Tag: racing

Coxing High School Novice Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

Hi, I am a exchange student and I joined our crew team. Since I am pretty small I am a coxswain. I am now moved up into our first boat but I never know what to say during a race. The problem is I am not a native speaker and so I have even more problems to make good/clear calls. Do you have any tips for Nationals (YES we qualified) and Stotesbury?

Do you have a race plan? If you have a race plan that you can go off of, that tends to make it easier to come up with calls vs. not having one and doing everything completely on the fly. It allows you to have a “skeleton” to go off of for about 50% of the race and then the other 50% you fill in as you go based on what you’re seeing happen around you. Below is a hybrid of some of mine:

Starting 5 (pry, 1/2, 3/4, lengthen, full) + high 20 + settle 10 (5, 6, 7, let’s lengthen in 3, 2, 1, lengthen boom).

10 at 500m (what it’s for is based on what I see…it could be to push a crew back, to walk, or just for ourselves, so I’d call it to push our puddles back, to feel the acceleration, etc.)

Related: One of the varsity rowers told me about a certain race move/call-10 for pairs? Like having all 8 take a 10, but emphasis for specific pairs. I’m not sure how to call that, can you help me out?

3 + 20 at the 1000m (3 to build into a 20 at the 1000m. No change in stroke rate, just building the power on the first 3.)

5 at 750m to regain composure and shift our focus to the last 1/3 of the race.

15 at 600m to make one final move on the field, either to walk or walk away.

10 at 400m, final 3 building into the sprint (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, shift up to our sprint (7), over three (8), two (9), and one (10)…sit up and go)

Related: When do you call power 10s, both on the erg and the water?

Last 250-300m is an all out sprint, driving for the line

10 in the last 100ish meters to charge the line, get the bow ball ahead if necessary, etc.

As far as calls go, talk to your rowers and ask the what they want to hear. I tend to ask them to tell me one technical and one motivational thing they want me to call and then I’ll write that down and try to work it in somehow over the course of the race. They are your best resource though for figuring out things to say because you want to make calls that resonate with them.

Coxing High School Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

My boat qualified for Nationals! Yay! Now what? I’ve never coxed in such a big event. Any tips?

One thing that I learned from gong to nationals that I also learned with HOCR (probably more so with HOCR…) is that there is no such thing as a “big race”. A race is a race is a race. The regatta is “big” because there are tons of people there and people build up the hype around it but in the end, the racing is the same. The goal isn’t to do anything differently – you’ve reached this point because you’ve been doing the same stuff all season only you’ve been doing it better week after week.

So, tips:

Keep doing what you’ve been doing. Clearly it’s working.

Keep your nerves to a minimum. Don’t be any more nervous for this race than you are for a scrimmage against a local team.

Research the location and course ahead of time. Ask other teammates, people on Twitter/Tumblr, etc. if they’ve raced here before and get as much information as you can.

Start coming up with your race plan as early as possible.

Practice said race plan at least two or three times before you leave for Nationals. (Remember, the race plan is not just what you do between the starting and finish lines. The race plan begins when you call hands on, your warm-up, backing into stake boats, the actual race, and your cool down.)

Don’t pack the night before. Do it at least two days ahead of time so you have the day before to grab anything you missed the first time around.

Don’t forget the charger to your cox box.

Make sure your cox box and it’s case are labeled with your name, your team’s name, and the event you’re racing in.

Go to the coaches and coxswains meeting and ask questions. Any question you have I guarantee five other people have as well. Just ask it. Make sure you understand everything the regatta officials go over and don’t leave until you do.

Most importantly though, have fun. It’s a good experience and you don’t want to miss out on it by being hyper-focused on unimportant stuff.

High School Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

Today we were counting on medaling in our race so that our coach would keep it for districts but we were super tiny and the competition kicked our ass (not really, it was a really close race), but we’re all really disappointed now and we’re scared he’s going to make a heavy weight boat instead and we’ll just be stuck in boring old eights…

What’s wrong with eights? They’re the best and like, the main event at every regatta. I would just talk to your coach and see what he wants to do. Make a case for your current boat and train like hell when you go out. Don’t be disappointed – that doesn’t solve anything. Figure out what you can do better (not differently, better) and then do it. If he decides to put you in an eight, don’t be bitter about it. Commit to making that boat go fast and having the best race possible.

Q&A Racing Rowing

Question of the Day

How do you deal with losing, especially if it was a big race? As my boat’s coxswain I feel like I’m taking it way harder than everyone in my boat. We did really well and my rowers gave it their all but I’m just very upset that we didn’t do as well as we wanted. I’ve been crying and while I am SO PROUD of my girls (and of myself) I just feel like I let my boat down. Please help?

My senior year we finished second at Midwest and initially I was pissed because we lost by a bow ball. Like, are you kidding? All of those months of practice and it comes down to two inches? I was so angry. I kept going over in my head every single stroke we took, every single call I made, would the outcome have been different if I’d waited ten meters to call the sprint or if I’d done this instead of that.

I realized later though that there was nothing I’d change about that race. If I had to do it over again I’d do everything the exact same, even if meant losing by a bow ball again. I was that confident in our race plan, our rowing, and my coxing. That’s all you can be is confident and steadfast in the thought that you did and gave everything you could in your race. Losing doesn’t mean someone did something wrong or that someone let someone else down. The beauty of rowing is that no one individual can let the boat down because it’s a team sport. Nine people have to work together to go from Point A to Point B and those nine people are collectively responsible for the boat’s successes and failures.

Related: What do you like to do to cheer yourself up after a lost race or tough practice?

As a coxswain you will take it harder than everyone else. It’s natural to feel like that because from the time the official says “go” to when we cross the finish line, every decision that’s made is ours and regardless of the outcome, but most especially if we lose, we’re going to scrutinize every call we made. Instead of doing that, which only makes you feel worse, get together with your boat (and coach, if you want) and talk about the race from beginning to end. Don’t over-analyze it, just talk about it. Beginning being the moment you called “hands on” to take the boat down to the dock and the end being when the boat was derigged and on the trailer. Before you went out, was everyone’s head in the game? How confident did you feel in yourselves and in your race plan? During the race, what happened? What did you call? Where did you make your move? Why? Why there? What were you seeing? How did the boat feel? What did it look like? Could you see/feel the improvements you’ve made the last few weeks at practice or did it feel like you reverted back to some bad habits?

Most likely what you’re going to notice is that overall, everyone is proud of how they did, how you did, etc. You can have a good, even great, race and still have a shitty outcome. It happens and it sucks but the only thing – the only thing – you can do is reflect on it, learn from it, and go out at your next practice with the expressed intent of doing things harder, better, faster, and stronger. Expectations of how well you want to do are something you should have but you shouldn’t put all your eggs in that basket. Not meeting them this week shouldn’t do anything to your psyche other than motivate you to work harder so you can meet/exceed them at your next race.

Coxing Novice Q&A Racing Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

Today my coach posted the line ups for our race this weekend. I am racing in the 2V8+. It is a pretty good boat, but we have a novice coxswain. She has coxed for us before, but she often crashes into other boats and in the last race she called a power 10 for the muffins at the food tent! We have tried to give her suggestions for what we want to hear, but she just doesn’t listen. Is there any respectful way to ask my coach if we can have another coxswain?

When you’ve given her suggestions in the past on things to say, how have you done it? Have you just kind of thrown out a bunch of ideas all at once or did you write them down and give her the piece of paper? Speaking from personal experience, I know it’s hard to remember what eight different people want you to say when they just word-vomit the ideas out at you. When I realized I wasn’t going to remember anything they said, I went around to each person and had them write down one or two calls that they want/needed to hear and then I’d take the paper out with me and try to incorporate them into practice. If that’s the reason it seems like she’s not listening, I’d try writing stuff down and giving it to her, then seeing where it goes. If she’s not listening just because she doesn’t want to or doesn’t care, that is an issue that you should talk to your coach about.

Being that your race is in two days, I think that, unfortunately, it’s probably too late for your coach to put another coxswain in the boat. I’m not sure how big the regatta is that you’re going to but most require lineups to be submitted a few days ahead of time and to change the lineup the day of requires a lot of work that no one really wants to waste time on. It’s also possible that your coach is putting her in the boat with you so that she can get experience with a crew that actually knows how to row, if that makes sense. Sometimes novice coxswains pick things up faster when they don’t have to also worry about coxing eight people who have no idea what end of the oar goes in the water.

That’s not to say that you still shouldn’t talk to him/her though and explain that when you’ve had her in the past, this is what’s happened, and it makes the boat feel uncomfortable when she’s coxing. Ask if today and tomorrow he can spend some time on and off the water working with her on whatever you/the boat thinks she needs help with. She is a novice, remember, so there are still going to be kinks that need to be worked out but hopefully your coach can get through to her the importance of steering straight, making good and effective calls, etc. I would also grab one of the varsity coxswains and ask them to work with her and give her some pointers.

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

We have a coxswain and all she does in our races is call pieces and count the strokes. It is ridiculous. Like she will call a piece of 30 and then about halfway through that she will call a piece of 20 then count out the strokes and it isn’t helpful at all and just frustrates the rowers. How can we approach asking her to change what she’s saying without sounding bitchy and like we know what she’s doing better than her?

You should never feel like you can’t ask your coxswain to do something differently. Sometimes the way we call things just doesn’t work and you have to have enough respect for your crew to understand that you need to do something different, not only for the benefit of the boat but also so your rowers continue to respond to you. If you’re unapproachable about stuff like this all that’s going to do is bring the boat down.

The issue where it comes off like the rowers know more than the coxswain is when you start telling them how to steer, how to call drills, how to take the boat out, etc. Anything regarding calls relies on communication between both parties because the coxswain needs to make good calls that the rowers will respond to and if the rowers find that those calls aren’t working for them, they need to let the coxswain know so they can figure out a way to call it differently. As long as you’re not straight up attacking her and saying that her coxing sucks or something, there really shouldn’t be an issue.

Before your next practice I’d have your stroke and maybe one other person talk to her (privately to avoid the “ganging up” feeling) and ask if she’d mind calling a few things different during practice and your races. Tell her that the power pieces are helpful but you think the boat would respond better if they were spread out more and used strategically rather than sporadically.

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.

For now, just ask her to work on that. You don’t want to overwhelm her with a ton of requests and you also don’t want to piss her off. After practice, assuming she listened to your request and tried to do things differently, tell her thank you for making the effort and then give her any feedback you have. If she didn’t listen to your request and doesn’t want to do things differently, talk to your coach and explain the situation. Tell him/her that you asked her to try something different and that, for whatever reason, she didn’t do it. From there, hopefully your coach can have a talk with her and explain why communication back and forth is critical to having a cohesive boat.

If things went alright though, like I said, tell her thanks and then maybe in a few days or so talk to her about what you guys want to hear as far as additional calls for motivation, technique, etc. Maybe have each person in your boat write down one motivational and technical call each and then give her that list. I only say wait a few days because you don’t want to throw all of this on her too quickly because it is overwhelming having your rowers say they want to hear a million different things and trying to remember everything and figure out the best places to work those calls in is a little daunting at first. Give her a day to get used to calling the bursts differently and then talk to her again.

Coxing Q&A Racing Rowing

Question of the Day

I’m a coxswain but since I’m the only available freshman they’re having me row this Sunday. I’m replacing a girl who’s going to a family party. Anyway, I feel like I can’t push as hard and I’m letting the rowers down! I’m so stressed out that I’ll catch a crab or something!

Whether anyone has told you this or not, no one expects you to go out and pull as hard as the girl you’re switching in for. What they do expect is for you to go out, try your best, and row as hard as you can. You know what to do since you’ve been telling the rowers how to do it while you’re coxing…now’s your chance to do it yourself. Use it as a learning experience. Even though you’re going to be focused on the rowing, take mental notes on your rowing – what seems harder than you expected, what is your technique like, etc. and then remember all of that the next time you go on the water and cox. Use what you learned to help you cox the girls in your boat.

Don’t worry about catching a crab. If it happens, whatever, it’s not the end of the world. Recover as quickly as possible and get right back into it. Watch your timing, make sure the blade is completely square at the catch and finish, and only bury the oar as deep as you need to in order to cover the blade. Don’t stress out either! That takes all the fun out of racing.

Coxing Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

What do coxswain seat races entail?

I think the same thing as regular seat races … do a piece or two, switch, repeat.

Personally I think coxswain seat races are a waste of time because I look at every practice as being a seat race. They should be going out and practicing like the coach was making the decision on who was going to cox the boat based on how well they did that day. It’s also impossible to do a seat race for coxswains. Some coaches might have come up with a way but nearly every coach I’ve ever had or talked to about this has said it’s just not possible. There are too many variables that can’t be controlled, unlike with regular seat racing. You’re getting switched into a boat that you’re not used to and who isn’t used to you.

In addition to that, you could be a not-so-great coxswain who gets switched into a good boat that can function fairly well regardless of the coxswain they have whereas the coxswain who is normally with that boat gets switched into a boat that isn’t as good, isn’t usually coxed very well, and is in a mental and physical hole before they even start the piece. The “good” coxswain is at a serious disadvantage and the “not good” coxswain is at an advantage. The only thing that I can even think of that would be worthwhile is seeing who steers a better line but you can do that anytime and even then it can be affected by who’s rowing, the weather conditions, the boat itself, etc.

Related: Coxswain evaluation tag

Instead of seat racing I’d suggest coaches do formal evaluations, listen to recordings, get feedback from the rowers, maybe actually coach the coxswains and pay attention to what they’re doing on the water from time to time, and then make a decision. There are a lot of things that go into coxing that can’t all be displayed or summed up in one practice 2k.