for making straight up illogical decisions. Novice or not, you should know via common sense to NOT go onto the race course before a race has passed you. Why? Because these guys are barreling down the course and novices move at the rate of an elderly turtle.

If you can see three crews coming at you and/or you can hear people yelling “MOVE OFF THE COURSE”, get your ass in gear and move. I understand the “deer in the headlights” moment because I’ve been there but you’ve got to get over it and get out of the way. Not only are you in a position to impact someone else’s race but you could cause a serious collision that could result in very serious injuries.

So, in a situation like this what should you do?

For starters, don’t put yourself in a situation like this. Ever.

Know the traffic pattern before you launch. When in doubt draw it out on a piece of paper and take it in the boat with you. Also make sure you are actually supposed to cross the course at any given point. If you are there will likely be an official waiting in a launch to tell you when it’s safe to do so.

If a race is coming down the course, stop and wait for them to pass you before crossing to the other side. NEVER cross in front of a race. If the race is at the starting line and hasn’t gone off yet, do. not. go. unless a race official has specifically told you to cross. They’ll usually say something like “Belmont Hill, you’re clear to cross. Row it over all eight.” If something like this is necessary the officials will have told you about it in the coaches and coxswains meeting. If they didn’t bring it up, don’t do it.

Assuming you ignore everything I just said and you find yourself in the middle of the course with some heavyweight men’s 8s coming straight toward you, do. not. stop. rowing. Also do not row by pairs if you’re in a four or 4s if you’re in an eight. Row by all four or all eight and get out of the way. Row as far over as you can get to ensure that you are completely off the course. If for some reason you need to turn the boat, turn with everyone on whatever side you have rowing, not just one or two people. The goal is to move quickly.

Give clear, concise, and direct instructions. This is not the time to lose your head and be stammering, stuttering, and fumbling with your words.

Rowers: shut UP. You talking, yelling, etc. does not help and only makes things worse. I hesitate to say what to do if your coxswain isn’t giving you instructions because I don’t want to be responsible for widespread mutinies against coxswains but I can tell you that you should not be doing what the other three rowers are doing from 1:50-1:57 (i.e. just sitting there like it’s a totally normal day at practice and letting one person turn the entire damn boat).

When someone tells you to row, don’t all just start rowing whenever the hell you want. You don’t do that any other time so why would you do it now? If anything, in situations like this is when you need to be the most coordinated in order to get out of there quickly and safely. There most likely isn’t going to be time for the coxswain to say “sit ready, ready, row” so just go with your stroke. Follow them from the beginning. Stroke seats everywhere, do not start rowing from half slide or whatever random position you’re sitting in. Have this worked out with your crew ahead of time that you’ll all start at the catch or the finish, whichever one you choose if you need to abruptly start rowing, that way everyone starts together and you don’t look ridiculous like this crew does.

Remain calm. You can freak out and be pissed at each other when you get back on land.

College Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow April 21, 2013

What are the qualifications of being a cox? I’m 5’1 and 108lbs. Also I’ve actually never coxed before but the only way I could row in college is to cox so what are some ways I can get my name out for scholarships?

There’s also no way a coach would give a scholarship to someone who didn’t have any experience. Even if you have rowing experience, you’re not likely to get recruited as a coxswain if you haven’t actually proven yourself as a coxswain yet. Your best bet and my suggestion would be to go to walk on tryouts at the beginning of the year. You can either reach out to the coaches now to let them know you’re interested or just wait until you get to school.

One of the primary qualifications is being at or near racing weight, which is 110lbs for women and 125lbs for men. Height doesn’t really matter but obviously the shorter the better due to space constraints in the boat. Personality-wise, you need to be assertive, tactical, and not lacking in common sense, amongst other things.

Coxing How To Novice Q&A Technique

Question of the Day

By readyallrow April 18, 2013

I just got picked to cox the four that we are sending to our regional championship regatta after only having two weeks practice (apparently my coach thinks I’m doing something right haha). Anyway, the guys in my boat always ask for more technical calls and I don’t know how to make them when I can’t watch them row. Any suggestions? Thanks!

I assume you’re in a bow loader? Record them! That’s my number one piece of advice for anyone coxing bow loaders. Have your coach or someone riding in the launch record them during practice one day (like, 30 seconds or so here and there throughout the row) and then give you the footage to (preferably) go over with your coach after you get off the water.

Even though you can’t directly see what they’re doing you can still get an idea of what their tendencies are by watching the video. Stroke’s thing might be squaring up late, 3 might need to get his hands matched to the boat speed a little quicker, etc. If you can spot those things on the video you can use them as calls during practice, even just as a reminder call when you’re not sure what else to say. The rowers will be forced to think about it for a stroke or two, which means they’ll either realize they’re doing it and then make the change or think about it and remind themselves to either keep doing or not do whatever specific thing you’re telling them about.

Another thing you can do on your own is really learn about each part of the stroke, the drills you do, etc. and learn what all of the technical intricacies are. During the stroke, what should the bodies look like at hands away, 1/2 slide, the catch, the finish, etc. When you do cut the cake, what’s the purpose, what’s it working on, how’s it done, what must the rowers do in order to execute it properly, etc. When the rowers are tired, what do they have to do with their bodies to stay supported throughout the stroke? ALL of those tiny, miniscule bits of information that you can pull out of each of those things is a technical call you can use.

And my other number one piece of advice when dealing with rowers – ask them what they want. If they’re asking you for technical calls there’s a good chance that there is something specific they want to hear, even if it’s something seemingly insignificant, like reminding them to keep their eyes and chins up. Talk to each rower individually and find out what calls they want to hear and then as a crew, what do they want to hear. They’re your best source of information so don’t hesitate to use them.

Coxing Novice Q&A Racing Rowing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow April 18, 2013

Hey! I’m a novice coxswain for a high school men’s team and we’re approaching the end of the season. We have one race this weekend, and after that, we have championships in May. I have been told that I improved a lot this year, and for that, I’m grateful. We were just told who would be going to championships, and I was relieved to find out that I had been chosen. However, I have been having some paranoia that when it comes down to the actual race this weekend and at champs, my calls will be the same as they were for every other race we’ve had this season. And that’s definitely not what I want. I want my calls to be unique and to stand out amongst the pool of coxswains that have been chosen. Boatings haven’t been made yet, and along with working on execution and steering, I want my racing calls (and practice calls) to be more defined and more unique. I was wondering, since you’re an experienced coxswain, how do you mix up your calls in the boat? Thank you.

So, my theory on coxing, like most things, is that if it’s not broken don’t fix it. I completely understand wanting to step up your game and come up with “new” stuff for these bigger races but fight the urge to completely change your style or what you say. Your rowers have most likely become accustomed to your calls and, unless they’ve specifically said they’re over them and don’t get anything out of them anymore, will be listening for them during your race. Rowers are creatures of habit in my experience. If you want to incorporate several calls that are boat-specific (calls only your crew would understand), that’s fine (and advisable!) as long as you talk it over with your crew first and determine what they want/need to hear, where they want to hear it, etc. (You should be doing that anyways.) Your coach already chose you – they’re not going to change your mind just because you cox the same way you’ve been coxing all season. The reason they chose you is most likely because the way you’ve been coxing all season is good and the coaches see the rowers responding to you. That’s something that should make you proud, not paranoid.

In terms of how I mix my calls up, like I said, unless the rowers specifically ask me to call something differently or make a call for this thing at that spot during the race, I don’t really change up what I’m saying that much (outside of the 2-3 variations I tend to use). That’s not to say that I have a script or anything that I follow each time I go out, what I mean is that if my call for clean finishes is “accelerate, squeeze” I’m not going to suddenly change that to something else because I run the risk of the rowers not knowing what I’m saying or why I’m saying it. Granted, my current boat is made up of rowers who have been rowing for 20+ years so they basically know what all the variations of each call means but not all crews are that savvy so it’s not something I necessarily advise doing unless you have plenty of time to get them re-acclimated to your new calls.

If you find that you’re getting bored with a call, first ask yourself why you’re getting bored with it (are you repeating yourself a lot for some reason?) and then ask your boat if they feel the same way. If they say yes, find a new way to say what you want to say. If they say “no, I like that call because…” don’t change anything. The call might be stale to you but if that’s the one that kicks the ass of even one person in your boat, you don’t want to mess with that.

Coxing Novice Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow April 4, 2013

Ok, so I’m a novice coxswain. I’m the only coxswain my team has, but we have 2 eights of girls, so the JV cox coxes the B Boat while I cox the A Boat. My coach told me that even though I have the A boat right now, I can be bumped down. I want to know if you have any advice for a novice competing with a more experienced coxswain? I’m really trying to just be confident, but is there anything else?

Commit to learning (about rowing, coxing, your rowers, yourself, etc.). Be coachable. Listen to everything your coach says and use what they say as calls on the water. I never realized how big a deal this was to my coaches until I became a coach. Hearing your coxswains repeat something that you said to the rowers is awesome because it shows that you were paying attention, you know why the coach said what they said, and you recognize why it’s important for the rowers to keep hearing it.

Exude confidence in everything you do. Do everything like you know it’s right unless someone tells you otherwise. Be a little cocky but never obnoxious. Respect your teammates. Be a hardass when it’s necessary but know when to turn it off. Don’t settle for anything less than the best. Push your rowers. Act like an experienced coxswain. Ask for constant feedback from your rowers and coach(es) and use it to help you improve. Be humble with the positive feedback and understanding with the constructive criticism. Make your rowers want to come to practice and always act like you want to be there. Have fun. You have the best spot in the boat but you also carry the most responsibility. Strive to be great.

Novice Q&A Rowing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow April 3, 2013

I’m being forced to bow a quad in an upcoming practice. I’ve been sculling for a week and I feel a little intimidated. I don’t even know which oar I have to put pressure on to turn the boat in my desired direction. The only time I’ve had any experience was when I was in a double with a varsity member. I didn’t learn the basics, but from being in that position I learned how to sound confident. Do you have any tips?

Take your time. If you’re not sure what to do, ask. That is always preferable to guessing, even if it takes a few seconds out of practice. Try and figure out what you’re doing during practice before you get on the water so that you have a chance to go over the practice plan with your coach and can get an idea of what you need to say. Assuming your coach is going out with you, it might be better to just let him tell the crew what to do so you can focus on rowing and steering. That’s how it normally works with novice coxswains.

If you want to turn the boat to starboard (your left), you’ll need to row with your right oar. If you want to turn the boat to port (your right), you’ll need to row with your left oar. Basically whichever way you want to turn, row with the opposite oar.

Coxing Novice Q&A Rowing Technique

Question of the Day

By readyallrow April 1, 2013

So my team has a regatta next weekend and we have only rowed at all 8s like 3 three times since winter training. When we do there is A LOT of check and the boat is really not set. As the coxswain, is there anything I can say to fix this and help get my boat ready for Sunday? Thanks!

There are tons of things you can say but with six days to go before your race, I’m not sure if much of it will have any noticeable impact, especially since you’ve only rowed by all eight three times. Practice, practice, practice is what you need more than anything else.

In this situation, with so little time before your race, I would focus on making sure they understand what ratio is (and making sure you understand it yourself), why it’s necessary, and how it impacts your rowing (both positively and negatively). Your coach will hopefully do some of the necessary drills with them to help the issue, so when you go through them pay attention to what he says to the rowers, the corrections he tells them to make, etc. Everything they say you can repeat to the rowers when you’re on your own with them.

Related: The “ratio” tag

As far as the set goes, for a novice boat I’d say it’s fairly natural for the boat to be unset the majority of the time. That’s just from lack of experience. Remind them how to set the boat when it’s leaning to either side and tell them specifically what adjustments to make. Don’t just tell starboard to raise their hands, also tell port to lower theirs. Don’t tell them to “set the boat” either with no further instructions on who needs to do what. Always tell them exactly what you want them to do. The set is affected by eight million and twelve different things but handle heights is probably the biggest, especially with novices. Remind them of where the handle should be coming into at the finish, that they need to lay back in order to finish properly, to tap down at the finish to get the blade out of the water, etc.

When I’m talking to novices about this I like to tell them to imagine there’s a table sitting across the gunnels that they have to glide their hands across. Visualizing this helps them to not dip their hands and sky their blades coming into the catch. Focus on keeping the handle level, just like you try and do with the chain on the erg. With time and experience this problem will solve itself but for now you’ve just got to be diligent about staying on them about where their hands need to be. As you observe your rowers more and talk with your coach(es) about what you see, you’ll be able to pick out any of the eight million other things that they do that effect the set. From there you can get more specific about what they need to do besides just adjusting their hands.

This whole issue is something that I struggle with explaining to people. As coxswains, we can sit there and tell the rowers everything they need to hear about what’s going on, how to fix things, etc. but there’s only so much we can do. The rowers have to have the ability to do three things: they need the ability (aka skill) to make the change, the ability to focus and implement what you’re asking, and the ability to understand why the change is necessary. Until you have all three of those things, it’s hard to make an impact.

College Coxing High School Novice Racing Rowing

Racing skills: 10 regatta tips for coxswains

By readyallrow March 29, 2013

With the spring season kicking off this weekend, here are my top ten tips for coxswains to ensure you’re prepared for every regatta.

Take responsibility for your cox box

These things are expensive – don’t let them out of your sight. Make sure they are clearly and visibly labelled with your name and/or your team name. Bring the charger home with you and fully charge it the night before your race. Also double check that you’ve got a working mic before you leave the boathouse.

Bring weight if you need it

Some regattas require coxswains to provide their own weight if they’re below the minimum. Check with your coach and see if the regattas you’re going to require this.

Have your recorder, notebook, and a pen

Make sure the batteries are charged and bring extras just in case. Have your notebook and a pen or two on hand so that you can throw together a quick recap of your race after you get off the water.

Wear the right clothes

The “right” clothes all depend on the conditions, but make sure that you are at least wearing clothes that display your school or team logo/colors. Don’t wear something that would make it impossible to identify you as a member of your team. Check the weather the night before and pack appropriately. Unless the weather is cloudless, no wind, and 85 degrees, you’ll probably get a little chilly on the water. Rainboots or Bean boots are another good thing to have on hand, particularly if it’s cold, raining, or has rained recently, that way you can keep your feet dry while slopping through a muddy race site.

Related: What to wear

Have several wrenches

One is necessary, multiple is preferred. Inevitably someone in your boat is going to say “I don’t have a wrench”, which only slows down the rigging process. Have extras on hand so you can share them with the rowers. Make sure they’re marked with your name though otherwise you might not get them back.

Review the course map before you race

The week of, or at the very least the day before, find a map of the race site and go over it. Look at the race course and see what identifiable landmarks you can point out, as well as where the meter marks are. Use this to help you form your race plan. Find out where your trailer is going to be in relation to where the docks are so you can determine the best way to get down there. Also locate where the coaches and coxswains meeting will be held.

Drink plenty of water and have a few cough drops on hand, just in case

I’m not a huge fan of cough drops but if it’s really cold or the air is dry then inevitably my throat will get kinda sore. I always try to make sure I drink a lot on race day but if I don’t have any water a cough drop is a good alternative (just not while you’re coxing – you’ll choke).

Related: How to protect your voice

Know when and where the coaches + coxswains meeting will be held

These aren’t optional. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been to the same regatta three years in a row and you know everything they say at the meeting forwards and backwards, you should still go. This year could be the year they’ve made a change with the traffic pattern and unless you’re there, you’re not going to know about it. There’s nothing more important that you need to be doing at the ungodly hours that coxswain meetings are held so you might as well go.

Show the novice coxswains around

Once you’ve been to the coxswains meeting, the boats are rigged, etc. take the novice coxswains on a quick tour and show them where all the important stuff is. Answer their questions, point out stuff about the race course, etc.

Keep track of your rowers

When you get on the bus, make them countdown from bow to stern. Tell them well ahead of time what time you’re meeting before your race, at the bus, for team meetings, etc. Have everyone’s phone numbers on hand so you can get a hold of them if someone is missing. If they want to go off during the down time, at least try to get an idea of where they’re going so you know where to look if you need to go find someone.

Image via // @avironfrance

College High School Q&A Recruiting Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow March 28, 2013

Do you have any recruitment tips for getting freshmen hooked?

Tell them what got you hooked. Be honest and don’t sugarcoat things (like the cold weather, erg tests, early morning practices, etc.), even if you’re desperate for people to sign up. Tell them about the regattas, traveling, spring break training, etc. How much class time can they anticipate missing? Throw in some info on a fun rowing tradition, like shirt betting or a tradition your team has. Tell them the history of your program (regardless of how long you’ve been around) and what makes it an extra-curricular worth participating in. What makes you stand out? “Crew is just awesome/better/more fun, duh” is not a reason. Also, please, I beg you, do not give them the standard spiel of “teammates, family, great coaches, etc.”. It’s so played out at this point and doesn’t even sound like a legitimate reason when people say it anymore – it sounds rehearsed and like you have no other reasons why they should consider joining.

Another thing, don’t be awkward and overly enthusiastic when you’re recruiting people. You know the type of person I’m talking about too. Don’t be those people. The kids you’re trying to recruit feel awkward enough as it is, don’t make them feel even weirder. If you have any trophies or medals from previous regattas, bring them. Have a coach, coxswain, team captain, senior, junior, sophomore, and freshman there so that the people you’re recruiting can get perspective and information from someone at every level on the team.

Have a FAQ handout prepared beforehand with the contact info of all the relevant people on the team listed on it. Don’t forget to include the handles/links for your team’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and/or website. If you include any or all of those things, make sure they’re regularly posted on and up to date. I guarantee you, if I went to your team’s Twitter and saw you hadn’t tweeted since last spring or that the most recent results on the website are from 2009, I’ll write you off immediately. It’s hard to take you seriously when you talk about how much commitment rowing takes when you can’t even keep your own team information up to date. That’s important stuff that people do look at.

Novice Q&A Rowing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow March 27, 2013

My coach has enlisted the help of the rowers who’ve finished their last season at school to help with a learn to row program for the new recruits. We’ll be taking them out in quads for a couple of weeks. Do you have any advice on how to teach them to get the basics down? My learn to row experience is just a big blur now!

Start small … and then back up from whatever you think “starting small” is and start even smaller. The first few times you go out, I would do nothing but catch placement from each position (just tapping down from the finish to start, moving to arms, arms and body, 1/2 slide, then all the way to the catch). Teaching them to tap down first and figure out what their hands have to do to in order to get the blade to respond will help you out a lot, and at the same time will demonstrate how important it is for the boat to be set. Make sure you spend some time going over that as soon as you get on the water, preferably before you even start rowing if you can. Have the ports push their hands all the way down, then have the starboards do the same. Make them figure out what they have to do in order to set it up instead of you telling them. I find that makes the concepts stick better, even if in the moment you feel like an asshole for not just telling them what to do. Once they understand that concept, move into tapping down, figuring out how the oars work, etc. Once they’ve got that figured out, start doing pause drills. Start with a double pause, then go down to a single, and then to straight rowing. I’d stick with just pairs for all of this to start until everyone is reasonably comfortable before you move on to having all four row.

Biggest suggestion is to just be patient. It’s what I have to remind myself every time I’m with novices because at this point, this stuff is so “auto-pilot” for me that I don’t even think about it anymore. You’re going to think that getting the hands away before the legs come up is like, “duh!”, but they don’t get that yet, so you’ve got to take the time to explain it while not going too crazy.

Have a plan of what you want to do before you get to the boathouse. Don’t be overly ambitious either. Think about their skill level and the amount of time you have. If you notice you’re not going to get through everything you had planned, don’t worry about it. Don’t suddenly start trying to rush through things because that’s when people get frustrated and accidents happen.

Crack a few jokes, throw in a few analogies and metaphors, and just make it fun. Obviously the environment in serious but you can still keep the mood light and relaxed. Have a good time with it and don’t take anything that happens too seriously.