Tag: qotd

Question of the Day

By readyallrow June 25, 2013

Hi today was my first day coxing and my coach told me I had to talk the whole time. I tried but I felt really silly and I had nothing to say. I would really appreciate just some things to say! Thanks!

You really shouldn’t be talking that much on your first day out, let alone the entire time on your first day out. You should be more focused on learning to steer and getting a feel for the boat. You haven’t even learned that much (or anything, potentially) about the stroke, what’s right, wrong, etc. so I don’t understand why he’d be telling you to talk the whole time. I’d talk to him and ask what he wants/expects you to be telling the rowers, just to get an idea of what he’s looking for. If you’re comfortable calling the warmup on your own, counting them in, etc. then by all means, go for it, but I don’t think there’s any way he can expect you to be saying anything about the bodies, technique, etc. yet. I’m hesitant to tell you anything specific to say because a pet peeve of mine (and most rowers) is when coxswains call things because they think it’s what they’re supposed to say instead of saying it because they have an actual reason to. You can look through the “calls” tag to get an idea of some stuff but about 95% of it most likely won’t apply to a true novice.

Related: So, what did you see?

Feeling silly doesn’t have to do with the calls, it’s more of a confidence thing. You’ve got to be confident and sure of yourself when you tell the eight other people in the boat what you want them to do. For some people that comes naturally but for others it comes over time as they get more comfortable with their crew.

Talk to your coach. Find out what he expects you to say and then ask him to go over all that stuff with you so you can understand what he wants. I really disagree with having you talk the entire time on the first day but he’s your coach, not me, so you just gotta roll with it. If you get too overwhelmed though and are having a hard time grasping everything, definitely speak up and say something. Ask to focus on just one thing at a time to start (starting with steering) and then after a couple practices of hearing what he’s saying, how the drills are called etc. then you can start easing into talking to the crew.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow June 24, 2013

How long can a cox box go without dying? (If it’s fully charged to start with.)

If it’s fully charged you can probably get around 3-4 hours out of them with normal use. Not having the volume turned up all the way for an entire practice is a great way to save battery – you shouldn’t need it more than half to three-quarters of the way up anyways. The older the batteries in them get though the harder it will be to hold a charge so some older cox boxes might not last as long compared to newer ones.

Coxing Drills Novice

Question of the Day

By readyallrow June 21, 2013

Hey, This past spring season was my first season and I am a novice coxswain. Now I am training with mostly varsity kids for the summer. I want to be be able to get them to respect me but I am really short and weak. I have already tried working out with them. Is there any other way to get their respect? Also, what are some drills that I can do on the water when I am waiting for my coach so my rowers aren’t just sitting around? Thanks for the help!

Don’t use being “short and weak” as an excuse. I’ve been trying to break that stereotype my entire life and it really irritates me when other people use that to justify why people don’t respect them. I’m 4’11” and 95lbs – I am short and I’m definitely weak compared to rowers but what I lack in strength I make up for in leadership skills, meticulous attention to detail, and just working my ass off to be the best coxswain I can be for my crews. If you want their respect, do those things instead of making excuses.

Two of the drills that my coach has me do are catch placement drills (by 4s, 6s, or all 8 using just the outside hand or both hands – there’s lots of variations you can do) and pause progressions (by 4s, 6s, or all 8, 5 strokes pausing hands away, 5 at bodies over, 5 at 1/2 slide, 5 full strokes).

Catch placement drills, which I talked a bit about in the post linked above, are stationary and the pause progressions will let us row for a bit but not get too far away from him. I wouldn’t go more than 200m or so before spinning, rowing down the other side of the river, and then spinning and going back up, similar to what you do at regattas. Talk to your coach too and ask if there’s anything specific they’d like you to do that day if you’re on your own for a bit. They’ll almost always give you something to do and they’ll appreciate the initiative.

Coxing Novice

Question of the Day

By readyallrow June 21, 2013

Hi I’m a novice coxswain (like really novice, my first day of actual coxing was today) and I have a steering question. Should I steer when the rowers are on the drive or on the recovery (blades in or out of the water)? I have looked it up a couple places and found conflicting answers. Today I just steered during both because I figured for my first time it was more important not to hit anything than to have perfect “steering technique”. And I have one more question actually – I found it practically impossible to talk or run drills while steering today. That will get easier as I master steering right? For now do you have any tips for focusing on both talking and steering especially while running drills that involve calling pauses and counting strokes? Thank you so much and I LOVE your blog!

You’re right, the first few times you go out it’s more important to figure out how the steering works and just avoid running into anything. I tend to make small steering adjustments on the recovery. Sometimes I’ll adjust on the drive when we’re doing pieces since that is when the boat is most set (when the blades are in the water) but I find that I often get a better response from the rudder if I do it on the recovery. Turning the rudder effects the set a little though so you want to avoid doing anything that’s going to throw it off even more, especially if it’s already wonky. The boats I’ve been coxing in the last few months have really good steering and the crews I’m coxing are pretty experienced so it doesn’t mess with the set too much. Coming around a corner, if you make that small adjustment right at the finish you can just coast around it. If you’re not used to steering though and/or have an inexperienced crew, just stick to steering on the drive and keep your adjustments to a minimum (both in number and duration).

One thing that you’ll learn as you get more experienced is that steering both is and isn’t something you’re doing all the time. It’s kind of like when you’re driving – sometimes you’re making tiny adjustments with the wheel and sometimes you’re good to just leave it alone. The boat is the same way. You should always be aware of where you are, what’s ahead, etc. and always be keeping your hands on the strings to keep the rudder straight but you don’t always need to be moving the rudder around. Once you get a point you want to steer as little as possible.

As you get more experienced multi-tasking will become second nature. Most coaches are OK with running practice from the launch for the first few days though to let you get the hang of steering. If you’re doing both right away and feeling overwhelmed, tell your coach. It’s more important that you pick up steering than it is for you to call drills right now. Pay attention to the drills and what’s going on so you’re ready to do them when it’s time though.

If counting the strokes in your head is too overwhelming right now just use the stroke counter on your cox box. In newer models (like the one in the picture) it’s in the top right corner of the screen whereas in older models it’s in the lower right corner of. As long as your stroke is rowing you’ll be able to get a count of the strokes since the sensor is under their seat. If they aren’t rowing you’ll have to count the strokes yourself since the cox box won’t pick them up.

Don’t be afraid to try counting, steering when necessary, talking, etc. at the same time (in small doses). You’re going to have to do it sooner or later. As a novice, no one expects you to be perfect right away so now is kind of your one and only chance to “test” things out. If you keep avoiding it though because you think you’re going to mess up, that’s just irresponsible coxing (in my opinion, at least). In the beginning coxing is uncomfortable but embracing the discomfort and not letting it distract you or make you scared is what makes good coxswains.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow June 20, 2013

Do you think you can cox so much where you start to not want to do it anymore? I don’t feel that way but I’m basically dedicating my entire summer to crew (and I’m perfectly happy with that) but I don’t wanna burn myself out, you know? I love coxing and right now it’s my favorite thing in the world to do so I don’t want to make myself hate it.

You definitely can. That’s partially why I quit in college. Even if you enjoy doing something, you’ve got to give yourself a break every now and then. That means getting completely away from crew for a few days, a week, a month, whatever and just focusing on yourself, doing the other things you enjoy doing besides crew, sleeping, catching up on TV shows, etc.

If you’re OK with coxing all summer (after having coxing in the spring and fall, I assume) then go for it but just make sure you give yourself a week or two before school starts back up to unwind and relax before the season rolls around again.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow June 14, 2013

How do you know its time to throw in the towel with coxing?

The reasoning is different for everyone but I think it comes down to three things – whether or not you’re happy, having fun, and/or getting something out of it. If you said no to 2/3 or all of them and can genuinely back up why you feel that way, it might be time to reconsider whether being part of the team is a good thing for you or not.

There’s actually a “quitting crew” tag if you want to read other people’s thoughts/questions too.

Q&A Rowing Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By readyallrow June 13, 2013

Out of curiosity – why do lightweights stress and stress about getting so far under the minimum? It makes sense that they would want to have a bit of a cushion to ensure they don’t go over it (e.g., being at 130-132 so that if they eat or drink too much, they’re still under 135), but I don’t understand from a logical perspective why they get so worked up about getting their weight down and down and down. Yes, getting down to weight is extremely mentally and emotionally taxing but why do coaches want such drastic margins between the weight maximum and what they actually weigh? It seems to me that you would want to be as close to the maximum as possible, because the heavier you are, the more powerful your stroke can be, theoretically speaking, no? So you would want to be as big as possible without surpassing the maximum to be better competition. I.E. A 160lb guy can probably pull harder than a 150lb guy, if you’re making that judgment solely based on weight. Right? So what gives with the constant weight loss — other than it being emotionally addictive and unhealthy?

I get what you’re asking and what you’re saying but be careful about phrasing it so … harshly. You sound kind of flippant here and I know several lightweights that would raise an eyebrow at this. It’s a physical thing yes, but for some rowers, more than most people realize, it’s much more of a psychological thing. When people are dismissive about it or talk about it like they’re being illogical or something, it can be pretty damaging.

There is no minimum for lightweights – not sure if you meant to put “maximum” in your first sentence or not but only coxswains have minimums. Minimums mean that you cannot be under that weight; maximums mean you can’t be over it. Lightweight women and men have a maximum of 130lbs or 160lbs, respectively.

I don’t think most coaches do want drastic margins between the rowers’ weights and the maximums. If the maximum is 130lbs a coach isn’t going to tell all the women in the boat that they need to weigh 120lbs on race day. A few days beforehand they might want to be 128lbs to provide that cushion, like you said, but I don’t think two pounds constitutes a “drastic margin”.

Theoretically yes, I suppose the heavier you are the more brute strength you’ll be able to conjure up but lightweight rowing isn’t all about strength like heavyweight rowing is. OK, technically that’s not completely true. Heavyweight rowing requires good technique, obviously, but since they don’t have weight limits they can be as heavy as they want (within reason, use your common sense) which means they can out-muscle the competition. Lightweights, however, do have weight limits which means their brute strength can only take them so far. Their technical rowing has to be spot on in order to make up for what they lack in strength (compared to heavyweights).

Other than all of that … I don’t know how else to answer your question. I think that most people that compete at the lightweight level are already within a healthy weight range so they don’t need to do much other than maintain their current weight. Others have to do more but if they’re responsible in the off-season they won’t have much weight to lose when racing season rolls around.

College Ergs Q&A Recruiting Rowing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow June 13, 2013

Hey so following that junior girl, I’m going into junior year as well, I’m 5’9″ and on the lower side of lightweight. I pull an 8:00 2k, and I know that’s not low enough but do you think I may have a chance at recruitment? There’s only so many lightweight options and I’m not at that level, so I need a compromise. Tips for really getting that time down in the next year?

D1 programs tend to look for 2ks around 7:40-7:45ish as a starting point. As a junior, you’ve definitely got time to shave some seconds off your current 2k, it’s just going to be a matter of putting in the meters to get it done – basically it comes down to steady state, steady state, and more steady state. Build up your strength and endurance too – try to incorporate some lifting into your routine over the summer, as well as some cardio (running, biking, or swimming are great options).

I’m not sure if this is a misconception or just something that people don’t know but you don’t have to be recruited to row on the team in college. You could just email the coach up and say “hey, I was accepted into the Class of 2017, I rowed for four years in high school, and I’m interested in walking on to the team.” If you’re not sure your times are good enough to be recruited or after talking to coaches you don’t get any offers, you should consider this route.

To be honest, if you’re on the low side of lightweight (I’m assuming around 115-120lbs?) you’ll probably get more requests to cox rather than row, even though you’re tall. Height isn’t as much a big deal for coxswains as weight is, so even though the majority of us are vertically challenged there have been known to be a few tall coxswains. Your height is great for a rower but being 20+ pounds lighter than the other openweights can make it hard for you to actually be competitive with them, which is probably what coaches will point out.

Novice Q&A Rowing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow June 13, 2013

So I’ve been rowing for a year and a lot of people underestimate me because I’m young and short but I’ve been doing a lot better than people taller and those who’ve been there longer than me. The problem is the coaches look over me (I’m 5’5″) and automatically chose this girl for boats who’s a bit taller than me, even though my times are better and I’m a better rower. How do I get them to look at us equally?

Ask for a seat race. State your case as to why you think you deserve to be in whichever boat you’re going for and why you think you’re the best choice. What can you bring to the boat that will make it go fast? The key to getting your coach(es) to take you seriously is to talk yourself up instead of talking the other person down. Seat races, when done correctly, can be a really good indication as to who can move boats, so I think asking for one of them will be your best bet. Whatever the final decision though, you’ve got to respect it. Talk to your coaches one-on-one and and tell them that you feel like you’re progressing well with your rowing and really want to be considered as a contender for the top boats – what, in their opinion, should you work on so you can be considered for those lineups?

Assuming you’re only a freshman or sophomore, you are going to grow more (do as I say, not as I do – pretty sure I stopped growing in like, 8th grade). 5’5″ isn’t that short – the majority of junior women I know who row now, in addition to the girls I rowed with in high school, are all in the 5’5″ to 5’7″ range. Even if that is the reason your coaches aren’t boating you, don’t use it as a crutch. A rower’s height is only part of what makes them an efficient rower. Do everything you can to improve the other parts so that when your coaches look at you, they think about your technique, how coachable you are, what kind of teammate you are, etc. before the thought of your height even crosses their mind.

Q&A Rowing Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow June 13, 2013

Next weekend is the last race of the season. I’ve been stroke all year, but for this last race I’m suddenly put in bow seat. I can row both sides that’s not an issue, I just sort of feel useless because I don’t have the same responsibilities anymore. I really want to ask my coach about it, but I don’t want to sound ungrateful or cocky. How should I approach this?

If you want to ask your coach about it just be straightforward and to the point. As long as you aren’t whiny or accusatory, there’s really no way that you can look bad. Just say that you’re curious why the lineup was changed for the last race, if this is indicative of something you need to work on, etc. and listen to what they have to say.

Without knowing your coach’s motives, here’s my take. As the stroke, you had one job – set and maintain the pace for the crew. Because strokes tend to spend so much time thinking about this their technique can start to falter, which is why sometimes coaches will throw them back in 6-seat for a practice or two to relieve them of the pressures of stroking and let them re-focus on their own rowing and technique. In bow seat your technique needs to be solid because you have a much more profound impact on the set because the boat is narrower there vs. in the middle of the boat or in the stern. So, if you’re moving from a position where you could theoretically get away with having okay technique to the spot in the boat that requires some of the best technique, that’s a sign that your coach is confident that you can contribute from any seat in the boat. I wouldn’t be too upset about that since that’s a good thing.

Plus, the whole point of the sport is that no one rower contributes more than another so regardless of what seat you’re in, you’re not useless just because you’re not the stroke.