Coxing Newsflash

20 July 2012

If you enjoy the content that Coxmate puts out weekley, are a fan of our Resources for Coxswains Page or are just now getting involved with Coxmate and our new Dragon Boating products then head over to our Facebook Page and like us for more great news, info, product updates and all that is Coxing.

Here are some of our most recent Facebook posts, get involved and join the online conversation about the best Coxswain products on the market!

• Let us know what you're most looking forward to seeing when the London Olympics Games kick off - answer and see what others replied with
  
  
• After this photo appeared in the Guradian Newspaper's olympic bodies feature, a minor photoshop frenzy ensued among the rowing community - here are some of the best. Have you got any of your own to add?
  
  
  
• Here are the Olympic crews and Paralympic crews we will be supporting in London when the rowing events kick off!
  
  
  
• Perfect - A Dragon Boat Fest and a Beer Fest = Combination Success
  
  
  
• Yoda would make the perfect sized coxswain! May the Fours Be With You Tee
  

P.S. -  We also have a Coxmate Twitter account if you are that way inclined, follow us there for frequent updates and alerts for when our new blog posts go up on our News Page. Tweet Tweet

An Olympian Remembers

27 June 2012

Mary Whipple, Cox for the USA Women’s Team, walks us down her path of 3 different Olympic Games - Athens, Beijing, and now London. Get swept up in the story, and next time you go out coxing, feel a part of the Team.

The Olympian I was, am, and want to be: Part 1

Excerpt:As the naming date for the London Olympics quickly approaches I find myself thinking back to the previous two naming dates that I’ve been apart of. I’ve realized that I’ve come a long way since my early rowing days at Capital Crew and the University of Washington.  Since I’m training for my third Olympic cycle I’ve decided to break this blog up into three parts as well: Athens, Beijing and moving towards London.

My career as an Olympian shadows that of my friends who have entered into the work world or “real world”.  Young guns trying to prove themselves in a world filled with veterans.  While training for Athens I was the young gun, naïve and ready to take on the world.  I thought since I had success in the college ranks then why shouldn’t I have success on the senior level?

The Olympian I was, am, and want to be: Part 2

Excerpt: The Beijing cycle shaped me into the Olympian I am today.  It gave me the experience to confidently say that success is about the journey and not ultimately about the destination.  Having that Olympic Gold medal represents more to me now than just winning a race. When I look at my Beijing medal I see more than Gold, I remember every step of the journey that it took to get to the middle of the podium. I get it now when people say that they are excited to go to work every day.  Or that they can’t believe they get paid to do the job that they do.  Well, I might not be getting paid wages in that regard, but I can’t believe I have been given the opportunities that I have had through the sport of rowing.  Now as an Olympian I get to share those experiences of leadership, teamwork and motivations to people from all walks of life.

Interview with Olympic Cox - Peter Cipollone

05 July 2012

Learn to cox like an Olympian as you absorb the tips in this interview with Peter Cipollone - gold medal cox from the 2004 Athens Olympics. In this interview Peter talks about how to keep your words from becoming 'white noise' in the rowers' minds during a heavy race.

Questions:
How do you make sure that you are on everyday at practices and races without being repetitive? What do you to make sure that the rowers are really responding to your calls and are engaged in what you are saying? – Lisa

All that concerns me is keeping a straight line and not crashing. However, in masters clubs some crews want a life coach on the boat so how do you keep them motivated without becoming “white noise”? – g

Lisa and g,

In keeping with our statures, here are some “short” answers:

1. Use humor to create mental breaks and increase focus
2. If you do not have something useful to say, silence is perfectly acceptable
3. Spend more time listening, observing and diagnosing

I think humor is underestimated by almost everyone in our sport and underused by coxswains. We are so determined to prove our value and show we are all business that we forget having fun is why people do sports. Rowers are a pretty self-motivated bunch. I mean, really, who else gets up at 4:30AM for one last row before the lake freezes?

When all this focus and intensity bleeds over into physical and psychological tension, people stop improving. That is another reason people row: to challenge themselves and advance their skills. A cox who can recognize when the crew has crossed this line has a golden opportunity to prove his or her worth. When someone’s head is about to explode, ride it out to the next break in the action, and then tell a quick joke or a funny story. Even a few seconds’ mental break can have a great effect for getting your athletes fresh and back into the game, ready to start getting faster again. On certain occasions, I have even told extended stories while we were doing long steady state pieces. It is the on-water equivalent of watching a movie while erging. Just make sure you have some good jokes, stories and anecdotes at the ready. And try to keep it rated-G just in case there are family members in the launch.

Read the full interview.

Making Your Calls Economical

21 June 2012

This weeks article is written by Robert Colburn. It is just one of many great coxing articles he has written as part of the Believers in the Stern Blog on the Row2k website.

"To what purpose dost thou hoard thy words?"
--Shakespeare, Richard II

Efficient practices and maneuvers, as well as effective moves during a race, depend on reacting quickly. Coxswains whose calls are precise and economic make for efficient boats. Compressing information into the fewest words necessary -- a 'telegraphic' style -- helps your crew focus, saves time, and reduces the chance of misheard words. It also helps your own concentration in the excitement of a race. Coxswains tend to develop a verbal shorthand as they become more experienced, but by thinking about it early, coxswains can get to that stage sooner.

It is hoped this column will also be useful to rowers of uncoxed boats who need to use the minimum of breath to make their calls.

Boiling down "In two strokes we're going to take a ten for legs," to "In two, ten for legs" sounds much more professional and emphatic. "Up two in two" is more energetic than "In two strokes we're going to raise the rating two beats," especially in the sprint when a lot of things are happening quickly and you want time to be able to tell them important things about where the other crews are, and how you're moving on them." Using familiar landmarks helps. For example, "Bridge move in two" can convey several sentences worth of information -- distance on the course, rating, number of strokes in the move -- to a crew who is accustomed to that move.

A handful of examples to spur your thinking; you'll come up with many on your own: "Hundred to the thousand" rather than "We've got a hundred meters until the thousand meter mark," "Five to wire," instead of "Five strokes until the wire," are but a few examples. As the season progresses, you and your boat will probably develop your own, even more coded, shorthand.

A boat under way has a natural rhythm; fitting your calls to it helps your rowers' flow and concentration. The terser your calls, the more naturally this happens. A long sentence is more likely to counter the rhythm.

Most commands in crew have a symmetric doubling to them; this helps the compression. The first part lets the rowers know what is about to happen. The second signals the execution. "Waists and down" can replace "We're going to go to waists in two, ready, one two, waists."

Quick commands are especially appreciated at times when the crew is pressing the shell over their heads (rolling to the water, placing the shell on a high rack, etc.). Many coxswains either take too long to give the command, or else inexplicably pause at the most uncomfortable point. This leaves their crews stationary and waiting for the next command. It's tiring to hold a shell at full extension. Instead of saying "Over your heads, no toes over, roll it to the water," shorten it to "Over heads, roll!" (Or, "heads! [will] roll!" as our little dock humor goes.)

The "to the water" bit is probably obvious enough not to be needed, and there's time as the boat is being lowered to remind them about toes, splash etc. It doesn't all need to be done while it is over their heads. Any situation where the crew is straining to hold a shell, passing it over something, or otherwise incurring a risk, is a time when clear, compressed, and fluid commands are extremely important.

By giving the explanation part of a command ahead of time, you can shorten the actual execution as it's happening, and still be clear. For example, when rolling a shell into slings, it's best to say - before lifting - "we're going to roll towards me," instead of doing it as they're rolling it. Keeping the explanation separate from the actual execution simplifies both.

Coaches really appreciate quickly-executed drills, and it keeps you from falling behind another boat when you're trying to keep them together. It's better to call "In two, pause hands-away," than "In two strokes, we'll be pausing hands-away." When the coach has already described the drill from the launch, it is usually not necessary for the coxswain to repeat the whole drill. It should be enough -- especially for routine and familiar drills -- simply to give the call. However, if there is any doubt, or if there are several complex components to the drill, go ahead and relay it to your crew to make sure they have it. (It's also a good way to fix it in your own mind.) A quick "got that?" to your crew makes a good check.

If you have rowers in your boats who come from different programs, (e.g. college freshman boats at the beginning of the season.), it's sometimes worth the time to go through the details. They might be used to different names for drills ("Er, what's a 'Romanian drill'?") and it's worth making sure everyone is on the same page.

Precise and spare calls save you from rushing to get your words out. You can enunciate clearly, thus sounding calmer and more forceful, rather than rushed and frantic. This makes a big difference to your rowers' attention and confidence.

Copyright © Robert Colburn. Reprinted with permission from·row2k.com. All rights reserved.··No part of this article may be reprinted without written consent of Robert Colburn.

P.S - Did you like this article? Robert Colburn is also a published author. Check out his latest work The Sultan´s Helmsmen.·