Tag: qotd

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

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Hey! I’m a sophomore coxswain in high school and I’m in the 2V. We only have 2 varsity 8s because our team is a bit small. The 1V cox is a junior. (It’s a girls team). A lot of people have been saying that I am good enough to take her place, but I’m not sure if I am! She is a bit full of herself and thinks everyone likes her … but they don’t. She always gets confused but I am always alert and know what I’m doing. She is like my mentor and taught me a lot of the things I know. When I move into her spot (definitely by spring) how should I approach her since I will be the better coxswain? I’m just not sure if she will take it well, and I don’t want to make her angry or upset. This is difficult for me because I don’t want her to be sad that I took her place.

Here’s the thing. I don’t want to say that you shouldn’t care about the other coxswains because they’re your teammates and in most cases also your friends but when it comes to vying for boats … they’re the competition. I don’t give a damn about your feelings. I have a very “dog eat dog” philosophy when it comes to stuff like that. If having the 1V is important to you I expect you to have been working for it from day one just like I have been. If you haven’t been doing that and then end up losing your seat, well, sorry but you shouldn’t have assumed it was safe simply because of seniority or whatever. Keep personal feelings out of it.

If she’s been mentoring you, in theory I would think that she’d be at least a little proud that you’ve taken her advice and make improvements to the point where your coaches consider you skilled enough to handle the 1V. But, since not everything is rainbows and puppies I would suggest this:

Do not assume that you are the “better” coxswain, regardless of whether you are or aren’t. That just sounds stuck up and pretentious. If you act like that you can/will for sure turn her off and lose her as a mentor, which you probably don’t want.

Continue asking her for advice if/when you need it. Again, don’t assume that you have nothing left to learn just because you’re in one of the top boats. When you feel as though have nothing left to learn, that’s when you should quit.

Don’t assume you’re going to get the 1V. Even if it seems like a sure thing at this point, remember the saying that “the only sure things in life are death and taxes”.

Like I said before, if she’s upset, angry, or whatever about losing her seat, assuming your coach makes that decision, then that’s her issue to deal with, not yours. If she treats you like crap afterwards then that should be confirmation enough for your coach to know that they made the right decision by taking her out of the boat. You’ve just got to accept that that’s how she’s acting and move on.

I would also suggest not letting the rowers talk shit about her (or anyone else) to or around you. Regardless of whether you all get along with her, I don’t think it’s OK to do that to someone you’re on a team with. I’m a little torn on whether or not this is a self-serving ulterior motive or not but you can also make yourself look good in situations like that by shutting that kind of behavior down immediately and telling them to stop if you hear them saying something about her. Obviously you shouldn’t tell them to stop JUST to make yourself look good because that is shitty – I mean it in more of a “kill two birds with one stone” kind of way. In the long run if you’re known as the coxswain/person on the team who doesn’t tolerate stuff like that, you’ll be seen as more of a leader (obviously good for someone who’s a coxswain) and as someone who upholds a high standard of behavior for the people on the team. THAT is the kind of person I want coxing all of my boats, but I would depend on the coxswain in the top boat to be the one setting the example for everyone else. I’m definitely the kind of person that will take stuff like that into consideration when I’m thinking about lineups. Whether or not other coaches do that, that’s up to them, but one thing you should assume is that they are watching you to see how you react to and handle situations like that.

Coxing Q&A

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How did you know when you were ready to go back to rowing? I am in a similar situation; I was burned out and took a few months off. During my time off I realized I wasn’t coxing for the right reasons and I think I’ve discovered what the right reasons are. Now I miss it like crazy but I’m worried about going back too soon.

After living in Boston for a year I was looking for jobs and decided to check row2k on a whim (for the first time in awhile). I saw that one of the local high schools was hiring and I figured why not try coaching. I don’t think I ever came to the conclusion that I was “ready” to get back into it (after a five year break), I just kind of … did.

I think the biggest thing that has helped me not get burned out on rowing again was that it wasn’t (and isn’t) my life 24/7. I go to practice and when I’m there, that’s what I’m focused on but when I’m not I try not to think about it (unless I’m doing blog stuff). That was part of the problem when I was at Syracuse – it consumed every aspect of my life and far too many hours in my day than it should have.

Related: How did you balance crew, classwork and a social life while you were in college?

The other thing is that I’ve really liked nearly everyone I’ve worked with. I’ve learned something from all of them and in one way or another, they helped me figure out what I want and don’t want in a team/coaching environment. Both of those things are things you should consider when you decide you want to get back into coxing. One, how much time is it going to take up and is that too much and two, who are the people you’ll be working with, are they people you want to be working with, and are they going to help you get better. If you figure out your responses to those and end up settling for something less, you might end up feeling burned out again.

In addition to that, like you said, knowing the reasons you’re doing it are also a pretty big part of it all. Once you’ve figured out what the right reasons are and are actually honest with yourself about why they’re right and the previous ones were wrong, you’re setting yourself up for a solid, productive return to the sport. Looking back, I don’t actually know if I was coxing at Syracuse for the right reasons. I knew I wanted to do it and that I wanted to go far with coxing but I was also partially doing it because it was what was expected of me. I think pretty early on in high school, maybe around the start of sophomore year, it started being assumed by my friends, family, coaches, and teammates that I was going to cox in college. My junior year it was pretty much expected of me since I’d had a successful career up to that point . By the time spring season had rolled around my senior year I’d already been accepted to Syracuse, so that combined with the insanely successful season I ended up having meant there was no backing out of it even if I wanted to. Part of the reason quitting was so hard for me was because I felt like I was letting down all these people that expected me to go do great and wonderful things, but those expectations, while good most of the time, contributed to why I stuck with it longer than I should have and why I was so miserable. When I started coaching and coxing again, I didn’t have to worry about anyone else because I was doing all of it for me.

Novice Q&A Technique

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Hey! I am a novice and today our cox said to check our “hand height” … what does it mean? Is it at the catch or on the recovery? Thank you.

He/she was referring to your handle heights, which is the height above the gunnels that your hands and oar handle are. This applies to the entire stroke but where discrepancies are felt the most is on the recovery when the blades are out of the water. Your handle heights, for the most part, are what help to stabilize (aka “set”) the boat. If the handle heights of the rowers are all the same, the boat will sit perfectly level. If one side’s hands are up high (between your shoulders and mid-rib cage) and the other side’s hands are down low (between their belly button and hips), the boat will be offset.

When you pull through the drive, the handle should be hitting you somewhere between your mid-rib cage and belly button at the finish. For girls, a good reference is about where your bra line is. That might seem high when you’re just sitting normally but when you factor in the layback, it’s just about the right spot. At the finish it’s important to remember to tap down to get your blade out of the water before moving the hands away, which you should do in over smooth, level movement. The best way to think about it is like you’re gliding your hands across a flat surface. You don’t want your hands bobbing all over the place because that’s going to decrease the stability of the boat. If your coxswain says to check your handle heights or set the boat you should think about where your hands are (too high, too low, or just right) and then make any necessary adjustments at the finish (never in the middle) of the stroke.

College Q&A Recruiting

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Can a coxswain back out of a verbal commitment? I want to tell a very good D1 school that I will commit to go there but my coach said I should wait until after HOCR because I might be able to go to a better school if I do well. What should I do? Can you still go on an official to another school if you verbally commit?

The NCAA’s definition of a verbal commitment is this: “A college-bound student-athlete’s commitment to a school before he or she signs (or is able to sign) a National Letter of Intent. The college-bound student-athlete can announce a verbal commitment at any time. This commitment is NOT binding for either the college-bound student-athlete or the school. Only the signing of the National Letter of Intent accompanied by a financial aid agreement is binding of both parties.”

Verbal commitments are a tricky thing. They’re not binding but you’re expected to honor your word. It’s one of those unspoken, common sense things. If you say to a coach that you’re coming to XYZ University, they’re assuming that you are indeed coming to XYZ university, committing yourself to the team, and forgoing any other offers or applications. Depending on how big of a score you are for the program, the coach(es) might end up pulling verbal offers that they have made to other athletes. There are definitely repercussions but I think it’s more on their end than it is on yours because they could potentially lose out on more athletes than just you if you de-commit. It would also put you in an awkward situation because they’ve spent all this time, effort, money, etc. on recruiting you and you respond by changing your mind after previously saying “yes” to them. I wouldn’t blame them for being pissed.

Related: Official vs. unofficial visits

That’s not to say that de-commiting is the wrong thing to do though. It might be the right thing for you because you realize, for whatever reason, that the school or team isn’t the right fit for you. That’s fine and completely understandable, but the reasons that prompted you to come to that conclusion are all things you should have thought about way ahead of time. I can’t think of too many things that would suddenly pop up this far into the process that would cause you to back out of a commitment.

Unless you’ve signed an NIL, been accepted by the university, and have said “yes” to the coach, no one’s going to say you can’t go on another visit. This is actually called a “soft commitment”, which means you say yes but keep going on officials. I’ll warn you though, the other coaches will ask you where else you’re looking, where else you’ve gone or are planning to go on officials, and how interested you are in those other schools/programs. This isn’t to pressure you into saying that the school you’re at is your favorite but it is to gauge your level of interest across the board. If it’s obvious that you’re leaning towards another school, they’re probably going to back off and move on to the recruits who are still very much interested in their program. If you say you’ve already verbally committed to another program (they’ll find out anyways so it’s not worth lying about) they’ll, again, probably be annoyed that you’re kinda leading them on and wasting their resources by being there when they could have brought someone in that really wants to go there and hasn’t already said yes to someone else.

The best analogy I can think of is that it’s like you’re engaged to someone but are still going on dates with other people just to make sure you’re actually with the right person. The person you’re engaged to is probably thinking “WTF, seriously? After all this time, you’re still not sure?” and the people you’re going on dates with are thinking “Why did I just buy you an expensive dinner when you’re not even available?”

With regards to Head of the Charles … I get what your coach is saying but going to college still comes back to academics first, athletics second. Sure, the crew team might be better at Washington than at Cal but Cal might have the better academic program. You have to think long term and not just about the immediate future. I guess in theory if you do well enough then you might make yourself look like a better prospect to the higher end programs you’re looking at but I don’t think it would ultimately make that much of a difference. Regatta results, let alone results at one race, are only a small piece of the puzzle. Unless you’ve applied early decision to the school you want to commit to and have been accepted (which I don’t think any schools have even announced yet…), I wouldn’t give anyone a verbal, regardless of how well you do at HOCR.

Keep in mind that the potential for something to come up that causes you or the coach to change your/their mind is always there and you don’t want to get stuck in a bad spot because you’ve turned down other schools or didn’t apply anywhere else because you were set on going to this school. Just like you can rescind your verbal, so too can the coaches. Most people tend to forget that and then experience premature aging when they realize they don’t have a Plan B. Until you’ve been accepted by the university (the most important thing) and have signed on the dotted line, nothing is official.

College Q&A Teammates & Coaches

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Hi, I am a college freshman, and am in an uncomfortable situation with one of my assistant coaches. I like her and think she is a good coach however other girls have said she’s a bitch. At first I thought they just didn’t like her being a hardass (even though I didn’t even see her as that) but then the other day I found her a walk-on and she said I was her favorite freshman. She also said it to everyone else at practice. At first I was thinking she was joking around but I also see the way she acts around all the other freshmen and she can be pretty mean to them, especially our cox. She also came up to me while we were erg testing and was saying what our top freshman split was and how I was under it and that she wanted me to beat it. She didn’t say much to anyone else. The others have noticed the favoritism and personally I don’t think it’s fair to them because they work just as hard as me. Any advice on handling this situation?

Yikes.

She’s definitely in the wrong here for making it blatantly obvious that she’s playing favorites. My best advice would be to talk with your head coach about this and explain that it’s making you uncomfortable and putting you in an awkward situation with your teammates because it seems like your assistant coach is giving you preferential treatment while being overly-harsh with everyone else. If you’re comfortable saying that to your assistant coach, go for it, but I think it would be better to let the head coach deal with it since I think it’s something they’re better suited to handle. Since they have more authority than a freshman rower, it’s more likely (I would hope) that she’ll listen to them and take things a bit more seriously than if you said something.

College Q&A Rowing Training & Nutrition

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What are the differences between rowing programs for DI, DII, and DIII schools? I know only DI and DII can offer scholarships but other than that what’s the difference as far as intensity and daily routine go?

Each program at each division is as intense as they want to be. I think it’s assumed, and in most cases subsequently shown, that D1 programs operate at a higher level of intensity than other programs, mainly because the expectations (from the athletic department, alumni, overall history/legacy of the team, etc.) are so high.

Related: What differences are there between being a collegiate coxswain versus a coxswain for a high school level team? What would a typical practice session look like?

In terms of daily routine, that’s also going to differ between programs. The two D1 programs I’ve been a part of had/have two practices a day, at least four days a week, and then one long Saturday morning practice. Lifting was typically done twice a week but that changes based on the season. These are done as a team whereas at the D3 level lifts are done on your own, which gives you the flexibility to work around your schedule and fit it in when you can. The number of hours you can practice with a coach present differs between division 1/2 and division 3 with D3 getting less time than D1/2 (hence why they only practice together once a day).

Q&A

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How do people qualify for CANEMEX? Is it the boat that wins club nationals?

The athletes that are chosen to represent the US are chosen from the rowers that attend the high performance camps. I have to imagine that the selection process for the crew(s) that goes includes lots of seat racing and exceptional erg scores. Both the junior men’s and women’s sites said that they were taking one eight each this year, so of all the attendees at camp, only eight rowers and one coxswain from each side would go to the regatta. I feel like in the past I’ve read about quads or fours going but I couldn’t find any information about that on USRowing’s website.

Coxing How To Q&A Racing

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Hi! Since fall season hit, I’ve been trying to improve my steering. The problem is, my team has a limited number a boats and we’re taking a Resolute to a head race. The steering essentially forces me to go straight and I find it impossible to make it around big turns! I was wondering, how can I steer a head race in a Resolute?

Whenever I’m in Resolutes I feel like I’m steering a bathtub or something. I don’t know if they’re all like that or just the ones I’ve been in but it was really frustrating. I think one of the boats we used at Penn AC was a Resolute too and I remember the coxswains had a lot of problems steering around the turn right after the finish line on the Schuylkill, probably because we had the same racing rudder that you have.

Your best option is going to be using the rowers to help you turn. In some races, like HOCR, this is a necessity anyways on some of the turns. You should still use the rudder and turn it in the direction you want to go but to fully get around the turn, you’ll want to have the rowers adjust their power so that one side powers down while the other side brings it around. Having one side row at 100% and then telling the other side to “pull harder” just does. not. work. It doesn’t! I don’t know why coxswains do this. If you’re turning to port, you want the port rowers to go down to maybe 75% (I never go less than 50% on any turn) and then have your starboards go balls out to bring you around. It’s gotta be coordinated well so that everyone still stays in time, knows when to adjust their power, and when to even it out again. I typically say something like “ports down, starboards up in 2…in 1…now, starboards GO”. This tells everyone what to do in as few words as possible. We also practiced doing this a lot before HOCR last year so they had plenty of opportunities to get used to how I was planning on calling it.

Coxing Q&A

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I’ve just joined a varsity program and we have been doing a lot of long pieces in preparation for 6K season. Whether it be ‘racing’ pieces or ‘technique’ pieces, I do find myself stumbling on things to say. I’m not quite clicking as much as I did last year (maybe it’s because last year during fall season we were still learning how to actually row – this is my first year on varsity). Do you have any tips to coxing longer pieces without being annoying? And also – do you have an advice on how to steer while keeping it close with other boats that we’re practicing with?

I’ll tackle the steering question first. The first thing you’ve got to do is communicate with the other coxswains. Ask them where they’re pointing when you’re on straight bodies of water and adjust your point accordingly. Do this before you start rowing. When you’re on a river that has bends and curves, make sure you know when to start turning depending on whether you’re on the inside, middle, or outside and then tell the other coxswains when you’re starting your turn. This will help you prep for head races when you might have to turn while passing or being passed.

Related: 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?

In addition to communicating with one another, the next two most important things you’ve gotta do are not oversteer and not freak out because of how close another crew is to you. I’d say anywhere from 5-6ft. is enough room to have between the two sets of blades. Any more and you’re probably taking up too much of the river. Any less and you’re probably going to clash blades (unless you’re really good at keeping a point). When I first started coxing I was a chronic oversteerer. I got much better over the course of my freshman year but would still fall back into bad habits when having to steer next to other boats.

Related: 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!

Trusting other coxswains is one of the hardest parts of the job for me and being really close to them always made me nervous. Whenever we’d do pieces with other crews I’d volunteer to be the one in the middle so I could force myself to become more comfortable with crews on either side of me. It forces you to be even more aware of the adjustments you’re making and how big they are vs. how small they need to be. If you get jittery because another crew is close to you and then overcorrect by throwing the rudder to one side, you’re going to end up doing a fishtail-pinball like maneuver that’s going throw off you, the rowers, the other coxswain(s), and your coach because of the potential that they’ll have to stop the piece so you can get your point again or so the crews can untangle their oars.

Related: Because there are so many aspects in a coxswain’s job, what do you think is the one thing that is hardest for you?

The TL;DR of this is to communicate, pick a point and stick to it, maintain your composure, and make small adjustments when necessary.

With regards to coxing longer pieces, as long as you’re not saying the same thing over and over and over expecting something different to happen, speaking in a monotonous tone, and/or saying a bunch of nonsense, you won’t be annoying. Check out the post linked below – I think there’s some good info in there that’ll help you figure out things to say throughout the pieces.Also, check out the recordings I’ve posted for some ideas of things to say and how to say them. (Don’t just pick out things that sound cool either – know why they’re being used and understand the purpose behind them.)

Related: Today during practice we just did 20 minute pieces of steady state rowing. My crew gets bored very quickly and their stroke rating goes down, so I decided to add in various 13 stroke cycles throughout the piece, but I regret doing it because it wasn’t steady state. I’m just confused as to how to get them engaged throughout without sounding like a cheerleader but at the same time keeping up the drive and stroke.

Don’t put too much weight on the “varsity” label. I see it far too often and it’s annoying. Yes, being on varsity is a step above novice (or JV) but there’s really nothing special about it. You’re doing more work and pushing yourself harder but that’s the point. Congratulations, you leveled up and have now reached Level 2 in rowing. “Varsity” is just a word that people put on a pedestal because they think it means all these things that it doesn’t. The only difference between being on varsity and not being on varsity is that on varsity you’re expected to have a slightly better understanding of the concepts you learned the previous year, just like in school. Keep doing what you know how to do, make an effort to learn what you don’t, and always work to make small improvements when you’re out on the water. That is what being on the varsity team is about.

College High School Q&A Teammates & Coaches

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As a coach, do you feel that it is ever acceptable to refuse coaching to one specific individual solely on the basis of personal differences? My coach of two years this morning threw me out of his squad, not on the basis that I am a poor rower, that I don’t have potential, or that I don’t train, simply because he finds me difficult to deal with.

I guess my first question is why does he find you difficult to deal with? Coaches don’t normally just decide something like that, it’s usually something they notice and try to deal with over a period of time and then after deciding it’s either not worth their time anymore or is becoming too much of a distraction to your teammates, then they’ll remove you from practice(s) until you … change, for lack of a better word.

In certain situations, I do think it’s acceptable. I don’t think “refusing coaching” is the right term though because I (and most coaches) wouldn’t straight up refuse to coach you but I don’t see a problem with telling you to just go home if I felt like the situation/your attitude warranted it. You could be the best rower or coxswain on the team with a wealth of potential but if I think you’re a pain in the ass because you’re being uncooperative, uncoachable, or are being a distraction to the rest of the crew for whatever reason then yea, I wouldn’t have a problem telling you you’re out of the boat for the day/week.

If I was ever in this position I wouldn’t put you on land, I’d just send you home. I’m not a huge believer in punishing someone by putting them on the erg because I think that sends the wrong message about what the erg’s purpose is. If I find you difficult to deal with for whatever reason, chances are I also think that you’re wasting my time and having some kind of negative impact on your teammates’ ability to train. Why would I “reward” you by giving you the opportunity to continue training, even if it is on land, if you’ve been taking that opportunity away from your teammates for the last few practices? Time on the water is a valuable commodity that I don’t want to waste and if I think you’re wasting people’s time, I’m most certainly going to make you aware of it by taking away your opportunity to train.

After practice was over though or the following day I’d at least make the effort to talk to you to explain my reasoning for taking you out of the boat and try to get your side of the story to see if maybe there’s an underlying issue contributing to things. Basically I’d try to give you an opportunity to take ownership of the situation and recognize that your own actions are probably 99.9% of the reason why you’re on the erg and not in the boat. Doing that is a lot more effective in the long run than just saying “leave” and completely refusing to coach you, at least in my opinion.

On the flip side, if the coach is saying to get out of the boat and that they’re not going to coach you because you voted for this person instead of that person on one of those inane talent shows – those kind of personal differences – then yea, I think that’s unacceptable.