Tag: racing

Coxswain Recordings, pt. 22

College Coxing Racing Recordings

Coxswain Recordings, pt. 22

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George Washington University 2014 IRA Men’s Varsity 8+ C-Final

If you wanna watch the race footage with the audio over it you can check that out here. If you just wanna listen to the race, the Soundcloud link above is probably better since you’ve got the announcer’s voice competing with the coxswain in the video.

At 3:28 when he says “get ready to take our move…”, that’s the kind of aggression you need when you’re in the thick of it and have to do something to separate yourself from the pack. A few strokes later he says “We’re movin’, half a length up OSU, half a length up FIT…”, which is not only a good example of how to call your position on other crews but it also demonstrates exactly what you want to do after you call for a move – let them know if they’re walking and if so, by how much.

I like how he goes down the boat at 4:18 and calls out certain individuals then calls out the seniors. That’s a great way to get just a little more out of the rowers when you already know they’re giving you all they’ve got. It’s that sense-of-personal-responsibility thing. 

Other calls I liked:

“Five to open the angles…”

“Move away from FIT, fucking put ’em in their place…”

Temple University 2014 Dad Vail Women’s Varsity 4+ Semi-final

The audio’s a little choppy on this one but otherwise this is a solid recording from Temple’s coxswain. She emailed this recording to me so below is part of what I said in my reply.

“This recording is great – my favorite ones to listen to are the ones where I don’t have to pause it every five seconds to make a note of something. You do a really fantastic job of being right in the moment and communicating to your crew what they need to know about what’s happening inside the boat as well as outside the boat. Far too often a lot of coxswains will get too focused on just spitting out the race plan and end up not making calls for anything else. I really liked your buildup into your 20 when you a couple of the girls if they were ready to go – that’s a great way to keep the boat engaged in what you’re doing and keep them focused. I love the 10 that your bowman calls – that is a really creative and SMART strategic move.

One suggestion – maybe don’t count as much at the start throughout the high strokes and the settle. It can get monotonous after awhile so don’t be afraid to change it up and replace the numbers with catch or finish-related calls. You called it really well though – tone, intonation, intensity were all perfect. Don’t change any of that.”

Other calls I liked:

“Break ’em through the bridge…”

“Here we go, we got each other’s backs…”

Drexel University 2014 Knecht Cup Women’s Freshman 8+ Grand Final

There’s not much I would change here except for all the counting. I talked about this a bit in the power ten post from last week. Over the course of 2000m it’s probably unnecessary to be calling more than five or six power bursts. It’s important to remember too that just because you’re calling a 5, 10, 15, or 20 doesn’t mean that you have to count out every. single. stroke. Calls like jump, swing, attack, legs, sit up, breathe, together, send, long, stride, press, power, etc. are just as effective when you intersperse them between or in place of 1, 2, 3, etc.

Related: All about Power 10s

I’ve talked about this with regards to tone in the past but make sure that you’re making an effort to match it with the calls the you’re making. If you want calls like that one to relax at 3:10 to be effective, maybe try not to sound possessed as you say it.

At 5:30 she says “It’s gonna be intense, it’s gonna be a fight, get ready…”, which sounds like something that would have/probably was said at the start of a Muhammad Ali – George Foreman bout. Good call coming into the last 500m.

Other calls I liked:

“2, be an animal, 3, be an animal…”

“Bow four, I need your speed…”

“This will be a dogfight, get dirty, get proud, now walk…”

You can find and listen to more recordings by checking out the “Coxswain Recordings” page.

Coxswain recordings, pt. 21

College Coxing Racing Recordings

Coxswain recordings, pt. 21

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Western Washington University 2014 WIRA Women’s Varsity 4+ Heat

This is probably one of very few examples where a coxswain is abnormally quiet and yet still coxing pretty well. The intensity comes across even if the typical coxswain-volume isn’t there. There are a few times where it gets a little to yoga-instructor-trying-to-get-you-to-meditate but for the most part, this is pretty good.

There’s a lot of great individual calls made throughout the piece that do a great job of conveying what needs to happen without making it seem like it has to happen now now now. I also like the calls to the various pairs to accomplish different things. An important point to remember though is to not forget the “how” part of the calls. At 1:43 she says “let’s get a little more run” but doesn’t say how she wants the crew to actually execute that (long(er) on both ends, holding in the finishes, big acceleration on the drive, etc.). Not doing that runs the risk of everyone doing their own thing to accomplish that task instead of executing a unified approach (that you give them).

The last 250m (last 60 seconds or so) is called well. That “coxswain volume” starts to come out, the intensity’s been bumped up, and you can just sense the confidence behind the calls. Overall this was a great coxing job and like I said at the beginning, probably one of very few examples of good coxing where the coxswain is very quiet and almost too calm for the majority of the race.

Last thing: “I see the finish line…”. Don’t say that. They can see the finish line too from the starting platform if they turn around and look for it.

Other calls I liked:

“Right with your pair partner…” I like this as an alternative to saying “right with stern pair”, “right with [stroke]”, “all together”, etc.

“That’s it, you’re right on your rhythm…”

Drexel Women’s Freshman 8+ Scrimmage vs. Bucknell

Just a couple quick notes on this recording. I love pretty much everything about it except for one thing … one pretty major, super obvious thing. Her aggression and tone at the start and throughout the entire race is spot on (this really is a great example of what you want to sound like) but holy shit, the counting is beyond ridiculous. The rowers know how to count – they don’t need you to count out every single stroke of the 2000m race. 

At 2:19 she says “body swing in five”, which is fine (ignoring the whole counting thing in this particular instance) but make sure you say over 5, not in 5. That’s an important distinction that you don’t want to mess up. “In 5” means that after five strokes, X will happen. “Over 5” means that over the course of five strokes, X is happening.

Related: “In” vs. “Over” vs. “On”

I really wouldn’t change anything about this other than the excessive amount of counting. Ignoring that though and thinking about the overall piece, I’d say this is a solid example of what a collegiate coxswain should sound like.

Other calls I liked:

“They’re gonna kick it up, we’re gonna kick harder…”

“Hold the open water and take it away…”

You can find and listen to more recordings by checking out the “Coxswain Recordings” page.

Racing Video of the Week

Video of the Week: Jerry Seinfeld on “the silver medal”

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I was going through my YouTube likes the other day and came across this standup bit of Jerry Seinfeld’s where he talks about winning – “winning” – the silver medal. It might not be the best idea to post this right after the season has ended but it’s hilarious and the laughing that I guarantee you’ll do will definitely make you feel better about being “first out of all the losers”.

How to Manage Your Race Day Warmups

Coxing How To Racing Rowing

How to Manage Your Race Day Warmups

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The warmup that you do when heading to the starting line shouldn’t be that different from the regular routine you take your crew through during practice, rather it should just be a condensed version of what you typically do. I love long warmups but time restrictions and space constraints tend to make that pretty impossible, especially when you’re at a large regatta (like nationals, for example).

One of the things I learned early on is just because you’re launching 45 minutes before your scheduled race time does not mean that you’ll have enough time to go through your typical routine. I remember thinking before one of my first races as a freshman that I totally had time to do what I’d been doing at practice before eventually realizing that because we did so many arms, arms and body, and half-slide strokes, in addition to having to stop a couple times for the races coming down and crews stopped in front of us, that we hadn’t actually moved the boat that far up the course.

This meant that in order to get to the starting line on time and not miss our race, we had to haul ass for about 1000m, which probably took a bit of the edge off the rowers (for the sake of proving my point, let’s pretend it did) in addition to causing them to use more energy than they should have since we needed to row at a higher rate and pressure to get up there.

Here’s a couple things to remember about your warmup on race day:

Be mindful of the weather

This will definitely have an effect on what you can and can’t do. If it’s cold, raining, snowing, etc. you’ll want to make sure you’re keeping as many people moving as possible without letting them sit out for too long to avoid anyone getting too cold or stiff. This might mean rowing by all eight instead of sixes or cycling through the sixes every 10 strokes instead of every 20 before going to all eight. If you’re experiencing a crosswind or a strong headwind, rowing by anything less than sixes isn’t going to get you anywhere and will only end up slowing you down.

If it’s really hot out (particularly with minimal cloud cover), try to row up in the part of the warmup lane that is the most shaded. This will keep them out of the sun and in a slightly cooler area until it’s time to race. If there’s not a lot of shade, make sure you’re giving each pair a couple strokes out so they can get a drink or at least take a break since the sun can/will quickly deplete their energy and dehydrate them. You also don’t want to sit for too long in the staging area for those same reasons.

Keep the stroke rates reasonable

Something that I noticed about our lightweight 8+ today as I was watching their warmup was that it looked rushed. Not in terms of slide control but just in general – they were flying through each part of their warmup and it didn’t look like they were actually warming up. Instead it looked like they were just taking strokes to take strokes and that was it. When I take out a boat I very rarely let the stroke rate creep over 20spm at the beginning of practice, let alone on race day. The point is to get your muscles warmed up and get the crew in the swing of things, not to exert 1/4 of your energy reserves right off the bat. Unless you’re doing starts, keep the stroke rate around 18-20spm, 22spm at the highest if you must. And no, the excuse of “my stroke just can’t get it down that low” doesn’t fly because if you wanna be able to row fast, you’ve gotta be able to row slow. Figure it out.

Be aware of how much space you have

The warmup lanes are typically not that big. You might get lucky on some courses but the majority of the ones I’ve been on have about a lane and a half to two lanes worth of water for you to row in to get to the starting line. This usually isn’t that big of a deal because there’s always room to pass someone if you’re coming up on them but where it messes with your plans a bit is when you’re trying to get some starts in. If you’ve got a fair amount of open water between you and the crew in front of you then go for it, otherwise hold off until you’ve got at least two lengths of open to work with. Never do a start when you’re right beside someone or have little to no open water between the two of you.

If there’s a crew coming up behind you, ask their coxswain if they’d mind moving to [whichever side you want them to move to] once they pass you because you want to practice a start. I’ve done this plenty of times and have found that as long as you’re nice and communicate with them, you won’t have a problem. Unless you’re on one of those courses where the warmup area is huge, don’t try to do more than a start and five. You shouldn’t do more than that anyways because again, that’s energy and power you want to save for the race.

Be efficient

Don’t take more hard strokes or total strokes than you have to. Take as many strokes as you need to complete your warmup before going to all eight at a steady pace to get you the rest of the way to the staging area.

Pay attention to the time and manage it properly

Know how long your race warmup usually takes (this means run through it at practice a few times…), add in 3-5 minutes to account for having to stop for other crews, races that are coming down, quick water breaks, etc. and then subtract that time from the number of minutes you’re launching ahead of your race. This will give you an idea of how much time you have to play around with so that if you find you’re running ahead of or behind schedule, you can tweak things as necessary.

So, if you know your warmup usually takes around 11 minutes, you factor in about 4 minutes of “stoppage” time, plus the 5ish minutes that you’ll need for staging (getting lined up, locked on to the stake boats 2 minutes before the start, etc.), that adds up to around 20 minutes. If you launch on first call, which is usually 35- 40 minutes before your scheduled race time, that’ll leave you with about 15 minutes. Once your warmup is done, you can row by all eight the rest of the way to the starting line (let’s assume that takes 5-7 minutes) and then hang out up there with the other crews for the final few minutes before they call you up to the line for staging.

Make sure you have a watch (or your phone) with you so you can keep an eye on the time – do not be that coxswain that is asking their rowers, the officials, other coxswains, etc. what time it is or gets their crew to the start late. You look unprofessional and ultimately it’s disrespectful to the competition and officials. I don’t care if you’re a novice or a college varsity coxswain – get a watch. On the flip side, don’t be that crew that feels the need to be first to the starting area. You don’t get a prize for that and it more than likely means your rowers will spend more time sitting stationary than they should be, which can lead to them getting cold, tense, etc.

I usually start with a simple drill, like the pick drill by 6s on the square, and rotate through before picking it up all eight at steady state-ish pressure at 18-20spm-ish. My coaches liked to have us do quarter feather for awhile when we were rowing all eight but I only did that about half the time. (I’m not a fan.) Another thing I’ll do if we don’t have the time or room to do starts is I’ll do some quick builders while we’re rowing by all eight. Usually I’ll do one ten (with 3 to build) at roughly our starting SPM and another at base pace with about 10-15 strokes in between. I’ll also try to throw in 15 strokes at our sprinting pace, going “up 2 in 2” every 5 strokes. I’ll usually only do this after stopping for a quick break and asking the rowers how they feel and if they want to do this one. If we didn’t get much time to practice our sprint during the week we’ll do it, otherwise most of the time we’ll just pick it up all eight at a steady pace the rest of the way to the starting area.

One thing you have to remember is that you’ve got – GOT – to be flexible. Sometimes you’re not gonna have time to do part of your warmup and other times you’re going to have tons of time and/or space. Not having a lot of time doesn’t mean that you should rush, rush, rush through everything though because that accomplishes nothing – all it does is communicate a sense of frantic-ness that you don’t want the crew to be experiencing.

It’s your responsibility to keep them (and yourself, obviously) calm, cool, and relaxed. If you find yourself short on time for whatever reason, calmly communicate that to them as you’re coming out of the launching area and say “Alright guys, we’re not gonna have time to go through our usual routine so let’s go ahead and pick it up by all eight at an 18 on the quarter feather. This’ll be our warmup so let’s make sure we’re taking smooth strokes together and getting long at both ends to warmup the muscles.” It’s much smarter to eliminate things than to fly through them just for the sake of being able to say you did them.

This is where paying attention to the time is very important too. If you find yourself far enough up the course with a bit of time on your side now, go ahead and drop down to sixes for 10-15ish strokes each to give each pair a chance to make any necessary adjustments, grab a quick drink, etc. If you find yourself to still be behind schedule a bit, have the crew add just a bit of pressure to their strokes. I wouldn’t recommend having them row any more than 3/4 pressure max because, again, that’s energy they should/could be using during the race. (If you have to row all eight, full pressure to the starting line somebody somewhere screwed up big time.)

If you find yourself out there with tons of time, lengthen out your strokes a bit or throw in an extra 30 second break. If you normally row at an 18, row at 16 or row by 6s a little longer than you otherwise would. The goal here is to make sure you don’t go through your warmup at a normal pace and then find yourself sitting up at the starting line for 20 minutes instead of your usual 5-10. Resting for too long is just as bad as not resting for long enough because as I mentioned before, the rowers can get cold, stiff, dehydrated, fatigued, etc. depending on the conditions. I’m always jittery going to the starting line so getting there earlier than I needed to would only end up exacerbating my nerves and making me imagine every possible way that I could fail at getting into the stake boats (or something equally as dumb since backing into stake boats is pretty freakin’ easy after the first time or two).

To summarize, have a race day warmup plan that is a condensed version of your usual day-to-day warmup, be flexible and able to tweak things at a moments notice if/when necessary, and pay attention to the elements and know how to adjust if the conditions don’t allow you to follow your usual plan. Also, have a watch or timepiece of some kind so you don’t have to rely on your rowers or anyone else on the water to tell you what time it is.

Image via // @deutschlandachter
Coxswain recordings, pt. 20

College Coxing High School Racing Recordings

Coxswain recordings, pt. 20

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Marietta Tiger Navy Lightweight 8+ 2014 Midwest Championships Grand Final

This is from Sunday’s final in the lightweight 8+ at Midwest where they finished 2nd overall and received an automatic bid to nationals at Mercer.

One of the big things I talked about with our coxswain when we were going over this on the way home was that she’d make calls like “even”, “a deck up”, “they’re sagging”, “pulling ahead”, etc. but not say on who. If it’s just you and another crew up on the rest of the field then calls like that are fine but when you’re still within the pack, you can’t assume that the crew knows who you’re talking about. Similarly with regards to “specifics”, there were several times where the margins she called were way off. That’s one of the things that you’ve got to be accurate about if you’re gonna make calls for it, which you should be. If your crew is the one that’s up, you make the call based on where you – the coxswain – are. If your crew is down, you make the call based on where your bowball is. The latter is obviously tougher to gauge than just looking straight across to the other boat but it’s not that difficult if you possess even the slightest amount of depth perception. Being up a length means the crews are bow to stern – the bow of the crew that’s behind is on the stern deck of the crew that’s ahead. Being up a length of open means there’s a full boat length of open water between the crew that’s up and the one that’s down.

At 1:28 you hear the stroke say “down” because the stroke rate was too high and the crew didn’t lengthen out as much as they needed/were supposed to. From personal experience I’ve found that this is almost always because I called the settle poorly. When I’ve been sharper with the calls and given the rowers more prep time to get ready for them, they tend to be smoother and more “on” in terms of getting the stroke rate where we want it in the fewest strokes possible. Sometimes it’s because of tendencies that individuals have (i.e. rushing) but I also kinda take the blame for that sometimes because there’s almost always something I could be saying to address that. In this case, better preparation for the settle(s) and sharper calls would have helped.

At 2:03 the coxswain says “competition’s New Trier”, which we already knew going into the race so I’m not sure why she made that call but regardless, you’ve established who your main competition is, now use that to do something. This would have been the perfect spot (especially after that call and the fact that it was right at the 500m mark) to take a ten  to regain the two seats they just took in the last 100m or so. Between 2:21 and 3:21 though New Trier walks nearly a full length on us. As a coxswain you’ve got to recognize that that’s happening and make a call to counter it. It’s fine to be “in the zone” but you can’t be so in the zone that you ignore everything that’s happening outside the small confines of the coxswain’s seat.

5:58 was the only part of the race that really pissed me off. She calls “20 to go” and then the crew took three strokes. Three strokes after the coxswain called last 20. This was another thing I talked about with the girls and later with our head coach – when you’re racing, you’re giving 97, 98, 99% every stroke. When your coxswain calls “last however many to the line” that’s kinda when you re-negotiate with yourself about how much you’re hurting and say “OK, there’s 20 strokes left … I can go little bit harder over these next 20 to make sure I finish on completely empty”. You prepare to kill your body just a little bit more because your coxswain’s told you there’s a finite amount of strokes left – it’s balls to the wall, lights out for the next 20.

When you over exaggerate the amount of strokes left by seventeen there’s a good possibility that you just robbed your crew a few tenths of a second. It’s not about the rowers pacing themselves for the end or anything like that, it’s just them digging deeper within themselves to make sure they use up every last drop of energy they’ve got. There is a big difference between the two; one’s physical and one is mental. When they cross the line after only three strokes, there’s a possibility that they’re gonna think “Wait … what? I’m 99% empty, I’ve still got 1% left”. If five, six, seven people think that, how many tenths of a second do you think that amounts to? In this race a few tenths of a second wouldn’t have made a difference but who’s to say it won’t at nationals? When I coxed the lightweight 8+ there our semi-final had like, two seconds between 1st through 5th place. That margin between the individual crews was small. In situations like that, tenths of a second matter. When medals and championships are on the line, tenths of a second matter.

University of Delaware 2013 Dad Vail Lightweight 8+ Grand Final

Right out of the gate, the way she calls the start and high strokes is great. Her tone, how she’s annunciating the calls, etc. all vibes right with the strokes and just flows perfectly. This goes a long way in helping establishing the crew’s rhythm off the line.

I really loved how coming into Strawberry Mansion (which is about 750m in, I think) she says “as soon as we’re straight we’re gonna light it the fuck up“. I think her calls immediately after the bridge were a little lackluster though. Everything felt rushed and not as on point as most of the other calls up to this point. After a call as a strong as that “light it up” one I expected a little more fire when she called the move at the thousand.

As they’re coming into the last 500 she starts getting pretty shout-y and cheerleader-y  and also maybe a little too cocky because even though they were up, they definitely didn’t have it 100% in the bag yet. That’s an important thing to keep in mind, you’ve gotta cox the whole race, not just the first 1750m and then cheer the rest of the way. Overall though I’d say this was pretty solid … especially considering this girl was a walk-on who only started coxing eight months before this race.

You can find and listen to more recordings by checking out the “Coxswain Recordings” page.

Race skills: All about Power 10s

Coxing Racing Rowing

Race skills: All about Power 10s

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As I’ve been talking to coxswains and listening to recordings I’ve been thinking that it’d be worthwhile to explain power tens in a bit more depth so you have a better idea of what they are, what they aren’t, what their purpose is, etc. Having this understanding will, hopefully, make them a more efficient part of your race plan/strategy as we head towards the peak of racing season.

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

What power 10s are

Power 10s are strategic bursts that you take during a race. 99.8% of the time they should be called for something if you want to achieve maximum effectiveness. Giving each one a purpose gives the rowers something to latch on to, for lack of a better term, whereas just calling a plain “power 10” isn’t likely to make them do anything different than they were before.

Power 10s are also one of (if not the) biggest misnomers in the sport of rowing. We call things “power 10s” even when they’re not strictly about power because there aren’t really any other words for them. I’ll also call them “bursts” if I’m taking a 5 or something short and sweet like that. I’ve actually been trying to get away from calling them “power” 10s and instead just say “gimme 10 for…”, “let’s take 5 for…”, “get ready for our 20 at 750m…”, etc. The reasoning for that is because when I take a 5 or 10 for leg drive (i.e. power) I don’t want the word “power” to be diluted because I use it for every other move/burst I take even when they have nothing to do with power.

What power 10s aren’t

Power 10s are not something you should just randomly call during a race because you think that’s what you’re supposed to do because you’ve heard other people do it. You’re less likely to get a response from your crew in terms of power, effort, etc. if you just yell “power 10” and start counting.

Does a power 10 have to be 10 strokes?

No. Obviously if you say “power 10” then you should call 10 strokes but you can do other variations too, like 5, 15, or 20. If you call anything more than ten strokes, make sure you’re separating them into chunks of ten rather than counting the whole thing sequentially – i.e. a 20 would be two sets of 10, counted out “…8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3…” rather than “…8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13…”.

Similarly, a 15 (also known as a “5 and 10”) would be counted out as five strokes followed by ten strokes. Usually if I call something like this I’ll actually count the five strokes down as a way to build into the ten strokes, which I’ll count up like normal – i.e. “…3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3…”.

Do all of those have the same purpose/mean the same thing?

No. This is how I usually (not always but ~90% of the time) treat each burst:

5-stroke burst

I tend to call a 5-stroke burst for things related to technique (i.e. sharpening up the catches, holding the blades in through the finish, smooth/even power on the drive, body swing/length at both ends), posture (i.e. supporting the bodies, staying tall, relaxed upper body, eliminating the tension), internal focus (i.e. rowing our race, establishing/re-establishing the rhythm, individual responsibilities), or other miscellaneous things like breathing, commitment, legs, etc.

10-stroke burst

I call 10s when I want to take seats (no more than two, maybe three) or walk on another crew.

15-stroke burst

15s are the overlooked middle child of power bursts. I don’t call them very often but when I do it’s because I’m trying to kill two birds with one stone. Like I mentioned before, I almost always count the five strokes first (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) followed by the ten (1, 2, 3…) because I like the “prep/build” period that those five strokes give you.

The only time where I would do the opposite is coming into the sprint where you would typically build for a few strokes coming into it anyways. In that case I’d count the ten first followed by the five, which would act as the “five to build” where you’d be bringing the rate up.

20-stroke burst

20s are strictly for making big moves on another crew or walking on/through the field. These should be used sparingly during a sprint race (once is sufficient, twice is enough, three is too many) but you can usually get away with maybe three or so during your average-length head race.

How do you count out each one?

This is mostly a personal preference thing with some input from the rowers on what they like best. This is what I was taught and also what makes the most sense to me so it’s what I do and teach. During a normal 10 or 20 during a race, I count up (1, 2, 3…). If I’m building into the sprint or prepping them for a big move/shift, I count down (5, 4, 3…). If I’m counting down the last [however many strokes] to the finish line I count down (10, 9, 8…). If I’m calling something “in two” I count up (1, 2…). Occasionally I’ll say “in two … in one…” but normally if I’m not just saying “on this one” I count up.

Related: Hi! In a race, when you call a power 10, do you call it two strokes ahead (Power 10 in two, that’s one, two,) or do you just call it?

How do you call each one?

Again, this is mostly a personal preference thing but this is how I try to call them in race situations. During practice you can be a bit more lax if you want unless you’re doing a piece or something simulating your race, in which case you’d want to call them like you do during a race. This helps familiarize the crew with how you do things so there are no surprises on race day.

5-stroke burst

“Aaron, blade in right at the front end, direct to the water. Let’s take 5 to sharpen ’em up together, ready, now. Sharp, send … sharp, send … sharp, yea Aaron … together … sharp, yea there we go! Grab the water and send…”

10-stroke burst

“Alright, two seats down on UVA, I got Adrienne on their 3-seat. Let’s take ten to get even, get it on the legs and through the water … on this one. Power through, power through YEA TIGERS, 3 walking, 4 1 seat down, 5 here we go, jump send, jump half a seat, 8 reel ’em in, 9 big legs, 10 EVEN! Sitting coxswain-to-coxswain, stay solid with the legs and move now…”

15-stroke burst

“Coming up to the bridge, 400m to go, let’s sit up, take a deep breath, and get ready to take 15 into our sprint – first 10 for commitment on the legs, last 5 to build the rate up – ready to go in 3, in 2, in one, COMMITTTTTT … 1 together, 2 drive it down, 3 send it out, 4 send it out, legs keep the length, legs BOWBALL, legs push ’em back, 8 ready to build 9 we move together, 10 here we go, NOW on the legs, together 34.5, together 35, punish them 36, last 250 breathe … go now!”

20-stroke burst

“Sitting in second, 8 seats up on Cal, 3 seats down on Stanford coming into the third 500. Let’s get our minds ready for the 1000, shift that focus internal and get ready to move. We’re taking seats – no mercy. Ready to go in 3 … in 2 … in 1, get on it and ATTACK! Gimme that bow ball, 2 yea Tigers, 3 chaaa, 4 chaaa, jump send ’em back, jump send ’em back, 7 BOWBALLLLL, 8 finish them, ready to move we’re one seat down, up 2 to get even, HERE WE GO NOW, send it out, 2 walking, 3 YEA, 4 half a seat, get it yea, EVEN yea, stay on it send, leeegs send it, 9 half a seat up, 10 YEA TIGERS! One seat of open on Cal, got the stroke of Stanford. Sharp with the catches, our bow ball stays in front. Stride it out to base … on this one, length and power, length and power…”

Where and how often should you call for a burst?

Read the post linked at the beginning on where to call them (there’s a bit of strategy definition in there too) and the post linked below for some thoughts on frequency. If you twisted my arm and made me give you a number of how many bursts you should take over the course of 2000m, my gut reaction would be to say a max eight. That includes one 20 (your “big” move), two or three 10s, a couple of focus 5s, and whatever build you do into your sprint (if you do one).

Related: So I have a question. My rowers are asking me to take power 10s basically every 20 ish strokes. It seems excessive to me but I feel like I should follow their request. What do you think? Thanks!

For 1500m, I’d say six total (one 20, a couple 10s, and maybe one or two 5s) would be sufficient. You don’t want to burn your crew out by calling ten after ten after ten and you most especially do NOT want to that coxswain that counts every single stroke of the entire race.

The bottom line is to call and use these bursts responsibly. Rowers, don’t be afraid to talk to your coxswain too if you have concerns over their use of them since feedback on stuff like this is much appreciated.

Image via // @ryanjnicholsonphoto

Racing Video of the Week

Video of the Week: Why Losing Matters

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“My favorite part about losing is that it gives us a focus on our passion.”

We’re coming into the toughest part of the season so I really recommend that you take a few minutes (seven, to be precise) and watch this video. It’s from Natalie Dell’s Ted Talk at Penn State a couple months ago. Losing, as much as it sucks, is an important part of competing and it’s also an important part of winning. It’s something you have to (and inevitably will) experience in order to appreciate the races where your bow is the first to cross the line.

There’s something to learn and takeaway from every loss so don’t waste that opportunity by solely focusing on the fact that you didn’t win. It might take a few days, weeks, or months before you can sit down and analyze what happened (and that’s OK) but in order to improve as an athlete, it’s something you’ve gotta do. And like she says in the video, you can win a race without coming in first. If it’s the first time your team has medaled in that event, a PR for your crew, etc., that’s a win. Some wins come with tangible rewards but the majority are mental, emotional, and psychological – sure, the tangible ones are easier to display but most of the time it’s the rewards you can’t see that keep you coming back for more.