Tag: qotd

Question of the Day

By readyallrow July 20, 2013

So I’ve always been a coxswain on a men’s team and I was recruited by men’s programs at various schools. The school I ended up having to choose (not my number one) only has a women’s program. I’m concerned because I’ve always been around a comfortable weight for a men’s coxswain, not a women’s. Any tips for making the switch with my weight? I’ve been really concerned about it.

Does your school have a club men’s team? Sometimes they aren’t as well “advertised” as women’s programs but it’s worth checking into if you haven’t already.

I’d talk to the coaches first and just say that you’ve always been naturally and comfortably around 120-125lbs, which has never been an issue because up until now you’ve been a men’s coxswain. Being 110lbs (or in that range) might not be reasonable or even possible for your body and coaches have to understand that. Don’t do anything drastic just to get super close to the minimum and don’t let anyone tell you that you need to be exactly 110lbs either. If you can be somewhere in the range of 115-117lbs, that should be fine.

Like I said in that question from yesterday, find out what a healthy target is for you and just make simple changes to your diet and exercise routine. Doesn’t need to be anything drastic. In the fall there’s some leeway with weight for everyone – it doesn’t become something that anyone really starts thinking about until spring season rolls around – but you should still be aware of your goal and be consciously working towards it. If you get to a point where you’ve got nothing left to lose and you’re starting to feel some negative effects from it, talk with your coaches again. This shouldn’t be something you obsess over either, both now or when you’re at school.

College Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow July 19, 2013

Hi! I rowed for four years of high school but the college I’m going to has a very strong D1 women’s team and at my height and 2k score (5’4″, 8:11, plateaued junior year) there’s no way I’d be competitive on it. The men’s team is club but they’re pretty competitive so I’m going to join as a coxswain. I’ve emailed the coach and went to a practice last fall, and they even said I wouldn’t have to try out. Problem is, I told them I weigh 125, when in actuality I weigh 133 on a good week, but normally 135-138. I didn’t worry about it during my senior year, I was mostly focused on staying strong to have a good season as a rower, but now I’m leaving for school in a little over a month and I’m worried this will hurt me. Despite my lack of experience, I think I’d make a pretty good cox. I’ve spent a lot of time as bow in quads, I was captain and generally a leader on my team, and I have a lot of experience with the sport that I believe will help me – I’ve rowed every type of boat, I’ve been in very winning and very losing crews, and I went from having horrible technique to one of the best on my team. When I went to a week-long summer camp as a cox I was quickly put in the top men’s boat and I got a lot of positive feedback from the coaches. I’m just worried that my weight combined with my lack of coxing experience will prevent me from making a good boat. What is your experience with the importance of weight and what can I do to get it down while still staying healthy? Thanks!

Any reasonable coach would choose a coxswain with solid skills, good rapport with their teammates, and who they can trust over a coxswain who weighs 110lbs or 125lbs but lacks every other important component of what makes a good coxswain. In that same vein though, it is important that you’re at or within range of racing weight (for a men’s coxswain I’d say 127-130lbs would be a reasonable cutoff). It’s a pretty big part of being a coxswain and it’s well within the coach’s right to point that out.

It sounds like you’ve got a lot of potential given all the various experiences you had. The only way that I can think that your weight would come to the forefront is if there is another coxswain of equal skill who weighs closer to the minimum that you’re competing against for a boat. In that instance I would choose the lighter coxswain simply because it makes more sense. Most likely though you’ll be coxing a novice boat your first season anyways so unless you’ve got multiple novice boats, there’s a slim chance of you being kept out of one.

As far as getting it down while staying healthy, the first thing for you to determine is what exactly is a healthy weight for you. It’s been awhile since I’ve looked at height-weight charts but I think the “average” weight for a 5’4″ female is something like 124 to 130lbs or something like that. That might not be “normal” for you though so that’s important to figure out before you start doing anything drastic. Ideally you should talk to your doctor about it and discuss it with them since they know you better than I do. Plus, you’ve got to ask yourself if you’re willing to make that commitment. I’m gonna go ahead and assume that you’re pretty healthy and in shape given the fact that you were a rower but still, losing weight is a commitment regardless of how many pounds in total it is.

My suggestions are the same as they always are – simple lifestyle changes. You don’t have to change everything and suddenly go all “Biggest Loser” on yourself, just make small changes to what you’re already doing. Try to replace two or three things you each with healthier options, drink lots of water, and add in 2-3 days of solid exercise a week to start. Find something fun so it won’t feel like working out and you’ll be more likely to stick with it. There’s TONS of options out there, you’ve just gotta search them out. It’s better than just aimlessly going to the gym and being bored with what you’re doing.

Don’t obsess over your weight but be mindful of it. Fall season isn’t as important as spring season when it comes to being close to racing weight (it is, but less so) so you’ve got plenty of time. For now just focus on learning as much as you can.

College Coxing Q&A Recruiting

Question of the Day

By readyallrow July 18, 2013

First of all, I just wanted to say that your blog is amazing and I’ve learned a lot from reading your posts. I’m going into my freshman year of college at a university that wasn’t my first choice. I was recruited as a coxswain for the men’s team at UW but unfortunately couldn’t afford to go there. I’m still crushed about it, but I’m trying to eventually transfer if I can find ways to deal with the money situation. Do you think it would be best to transfer before spring season or in the fall?

I think from a rowing standpoint it’d be best to transfer in the fall because then you’ll have a couple months to get acquainted with the coaches, the rowers, the team culture, the equipment, etc. before the craziness of the spring season sets in. The winter training trip will be way more fun and way less awkward for you if you’ve already established some friendships with the guys vs. coming straight from your other school, not knowing anyone, and being expected to jump right in and take charge.

From a school standpoint I don’t think it makes much of a difference if you go in the spring or fall. It might push your graduation back to August instead of May or June if you transfer before the spring semester but if that’s not an issue for you I wouldn’t worry about it. Some classes are only offered at certain times so that could get tricky initially with scheduling if you have to take classes with pre-reqs but all in all, spring vs. fall doesn’t really matter.

From a “social” standpoint, transfer before the fall. You’ll get to come in at the same time as all the new freshmen and it’s right at the beginning of the year so there will be a ton of stuff happening. Going in the fall also has the potential to make it easier to meet people too since most people will be starting off not knowing anyone or wanting to make new friends, whereas in the spring everyone’s already spent four months together in classes, extra-curriculars, etc. This can help you out with crew too. If you come in at the same time as the new freshman recruits instead of four months after them you won’t have to deal with any drama later on with them having attitudes or whatever because “they were there first”. I was talking to someone about that a few months ago and it was the most ridiculous situation ever but it makes sense why it happened.

Talk to the coaches at UW, particularly whoever is in charge of recruiting. Let them know (like, now-ish) that you are hoping to transfer to UW and give them a timeline of when you’d like to do that. I’m sure they already know why you turned them down but reiterate that to them and ask if they have any suggestions for discussing financial aid with the university. I have to assume they’d be able to give you some good advice in that area. Get as MUCH information as possible on grants, scholarships, etc. from the registrar’s office and find out what you’re eligible for. Start working on those applications sooner rather than later. You’ll have to reapply to the university too, even though you were already accepted, so don’t wait too long to get started on that. During your fall semester at the school you’re currently at try to form some relationships with your professors who might be able to write you a letter of recommendation to include with your transfer app. Obviously don’t suck up to them just to get a LOR but you know what I mean. Go to office hours, show up to class, participate, etc.

If you’re coxing at your current school, I’d keep the fact that you want to transfer on the DL. I wouldn’t hide it, per se, but I wouldn’t make it blatantly obvious that this team/school wasn’t your first choice. It’s kind of like looking for a new job when you’ve already got a job – don’t say anything until you’ve got something secured lest your attitude, dedication, commitment, loyalty, etc. be questioned. At that point have the conversation with your coach and go from there. Having it be known right off the bat that you turned UW down (legitimate reasons aside), are at your second choice school, and want to transfer as soon as you can’t probably won’t do you any favors in building any sort of camaraderie with your teammates.

Masters Rowing Technique

Question of the Day

By readyallrow July 18, 2013

I have been rowing starboard and mostly 7 seat recently in a women’s masters 8+ and for the last two practices they’ve had me stroking, which I really disliked. Granted we’re all pretty new to rowing, and there are some definite strength/power issues with teammates, but every time I’m in stroke seat I feel like I just can’t get my oar out of the water fast enough. I’m literally hitting my legs over and over, and sometimes I feel like there’s nowhere for my oar to go when I try to take a decent stroke. I rarely, if ever, seem to have this problem rowing starboard, or in my usual 7 seat. Last practice was fantastic, and then I’m stroking and its a mess. Is it a boat set issue, or is it just me? Even on simple pick drills I’m having a difficult time getting the oar out of the water cleanly in stroke seat. One of our coaches just told me to tap down more and the other said it was a boat set issue..How can I fix this? I’m confused. Help!

Oh come on, that’s just lazy coaching. I think it’s the rigging. Have you checked the spacers to see where they’re positioned? If you haven’t got enough on the bottom then that might be why you’re having a hard time getting the blade out of the water. You’d be pulling into your lap which would be why you can’t tap down anymore. How is your coach not seeing that? If there are too many on the bottom then you’d have a hard time getting it in at the catch. I’d look to see where they’re at and then based on the issue you’re having adjust from there. Ask your coaches about that too … like, actually say “what if I tried adjusting the spacers” and then see what they say.

It partially is a boat set issue because, if I’m right, you’re being forced to pull in too low. That’s gonna throw it over to your side which will exacerbate the issue of you not being able to get your blade out. Plus you’ve got seven other inexperienced rowers who all have their own weird technique quirks going on that are contributing to the boat being off set. Set issues are never caused by one thing but sometimes you’ve gotta look past the obvious stuff to figure out what the problem is. Check your spacers the next time you go out and see if adjusting them helps. If not, bug the hell out of your coach(es) until they give you something better than “tap down more” or “set the boat”.

Oh, and if you really don’t like stroking, tell them that. Just say that it’s difficult to focus on rowing well and establishing a rhythm that everyone can follow and that you’re more comfortable rowing in 7-seat, especially since starboard is your natural side. There’s no sense in repeatedly rowing on a side where things are constantly going poorly because that’s how bad technique and bad habits develop. You start changing how you row to compensate for whatever’s going on. Talk to your coaches, explain why it’s frustrating, and again, see what they say.

Coxing Drills Q&A Rowing Technique

Question of the Day

By readyallrow July 18, 2013

I’m a HS coxie, and I’ve been a long time fan of your blog. I’ve been training during the summer and recently my boat has transformed from a coxed 4+ to a coxed 4x+. One of our members has summer school so we’re out on the water fairly early, ~30 minutes before most of the coach boats come out. What are some useful drills for some guys who are transitioning from sweeping to sculling? These guys have done both but it’s obviously a bit of a change. Right now, we’ve been doing fairly basic stuff, SS with a few pause drills, square blade, etc. Any ones that you think could really help shape up the crew? I’d appreciate any advice that you could give. Thanks a lot and keep at what you’re doing!

Your coaches are OK with you going out 30 minutes early without them?

Pause drills are definitely a great thing to do. Try to vary where you do them since each one hits a different technical point depending on where the pause is (hands away, bodies over, 1/4 slide, 1/2 slide, and 3/4 slide). Have the guys focus on their posture at each position and think “am I really at 1/4 slide, did I go too far or not far enough”, etc. Go through each pair (stern, middle, bow) before working your way up to all four. Here’s how I’d do it:

3-5 regular strokes to get the boat moving

10 strokes pausing at hands away

5 regular strokes

Repeat 10 pause, 5 regular until you’re all the way through the drill then pick it up from the beginning with middle pair.

When you’re through with the pairs go to all four and pause at the major points – arms away, bodies over, and half slide. Do 5 pauses and 10 regular strokes (reverse of earlier).

Make sure you really emphasize during the in-between regular strokes what you just worked on – getting the hands away smoothly and at the same speed as the boat, early body prep, starting the slide together, making sure you’ve still got room to come up when at 1/2 slide, etc. This should be done at a comfortable stroke rate too. Not too fast obviously, but not too slow either. 18-20 is good. I would imagine that you could easily use up the entire 30ish minutes doing this drill but if you have some extra time row by all four continuously and work on putting together everything you were working on. Talk to the guys and find out what they’re having trouble with, if anything, and make a note to focus on that the next time you go out. Remind them to not just go through the motions with this drill – consciously think about every single stroke.

A stationary drill you can do is catch placement drills, which will help them work on putting all their blades in the water together in addition to helping them move the wheels of the slide together. Start at the finish, you say “go”, they come up to the catch and drop their blades in without taking a stroke. Pause for a second then have them relax and come back to the finish. I’d start off with pairs again, do this until you’ve had at least 10 good catches and then move on to the next pair, followed by all four. Remember, there’s a difference between 10 good catches and 10 total catches. 10 good catches teaches you not to settle for anything less than your best. It might get frustrating at times but that’s OK. When they’re coming into the catch, I like to tell my crews to really exaggerate the “plop” sound so that they can all hear their blades going in. I find that helps them hold each other and themselves more accountable. Remind them also that they’re not lifting the blade into the water, they’re just unweighting the hands.

Feet out is another great thing to do. It’s not a sculling specific drill but it’ll help you focus on keeping the connection all the way through the finish and release, supporting the stroke with your core, keeping pressure out against both pins, etc. I would do your usual warmup with feet out and then go straight into all four continuous for 5-10 minutes with a couple added 10s or 20s at 18-20spm. My eight does our warmup with feet out every day and I’ve seen a lot of positive changes come out of it.

The last drill that comes to mind is the first inch (also known as top-quarter) drill. There are a couple of different variations and ways you can do this but the one I like to do is a progression drill starting with the first inch, going to the top quarter, top half, and then finally taking full strokes. You start at the catch, blades buried, and then take really short, choppy (but clean) strokes, making sure you’ve got a really solid connection with the stretchers. Do 5-10 of those before lengthening out and repeating the same thing on the top quarter of the slide, followed by the top half, and then finally with full slide strokes.

This is good because it works on the connection, quick catches, clean releases, timing, and a ton of other things. When I do this I tend to not count out the number of strokes either. I leave it up to the rowers because it forces them to pay attention and not zone out. It drives me nuts when they do drills on autopilot. I’ve never done this drill with scullers before but I think it’d be useful to do to help them get acquainted with having two oars now instead of just one, amongst the other obvious stuff. This is another drill I’d start off doing by pairs before transitioning to all four.

Communicate with them and talk about what you’re all doing well and what needs work. What do they think needs work (and why) and what do you think needs work. Present that to your coach and say “this is what we’ve been doing, we’ve all noticed this getting better but something we noticed is that we sometimes have trouble with ____” and then ask what drills they’d suggest to work on that.

If you’ve only got 30 minutes, make sure you use that time effectively. Don’t try to cram in a ton of drills or anything like that. Do one drill each day and then use whatever extra time you have to do steady state with feet out until your coaches get there. Focus on using your time wisely instead of trying to do everything. Do the drill and reinforce what it taught during the steady state. If you do pause drills for 20 minutes and are able to do 10 minutes of steady state, use 2 minutes each to focus on keeping the hands quick around the turn, getting the body prepped before the slides move, staying controlled on the recovery, having quick, solid, together catches, and then finish it off by dropping the rate a couple beats (14-16spm maybe) and rowing at 100%. The strokes should feel long, relaxed, and connected.

Something you can do too to help with boat “cohesiveness” is to get everyone breathing together. Have you ever seen a crew rowing together at those powerful, low rates and they’re all exhaling together at the catch and it sounds like a train’s coming through? There’s a relaxing intensity to it that lends itself well to maintaining the focus and rhythm.

College Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow July 17, 2013

Thanks for answering that last question! I figured it wouldn’t be that difficult since men’s rowing isn’t an NCAA sport, but I thought you would know more about this than me. Do you have any advice for making the best out of the situation when you’re on a team that you don’t necessarily want to be on for an extended period of time, knowing that you want to transfer?

No problem! I can’t imagine you’ll encounter any issues but better to find out ahead of time and be able to deal with it rather than when you get to your new school and it be too late.

As far as being on a team you don’t want to be a part of…do you have to/even want to be on the team for the rest of the time you’re at your current school? Obviously I never want to tell anyone to straight up quit but there comes a time when you’ve gotta ask yourself if it’s worth it. The commitment to your team as a whole is one thing but the commitment to your teammates as individuals is another. If you’re saying you’re going to go back in the fall and be a part of the team you’re committing yourself to the four or eight other women in your boat. As the coxswain, it’s your responsibility to … not be happy-go-lucky about everything because that’s annoying and unrealistic but to be that person who always shows up, regardless of whatever else is going on, simply because you’re the leader of the crew. If it’s obvious you don’t want to be there for whatever reason, how do you think that would make the other people in your boat feel? I don’t mean to say that to make you feel bad or guilty because you shouldn’t, but think about it from their perspective.

Anyways, back to your question. How do you make the best of the situation? Show up, put the work in, keep off-the-water stuff off the water, have a positive attitude (even if you have to fake it sometimes), try not to make it super evident that you’d rather be anywhere but there, and find something to dedicate yourself to in order to make your time there worth it. If you’re going to be getting up early to go to practice you better have a damn good reason for doing so otherwise you will encounter new levels of disdain and misery that you didn’t know were possible. Been there, did that, can confirm, it sucks. There’s a certain level of selflessness that’s required in rowing, especially as a coxswain, but beyond that, do what you’ve gotta do to make sure you don’t feel like you’re wasting your time.

The summer is a good time to evaluate all of that and gauge how you’re feeling ahead of time so that if you do decide to walk away, you can give your coach(es) plenty of heads up. Regardless of what you ultimately end up doing, your teammates deserve your very best when you’re there and if there’s any question about whether or not you can give that, you’ve gotta ask yourself if it’s worth staying on the team knowing that you’re just going to be transferring to a new school in a few months.

College Q&A Recruiting Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow July 17, 2013

Do you know anything about NCAA rules and talking to coaches when you’re already on a team but trying to transfer? Specifically from a women’s program to a men’s program…

Your best bet is to get in touch with the athletic department of the university you’re looking to transfer to, specifically the compliance department, and ask them any questions you have. They’ll be able to tell you specifically what rules do and don’t apply to you and what you should do going forward. There’s also plenty of information on the “want to transfer” part of the NCAA’s website.

I did some research and found the NCAA’s Transfer Guide, which I recommend you read because there’s a lot of good information in there that might end up being helpful, regardless if you go with the men or stick with women. Here’s what it says about talking to coaches (at the bottom of page 9).

“Generally, if you are enrolled as a full-time student at an NCAA or National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) four-year school and you want to transfer to a different NCAA school to play, your current school’s athletics director must give written permission-to-contact to the new coach or member of the athletics staff before you or your parents can talk with one of them. That is called having a permission-to-contact letter.

You may write to any NCAA school saying that you are interested in transferring, but the new coach must not discuss transfer opportunities with you unless he or she has received written permission-to-contact from your current school.

If your current school does not give you written permission-to-contact, another school cannot contact you and encourage you to transfer. This does not preclude you from transferring; however, if the new school is in Division I or II, you cannot receive an athletics scholarship until you have attended the new school for one academic year.

Also, if your current school officials deny your request to permit another institution to contact you about transferring, they must tell you in writing that you have a right to appeal the decision. In that instance, a panel of individuals from your current school who are not involved in athletics will conduct a hearing to decide the issue.”

I would start doing all of this as early as possible. Now would probably be a good time to call the compliance department and talk to them since the summer is, for the most part, relatively chaos-free.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow July 16, 2013

How hard is it for a cox to take a break and then jump back in a year [or more than]? Is it like once a cox, always a cox, or is it like a completely new thing all over again?

Speaking from personal experience, it’s definitely “once a coxswain, always a coxswain”. Coxing is like riding a bike, you never forget how to do it. I was out of coxing for five years and once I got back into it I felt like I’d only been out for a few days.

Q&A Rowing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow July 16, 2013

Are those competition suits (sorry idk what they’re called) slimming or do all rowers have nice bodies? It’s looks like I’m rowing next year and I don’t have a perfect body so I was just wondering. Sorry if I sound creepy!

Unisuits. I think a lot of rowers would say they border on fairly unflattering, regardless of what you think of your body. You get over the initial discomfort with how it/you look once you realize everyone at some point or another hated how they looked in their unisuit until they realized there are more important things to think about than how you look in spandex.

I think we can all agree that a decent number of rowers do have nice bodies but that’s mostly because they’ve put a lot of time and effort into staying in shape. Rowing takes a pretty hefty physical toll so it’s difficult to not see a positive change in your body the more you row and the more in shape you become. But seriously though, it’s not something worth being self-conscious over. It really isn’t. Embrace what you’ve got and embrace the unisuits.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow July 16, 2013

I’m 5’9″ but weigh just a pound more than a boy’s coxswain. I’ve been asked several times if I cox guys and it’s sort of started making me think about making a switch which is utterly ridiculous cause of my height but coxing looks soooo interesting but at the same time … ROWING! Do you see my problem?

I do see what might be a problem but it’s actually not one at all. Are coxswains stereotypically short? Yes. Being short isn’t technically a requirement of coxing although it does make sitting in that tiny seat a lot more comfortable. The main requirement is your weight and how close you are to racing weight. We’re dead weight no matter how you look at it and obviously you want to have as little “dead weight” in the boat as possible.

Zach Vlahos (third from the right) is the current coxswain of the USA Men’s 8+ and he’s 5’9″ and 121lbs, which is the international racing weight for men. In college if you cox men the minimum is 125lbs so if you’re under that or up to 128-130ish, making the switch wouldn’t be that ridiculous.

If it’s something you want to try, talk to your coach about it. If you end up not liking it at least you can say you tried. If you end up liking it and wanting to switch over, who’s to say you can’t still row? Your coaches might tell you to pick one for the season, which is understandable, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still do the other. If you’ve got a local rowing club near you that hosts learn to row or adult recreational leagues, you could get your feet wet with coxing there and use the rest of the summer and fall season to get your bearings, learn the how-to’s, etc. and then transition to coxing full-time with your team in the spring.