Tag: team captain

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 23, 2016

Hi! I’ve asked you plenty of questions before, and your blog is so helpful for me to be a better rower and coxswain. Recently, my team voted for women’s varsity captain. The girl who won is in her third season on the team, and her second season coxing. I love her as a person but I am not a fan of her coxing – I’ve raced with her before. (Just for some background.)

I personally don’t agree with many of the decisions she makes. For example: on our team, if the rowers aren’t cooperating, the coxswains have the authority to assign pushups. If ONE rower in her boat is unable to roll their oar up, then she gives her entire boat pushups, and one day, she was coxing my boat (a mixed NOVICE eight) who has just recently been learning how to roll-up, and she gave them pushups for not being able to do something that they haven’t learned.

Also, there have been several instances where a boat has needed to be put away and one more person was needed to carry it. I offer to help and then she tells me that the rowers need to be the ones carrying the boats. I don’t agree with this because the rowers bring their boat down and up, they bring oars down and up, and they help other boats. If each boat was carrying their own boat on their own, I’d agree with her. But if you just need someone else to put it in the racks, what is the problem if it is a coxswain (formerly a rower; perfectly able to lift a boat) versus a rower?

Thirdly, there are many cases where she has to ask me what we’re supposed to be doing, who’s going out first, etc., and that just seems very backwards to me. This along with the fact that the novices (who didn’t get to vote) wish that I were captain and believe that I am a better coxswain than her, handle myself better under pressure, etc.

I obviously cannot change the fact that she’s captain, and I am happy for her. My question is, how do I respect her even though I have more experience and frankly more leadership skills than she does? (I don’t know if this sounds totally jerky or not… I really do like her as a person, I just feel that she isn’t fit to be captain – at least, not yet.)

There’s a lot of flawed logic in “coxswains can assign pushups if the rowers aren’t cooperating” but power, responsibility, or whatever you want to call it like that in the wrong hands is basically just giving them a clear path towards becoming a full on Napoleonic personality. This is one of those situations where I think it’s in the best interest of everyone, including her, to have someone (you, another captain (if there is one), her stroke seat, etc.) take her aside and basically have a “you need to check yourself before you wreck yourself” conversation with her. Throwing your weight around like that, especially with novices, isn’t the best way to earn your team’s respect and if she wants to actually be a captain and not just wear the title like a crown she needs to chill.

I agree that if you need somebody to help carry a boat it doesn’t matter who it is as long as they’re actually capable of helping (aka your 5’0″, 114lb coxswain probably won’t be of much help but your 5’6″, 127lb coxswain might be). This is one battle though that probably isn’t worth fighting. In this case I’d probably go to one of the people carrying the oars and say “hey, let me grab those and you go help them take the boat up”. You still get to help out and she gets to have a “real” rower carrying the boat … practically a win-win.

When it comes to her asking you what you’re supposed to be doing, who’s going out, etc. I don’t think it’s a big deal to occasionally fill her in if you know the answer to her question (particularly if she was legitimately occupied with something else while the coach was telling the team what the plan was) but more often then not I think you have to default to saying “you should talk to [your coach]”, “[your coach] posted the workout/lineups on the cork board upstairs”, etc. At some point you might just have to say “it’s not my responsibility to know this stuff or communicate it to you”, which might come off as passive aggressive or whatever but it’s true. I don’t expect the people in my boat or the guys on our team to tell me or our coxswains what the plan for practice is because it’s just not their job to do.

Looking at this from her perspective though (and to give her the smallest benefit of the doubt), it’s possible she’s asking you because she sees that you have more experience (both as a coxswain and a leader) and she’s looking for some guidance without having to outright say so. I’ve done that (and sometimes still do) but whoever I’m asking usually catches on and is like “you know you can just ask for help if you need it, right?” and it’s like … OK, they’re willing to help and don’t think I’m a total idiot. When you’re put in positions like she’s in, not just as a coxswain but with the added responsibility of being a captain too, there is a lot of pressure to have your shit together and if you don’t it can be pretty overwhelming (which in turn some people compensate for by going a little over the top with how they handle things … aka the pushups incident). Basically what I’m saying is don’t misattribute her attitude as being one thing when it might actually be the result of something else.

Like I said earlier, I think it’d be beneficial to have a quick one-on-one to address how she interacts with the novices and how she handles assigning pushups (which I still think is stupid and ineffective but if it’s a team policy then I guess you’ve gotta find a way to work with it … which basically means only using it as an absolute last resort). From there I’d just put it out there that you know having all this responsibility on your shoulders can be overwhelming at first so if she wants/needs advice on anything you’re willing to listen but, as previously mentioned, she’s gotta figure this out on her own and not rely on you to give her the lineups, workouts, launching order, etc. In situations like this I really believe the best thing you can do is just offer your support and if she wants it she’ll ask for it and if not, you just have to accept that and move forward. It’s hard – like, grit your teeth and cringe hard – when you want to tell someone how to do something or a way to do it better so they can avoid shitty situations but you also have to recognize that they’ve gotta make their own mistakes if they want to learn anything. That’s probably been the hardest thing for me working with our coxswains is just knowing when to sit back and not help. To the untrained eye I think it probably comes off as being a jerk for not helping (because obviously if a coxswain screws up it doesn’t just effect them, it effects the whole boat/team too) but I’m not about to force my knowledge or way of doing something on someone, even when I know it’s unequivocally right, just because they haven’t figured it out on their own yet (within reason obviously). So instead I’ll put it out there that if they want help, want to discuss something, etc. all they have to do is ask and we’ll find time to talk … otherwise, they’re on their own for better or worse.

I don’t think it makes you sound like a jerk to say all that. I think the only thing you’ve gotta be conscious of is not overstepping or undermining her authority when you interact with the novices. You can try to temper situations if a problem arises but they still have to respect the fact that she’s the captain, even if/when she does thing they don’t agree with. Even if you disagree with it too, it’d be better for you to try to help them understand where she might be coming from or why the team does things a certain way vs. saying “I don’t know why she’s making you guys do that…” or bickering with her in front of the team about who’s allowed to help carry the boats. If you want to be seen as a leader or theoretically in the future if you wanted to be captain, you’re not going to achieve that by badmouthing her or getting sucked into the groupthink where all the novices praise you while at the same time hating on her.

So … best way to respect her when you don’t (yet)? Find ways to work with her so you can better understand where she’s coming from. At the very least you’ll pick up some strategies for dealing with this type of personality so that if you encounter someone similar in the future (which you most definitely will in college, at work, etc.) you’ll know the most effective ways to deal with them.

Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow August 27, 2015

What are your thoughts on female coxswains for male boats? In your experience, does this result in drama or awkward social situations? How about the role of a coxswain in bringing a team together? Do you feel that the leadership position that a cox holds on the water translates to off the water and the social dynamic of the team?

Here’s the thing about drama and awkward situations. People who want to cause drama or make shit awkward are going to cause drama and make shit awkward. Plain and simple. I am all for women coxing men’s boats provided they’re not coxing them solely to flirt with them and/or because they want to hang out with a bunch of hot guys who spend the majority of their time with their shirts off. If that’s why you want to cox men just GTFO because you’re not going to be a good coxswain. Forget about being effective, you just don’t have the right attitude going into it and I guarantee nobody wants to deal with that. Same thing applies to women who think they have to be super bossy (and not the good kind of bossy but the annoying elementary school kind of bossy) to get the guys to listen to her. I think they think they’re coming off as super confident and in charge but they’re not – all they’re doing is undermining themselves. Most of the time people are just going to wonder why you show up to practice with a stick up your ass every day rather than thinking “wow, look how confident and in control of her crew she is!”.

That aside, as has been asked before in the posts linked above and below, if you’re dating or hooking up with somebody in your boat and things end poorly then that’s naturally going to be awkward because that’s how most breakups are. If you’re both adults and can handle the situation maturely where no one else (meaning the other people in the boat, the rest of the team, etc.) is being affected by your personal issues then great. Unfortunately that tends to be the exception, not the norm, hence why crewcest is pretty looked down upon.

As far as the coxswain’s leadership position translating off the water … it depends on the team. Most of the time it does and coaches will look to them and the captains to act as the glue that keeps things together (both on and off the water) but other times the coxswain will naturally take a backseat leadership position off the water in order to allow the team captains to manage things. You’re not considered any less of a leader it’s just that you’re not the front-and-center leader like you are when you’re on the water, if that makes sense. That’s kind of how I’ve always looked at it.

When it comes to on the water stuff or things like trailer loading where the coxswain is kind of instrumental in getting things done, that’s my time to shine. The rest of the time I’ll leave organizing team meetings, handling interpersonal issues (unless it’s within my own boat), etc. to the captains and I’ll step up and help as needed. I don’t think there’s really a right or wrong way to approach this though, as long as what you’re doing works for everyone involved.

Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow November 10, 2014

I’m living with one of my captains and we’re having issues. Even though she works hard and her erg scores are consistently top 8 she’s in the 3V and our coach won’t tell her why. She was reasonably upset and she had every right to be and I was there for her. This was around mid to late September. A little while later, she started seeming annoyed, I tried being nice, and I tried giving her space, either way she’s been very snippy. More recently we went away for a race and only our 1V and 2V went. When I got back I tried to be quiet about it and not bring the trip up. I talked about these issues a couple times with another girl I’ve been rowing with since high school who also lived with her last year. She gave me some advice and I was planning on following it.

That night though she had another breakdown because she was so frustrated and upset because she didn’t even go as an alternate. I felt really bad and knew if I was in her position I would feel the same way, why do I work so hard if I’m not getting anywhere, but it also feels like she wants me to say that she deserves to be in the 1V over all 8 of us. She also has been making me feel really shitty about myself, the other day for example we were given a workout to do on our own because our coach could tell we were tired and was giving us the chance to sleep in and do a steady state work out. I decided the night before I was going to go at 7 but when my alarm went off I realized exactly how tired I was and decided to go after class. When she got back from doing the workout I went to ask a question but she got really sassy saying “So much for going at 7”. I tried to explain but she shut the door on my face before I could say anything. I only have a little over a semester left with her but I feel like I’m walking on egg shells around her and don’t know how much more I can take.

Yeaaa, situations like this are when rooming/living with friends really come back to bite you in the ass.

Here’s the thing. Your eight best aren’t always the best eight. She might have one of the top eight times but that doesn’t mean she has what it takes to be in the 1V, at least by your coach’s standards. Obviously your coach should be a little more transparent with her so that she at least knows what areas she could improve in but at the end of the day, all of that has nothing to do with you. I totally get wanting to be the supportive friend and being sensitive to the fact that this is bothering her but you shouldn’t have to tip toe around just to avoid setting her off. If she’s really a friend (forget the whole captain thing for a second) she shouldn’t be making snide remarks about when you do an on-your-own workout or be trying to get you to validate her by saying meaningless shit like “of COURSE you should be in the 1V“. I can get asking that in a “tell me I’m not being crazy here” kind of way where actual feedback/constructive criticism would be accepted and appreciated but given the context I feel like it’s coming off in a more “I deserve this over all you bitches” kind of way because of either seniority, being a captain, or whatever else.

I could really go on and on about what she should be doing but you probably know all of that already and again, it would just be reiterating the point that none of this has anything to do with you. It’s not fair that you’ve somehow gotten pulled into it but I think the best thing you can do in this situation the next time something comes up is to say that as her friend you want to be there for her but as her teammate things have gotten to the point where your relationship outside of practice is being negatively affected (elaborate as necessary) and that if she really thinks she deserves that spot she needs to stop talking/making passive aggressive comments to you about it and go discuss it with your coach. After that, be done with it. She’s either going to take the hint or keep being rude about it and if she goes with the latter, well, that’s her issue to deal with. You and the other eight people in that boat all earned your spots so don’t let someone, regardless of whether they’re a friend or not, make you feel bad about being there.

I try to lead by example, try to use my play to show others that this is what it takes to be great and if you follow my lead you can be great too.
Geno Atkins Cincinnati Bengals

Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow March 25, 2014

Hey, so I’m team captain of a high school team in the South. Recently, we got a transplant teammate from up north. Though he was out of shape to begin with (the move having disrupted his training) he has worked really hard and put in a ton of effort at every practice, and has made a lot of progress in the limited time he’s been here. However, when our coach released the roster for the travel team (we don’t take the whole team to away regattas) the new kid wasn’t on there. I think it has been a pretty big disappointment – it denies him any chance at youth nationals and means that he will only race twice in the spring season, which doesn’t at all reflect his dedication and commitment.

My co-captain and I personally feel this is unfair, and there have been complaints from my teammates along the same lines. His attitude is better and his erg scores and technique are more competitive than some of the guys that have made the travel team, and I know that we have space in the bus/hotel/etc. However, who makes the travel team is 100% not my call. I definitely feel wary of questioning a coaching decision and don’t want to undermine our coach’s authority and respect. Should I say anything to our coach about possibly including our new teammate on the travel team? And if so, how could I approach it in a way that doesn’t seem like I’m out of line or being disrespectful?

PS – Thank you so much for writing your blog – it’s seriously helped my development as a coxswain in any number of different ways and now we’re using your recordings section to teach our novices. It’s definitely appreciated.

The first thing you’ve got to find out (if you haven’t already) is how your new teammate feels about all of this. Don’t assume he’s disappointed, actually talk to him and find out how he feels. Does he feel like he’s being treated unfairly given the hard work he’s put in or is he OK with how things worked out given the fact that he’s the new guy on the team? The only reason I say this is because you don’t want it to turn into a situation where you think you’re helping him out but in reality you’re potentially only making things worse. (If you’ve ever seen The Incredibles, it’s kind of like when Mr. Incredible saved the guy that didn’t want to be saved.) If he’s OK with you saying something, then fine. If he’s not comfortable with it, let it go. If he’s not comfortable with you guys saying anything but he’s still unsure of why he was left off the team, encourage him to talk to the coach and offer to go with him as moral support.

All that aside, I think being team captain gives you a little more … legitimacy, I suppose … in questioning your coach’s decision. Maybe not directly questioning it but at the very least, getting some clarification on it. I look at team captains the same way I do assistant coaches. I feel like assistant coaches are there to back up the coach’s decisions but at the same time, question them when they don’t feel like they were necessarily the right ones. The worst thing you can do as team captain, in my opinion at least, is be a lemming and not speak up for your teammates when it’s necessary. The coaches don’t always have an ear to the ground with the team like you guys do so if you’re hearing something that we aren’t, I would hope that you’d bring it to my attention so I can address it.

Like you said though, you do have to be cautious in doing this because you don’t want it to come off as you questioning or undermining their authority. Assuming you’ve been on the team long enough to know your coach’s personality, that’ll clue you in on how best to approach it. If they’re fairly laid back and you’ve built up a good relationship with them then you can probably get right to the point. If they’re more … aggressive … then you’ll probably have to spend some time carefully phrasing what you want to say so as to not come off as being (in their eyes) insubordinate. The coaches have complete discretion over their team and the decisions they make and I respect that but I also don’t think that that means they shouldn’t be questioned from time to time. And as I’ve said in the past many, many times, if they want to maintain an atmosphere where their athletes feel like they can approach them with issues like this or whatever else comes up, the willingness to be transparent about why they do the things they do is pretty important.

It’s also important that you go into this with the realization that it is very, very, very, very, very unlikely that anything is going to change. If someone’s already been told that they’re on the team that will be traveling, you can’t really expect the coach to take them off in favor of someone else unless they do something so egregious that the coach has no choice but to remove them. That’s not to say thought that it’s not worth it to speak up. The worst they can say is “no”.

My approach would probably go something like this. First, set up a captains and coaches meeting for either before or after practice (guesstimate that it’ll run for about 20 minutes and plan accordingly). Assuming you have a head coach and an assistant coach, ask both of them to be there, if possible. Go in with your co-captain (make sure you’re both on the same page with everything) and say that you wanted to talk about the travel team and get some clarification on how the coaches decided who was going to be on the roster because there had been some talk amongst the team about it and before you brought up the issues that were brought to your attention, you wanted to hear straight from them what their thought process was in determining who would and wouldn’t make the team. Listen to what they have to say and try to see if you can make the connection between why certain people were left off the roster and others were put on based on what the coaches were looking for during the selection process.

When they’re done, thank them for explaining everything (because they definitely didn’t have to if they felt it was unnecessary or none of your business) and then bring up the concerns you have. Preface it by saying that you’re obviously not trying to undermine them or anything, but over the last few days/week/whatever time frame you’re working with, you both heard your teammates voicing some discontent and felt that it was your responsibility as team captains to bring that to their attention. (I wouldn’t say anything about the people with lower erg scores, worse technique, etc. or knowing that you have space on the bus and in the hotel because all of that is beside the point.)

Tell them about what you’ve seen regarding your new teammate in terms of his dedication, effort, attitude, work ethic, etc. and based on all of that, in addition to him appearing to have all the qualities the coaches were looking for (assuming what you’ve seen aligns with what they said when they explained their selection process), you and your teammates felt that it was unfair to leave him off the team. (I know that if I were in charge of a decision like that and I had the team captains telling me that a significant portion of the team felt that someone who was left off the roster deserved to be on it, I would be taking a step back and reevaluating my decision.)

Let your coaches know that you understand that the decision on who does and doesn’t travel is completely up to them but because there are things that go on that you hear/see that they don’t, you thought it was worth bringing up to them in the hope that this particular teammate could be given additional consideration. At the very least, maybe propose the idea of using him as an alternate when you travel just in case something happens and someone from the original roster is unable to row. Once you’ve done all that, thank them again for talking with you and then leave. Assuming you finish the meeting feeling like it was productive and you handled the situation maturely, you don’t want to press your luck by badgering them for an immediate response. (Even if you don’t feel like the meeting went well, you should still leave without pressing the issue further.) After a day or two, ask them if they’ve given any more consideration to what you talked about and see what they say. Regardless of their final decision, you have to respect it and move on.

The other key thing is that whatever you discuss stays in the room you discussed it in. Don’t leave and then go tell your teammates what you talked about, what the coaches said regarding their decision-making process, etc. because inevitably someone is going to get pissed and say “well, I do all that stuff, why didn’t I make the team” or they’ll take what they heard, go tell someone else, and eventually what was actually said is so twisted and convoluted that it doesn’t even resemble the original conversation. If people ask you what you said or what you talked about, just say “nothing important, just team captain stuff” and leave it at that. The best way to shoot yourself in the foot is to have a productive conversation with your coaches, leave having them thinking that they made the right call in choosing the two of you to be co-captains, and then have them find out after the fact that you two were the start of the rumor mill that they now have to waste practice time shutting down.

I think it’s a good thing that the two of you are considering saying something. I understand why you’re cautious about doing so but I think if you approach it in a mature fashion, you’ll be alright. Like I said, it might not change anything but at least it won’t be for lack of trying. I’d rather have captains on my team that say something when they feel like something needs to be said and not get the results they want than have captains who just sit back and let stuff happen. It’s the act of being a captain vs. being a captain in title only.

Coxing High School Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 15, 2013

Our team (high school varsity men) has two captains, me (the coxswain) and “Jim”, one of the fastest heavyweights. Our coach has a full-time job in addition to coaching us so a lot of the responsibility falls on the captains. I know that I was elected mostly based on my organizational abilities and so I expected to assume a lot of the work on that end, but Jim has barely done anything all year. I have to organize every captain’s practice and outside workout, even though I’m just a coxswain and honestly don’t know too much about weightlifting or whatever (Jim told me he would once but backed out at the last minute) and I’m always the one who has to manage everything at regattas, events, etc. The only exceptions are “fun” activities – gingerbread house, laser tag, team t-shirts are the only things he’s managed himself. His attendance is pretty mediocre too, which really undercuts the message our coach and I are trying to promote about good attendance and hard work at every practice.

I’m exhausted trying to juggle it all but I worry that if I don’t do everything myself it simply won’t get done. What could I say to him so that he’ll step up a little and take some of the pressure off? As far as I can tell he doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong.

Have you talked to Jim one-on-one at all? If you haven’t, I would do that as soon as you can and just tell him straight up that you guys were both elected as captains but it feels like you’ve been doing a lot of the work that should have been split between the two of you. I wouldn’t outright accuse him of not doing anything though because that’d probably end poorly. Instead just say that if he’s got a lot of stuff going on outside of crew that’s preventing him from helping you organize stuff then that’s totally understandable but he needs to tell you that so that you’re aware that he’s not just blowing you off. See if you can work something out where you equally divide up the things that need to be done so that you both have your own specific responsibilities. Write it down so that there’s no question later on in the season who’s in charge of what. That always works best for me. Also make it a rule/common courtesy that if one of you have to pull out of your commitment that you try and give at least 24-48hrs notice to the other person.

It’s possible that the reason why he’s not doing anything (and why he doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong) is because no one’s given him a specific responsibility and/or it’s not something the two of you have discussed. I’ve been in that position before and gotten screwed because I ended up looking lazy or disinterested when in reality I wasn’t aware that I needed to be doing anything. I don’t think people should always be expected to come ask/beg for some responsibilities so I wouldn’t necessarily hold this against him.

Plus, everyone has different strengths. He probably knows that you’re good with the organizational stuff and might think that everything that’s needed to be done so far falls under that category so naturally, you’ll handle it. I’ve done that before too – if there’s something that needs to be done that I don’t think fits with my specific skills set but looks like it might fit someone else’s, I just assume they’ll do it. Sometimes its plays out this way and they do it but other times it doesn’t get done at all because we never communicated about it. If you’re comfortable with the organizational stuff, you can be in charge of (for example) making sure everything is loaded on the trailers, dealing with team paperwork, and basic equipment upkeep. He can be in charge of talking with your coach about the workouts, setting up captain’s practices/outside workouts, and communicating the dates/times to the team, in addition to organizing team activities (which, since he’s been doing, might be something that he enjoys … or it’s easy to do but whatever, as long as it gets done).

It can be frustrating feeling like everything is falling on your shoulders but communication with the other involved parties is usually all it takes to balance the responsibility load. If you do that and still don’t see a change, try talking to your coach while avoiding completely throwing Jim under the bus. If he’s got mediocre attendance and your coach is aware of that, I’d bring that up. That isn’t throwing him under the bus, it’s more so just restating what your coach already knows. I’d even pose the question to Jim if he even wants to be team captain. Like, yea it’s cool to tell college coaches that you were team captain but if you didn’t actually do anything to back up the title, what’s the point? If things don’t seem to change after you talk to him, talk to your coach and say that, for whatever reason, it doesn’t seem like he’s embracing the role and that the things that you should both be doing you end up doing yourself and it’s getting on your nerves. Let your coach take it from there and deal with the situation.

I’d really encourage you to try to find a way to work with Jim though before you do this. Give it a month or so then proceed as necessary. If Jim does step up and start acting like a team captain, make sure you acknowledge it and say “hey man, thanks for all your help the last few weeks”. Little things like that can really motivate someone to continue helping you out. If he feels like he’s stepping up but not getting any recognition for it (whether it’s deserved or not), he might fall back into his previous routine of doing nothing.

I’ve touched on the “team captain” topic a couple times so you might read through some of those posts and see if they might give you some ideas on how to talk/work with Jim and be the best captain you can be for your team.

Novice Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 26, 2013

My coach keeps undermining me as a captain. For example, the other day our squad was going for a run and a group of novices were mucking around and walking and got back 10 minutes after the next slowest group. I tried talking to them and said that they needed to take it more seriously and not muck around when we are training if they want to get anywhere this season. They then went and complained to the coach and he talked to me and said that “we aren’t a running club or athletics club and I have to let people complete things in their own time”. I feel like our novices have the wrong attitude towards training and rowing in general but every time I try to talk to them about it they complain to the coach who just undermines everything I say so I feel the novices don’t respect me as captain. Also, we aren’t going to achieve results with attitudes the way they are. What can I do?

You aren’t an athletics club … uh, what are you then? If we let people complete things “in their own time” 2ks would take about 10+ minutes to do. Sorry but that is one of the most bullshit things I’ve ever heard a coach say.

I think as a captain, you are upholding the responsibilities of your title by talking with the novices about this. I would have done the same thing, as I’m sure many other team captains out there would have and if I was your coach, it’s what I would have expected you to do. If their response to that was to complain to your coach instead of taking your words to heart and deciding to change their attitudes, then you have a bigger problem than just your coach undermining you.

Your coach is undermining your authority as, I’m assuming, a team elected official. I know in turn this will probably sound like you are undermining him but if you have an assistant coach you can talk to, I would talk to them about this. Part of their unwritten job duties is to reel the head coach back into reality when necessary so I’d explain to them exactly what you said here and how you feel like by undermining you in front of the novices it feels like he’s making it seem like it’s OK for them to disrespect you and not take things seriously. If you don’t have another coach to talk to, you just have to man up and go talk to your coach face to face (which you should eventually do anyways, but it’s nice having the buffer of someone on their level deal with it first).

I’d ask for a private meeting and then again, explain what you’ve said here. Things can go one of two ways. He’ll either realize what he’s doing and make an effort to fix it by telling the novices they need to start taking things a little more seriously and giving you the respect you deserve as a captain or nothing will change. I’m assuming that this isn’t your first attempt to tackle this novice problem so nothing changes going forward despite whatever efforts you make, I’d reflect on everything and ask if it’s worth staying in this role as team captain if you aren’t actually being allowed to execute the responsibilities of the position. If you decide it’s not, I’d talk with the other captains or team leaders and your coach and step down. It’s not worth the frustration if all it is is a title without any of the “power” to actually be a captain (at least, I don’t think it is).

I’d like to think your coach will recognize that what he’s doing isn’t just undermining your authority but also ingraining in these new rowers that mediocrity is acceptable. If you have fellow captains you can talk to, talk to them and see if they’ve experienced similar issues with your coach and if they have, perhaps you guys can all (respectfully) confront him together.

High School Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By readyallrow February 20, 2013

Hi! I’m supposed to be holding a captains practice on Friday and we have to incorporate 30 mins of hard work into the workout but it’s supposed to be like a fun workout. Any ideas of what to do? PS we are a varsity girls high school squad! Thanks!!

Fun! Some ideas off the top of my head:

steady state Erg relay

Break into teams of equal numbers and have each person row a certain number of meters.

Mini-biathlon

Run “x” number of miles and then in the remaining amount of time erg as many meters as you can. You could also pair people up (coxswain-rower pairs, pair partners, frosh-senior/sophomore-junior, etc.) and have one erg while the other runs and see which pair gets the most total meters.

Play a game

Soccer, basketball, dodgeball, kickball – it counts as cross training and it’s fun. Just be careful so you don’t get hurt.

Hope that helps!

College Coxing Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow January 25, 2013

Hey. I’m just beginning as a coxswain on the men’s team at a D3 college and had a question about the relationship between the captain and the coxswain. They’re both supposed to be leading the team, so where do their jobs differ? I understand that in the boat, of course, the coxswain is in charge but I was wondering more how you handle your relationship with the captain leadership-wise during practices, on land, for team affairs, other leadership functions aside from specifically coxing the boat, etc. How much captain control is too much? I’ve heard that coxswains are supposed to run practices when the coach isn’t around and during the offseason but my captain has been doing that. I realize I’m new so it makes sense, but if I weren’t, theoretically, is that atypical? Thanks for all of posting all of these things. It’s been really helpful.

This is a great question and not one that coaches think about too much when they appoint captains. There is HUGE potential for butting heads if the responsibilities and expectations of both the coxswain and captain aren’t clearly laid out ahead of time.

From my perspective, here’s a brief synopsis of what I think the roles of each are:

Coxswains

The role of the coxswain, like you said, is to lead their boat while they’re on the water and when mandated during on-land practices. In the boat, the only person with any authority is the coxswain (not counting the coach, obviously). It’s as simple as that. While the team is erging, they’ll take down times, cox the rowers if necessary, and observe. Sometimes the coach will also ask them to lead a body circuit or calisthenics or something. When it comes to actual rowing stuff, coxswains are by default the go-to person. It’s also their responsibility to set a good example for the rest of the team – showing up on time (don’t ever be late, EVER), making sure everything is clean and put away at the end of practice, having a good attitude (regardless of the current state of your team, practice, etc.), etc.

Captains

Not every team has captains, so on teams where there aren’t any, coxswains sometimes absorb those duties in addition to their own. When a team does have captains, I look at them as holding more of an “administrative” (yet still very important) role. There’s probably a better word for it but I’m drawing a blank if there is. A captain’s role is to be a leader when it comes to general team management – at team and/or parent meetings, the captains usually go to act as a voice for the entire team. That’s their biggest role, in my opinion. Sometimes they’ll also be in charge of things like finding fundraising opportunities, making sure everyone has their pre-season paperwork turned in, etc. It’s also their responsibility to maintain communication with the coach and pass along any information from him/her to the team, most commonly something like a change in practice time, date, or location.

During the winter months, usually in between finals before Christmas break and the time before winter training starts when you get back to campus, captains can also be in charge of holding practices for those wishing to workout. These are usually optional practices since everyone’s schedule is all over the place in December-January. They’re informal and most likely involve a text or Facebook message saying something along the lines of “The captains are heading to the gym at 1:30pm today for a quick lifting session if anyone wants to join!” In this case, they are in charge of practice since the coaches and coxswains aren’t present. Coxswains can still go but they’ll take a backseat in terms of who leads things. In addition to all of that, like the coxswains, they must also set a good example for the rest of the team. Their desire to always improve, commitment to their teammates, and enthusiasm for the sport and their team should never be questioned.

In terms of how much control is too much, I would say that if one person starts infringing on the responsibilities of another, that’s too much. If a captain starts trying to tell the coxswain what to do in the boat or the coxswain starts trying to take over as “voice of the team”, that is when a power struggle tends to happens. This is why if your team has captains, it’s imperative that either you two sit down and figure out who’s going to do what or your coach lays out a specific set of guidelines before captains are voted on stating exactly what their responsibilities are. Maintaining a good relationship between captains and coxswains will make practice a LOT better for everyone involved. If they’re constantly trying to one-up the other, they’re going to lose a lot of respect really fast from their teammates.

As a novice coxswain, I would look to both the varsity coxswains and your captain(s) as you learn how things are done on your team. It might seem like your captain is being pushy right now but it’s likely that they’re just trying to help ease you into things or the coach has given them the specific job of running off-season workouts. Either way, I wouldn’t worry too much about it right now. Talk with them and ask what their role on the team usually is and what can you expect for yours to be. Getting that clarified right away, as if I haven’t said it enough already, will make things much easier for both of you.

PS: If you’re a coxswain and a captain, make sure you keep your ego in check. The “Napoleon complex” thing is meant as a joke when it comes to coxswains so let’s not ruin it by becoming tyrannical, power hungry gremlins.

Coxing How To Q&A Rowing Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 9, 2012

I know coaches are always looking for “team leaders” but there’s this one girl on my team who TRIES to be a leader but is just ignorant & bossy. Inevitably, she only hurts herself by getting on her teammates & even coaches nerves. She’s leaving next year (along with a huge majority of my team) & I want to be an effective leader but I’m afraid of being annoying to underclassmen like this girl is to me. How do I lead w/o being bossy and making people want to straight up slap me in the face?

Ha, I know exactly the kind of person you’re talking about. It’s painful being on a team with someone like that.

Step 1. Think of all the reasons why she is a poor and/or ineffective leader and why it doesn’t work … then do the EXACT opposite of that.

Step 2. I really do believe that being a good leader involves invoking a form of the Golden Rule – lead others as you would like to be led. Do not unnecessarily raise your voice or yell at people (unless they have genuinely done something to deserve it – and if they have, let your coach handle it) and don’t treat them like crap and think you can get away with it because, like you said, inevitably you’re only hurting yourself.

Step 3. Being a team captain or leader is less about telling people what to do and more about leading by example. Think of what you want your team to be or what you want them to become and then start ACTING like that. At the start of the season, hold a team meeting and set goals for the season. Throughout the year, remind your team of what you’ve accomplished so far and remind them of the goals still ahead.

Step 4. Encourage others by pushing yourself – everything you do will be noticed by your teammates so make sure you’re giving 150% one hundred percent of the time.

Step 5. Keep open lines of communication with EVERYONE on the team – not just the people in your boat or just your friends. Let it be known that if anyone is having a problem, rowing related or not, they can come to you. No judgement either. Keep an eye out for anyone who looks like they’re having a rough time. When they’re alone, either before or after practice, let them know that if they need to talk, they know where to find you. Leave it at that and don’t push the issue.

Step 6. Embrace the leadership role. Don’t act like it’s a burden but don’t do what this girl is doing by trying to force the role upon herself. If people see that you’re dedicated to the team and you’re committed to becoming a good leader, people will be more open to accepting you as their captain. Try not to channel Napoleon and develop a complex.

Step 7. Don’t wait to become a leader – do it now! You don’t have to wait until this girl is gone to start leading your team. Don’t incite a power struggle whenever you’re around her, just start doing the things that a leader should do. It’s up to you to determine what your team needs. Talk with your coaches and explain that you’re not trying to cause drama or anything like that, but you’d like to see someone take a more effective leadership role on the team. Since you’ll be a senior (I’m assuming) next year, you felt that it would be good to begin gaining that experience now. Ask if there is anything you can help with or anything specific they would like you to do and then go from there.

Talk to this other girl and ask if there’s anything you can help her with. If she says “OMG yes, nobody ever listens to me when I try and do … (whatever)”, take that opportunity to say “OK, I’ll see what I can do” and then go do it. If she says “nope, I’m good” say “OK, well, if you need anything or get overwhelmed with (whatever), feel free to let me know” and leave it at that. Don’t make it blatantly obvious to her that she sucks as a leader and you think you can do better. Let her come to you. In the mean time, find little things you can do to start building up your rapport with the coaches and your teammates.