Head of the Hooch recording

listen here

Fall Racing

While fall racing does have it ups and downs, it always succeeds in pushing the limits of your team. People like to play it safe during practice but it's when you're out there on race day that you redefine your definition of fast. When going against the clock you aren't letting other boats determine your race; you're racing against yourself. Fall is when crews realize their potential for the spring and work through the long winters in order to stay with the competition. Competition isn't about racing against the other crews but racing against yourself.

Many people don't like head racing and it is for that reason, but it's the true competitors that can take what they learned about themselves in the fall and apply it to the spring. It's the long pieces that build physical endurance, it's the long pieces that build determination, and it's especially the long pieces that build a hunger for racing and the feeling that comes with spring racing.

happy winter training everyone :)

4K Practice Piece

So far our fall season has been pairs only rowing so my first opportunity to go on the water in a coxed boat was today (finally!). With our first head race happening this weekend, we did a practice 4K in 4's. This is my first time back in a competitive boat in months and so coxing isn't where I'd like it to be but I thought I'd share it just for some starter recordings because there never seems to be enough on the internet anyways! Enjoy and Good Luck to the many people also starting their season this weekend

Summer Drag

As summer continues and more time of training alone has passed, motivation becomes harder to find. How hard can you push yourself with no one next to you to beat? Who will notice if you cheat yourself of the full warm up? Will that one workout even matter?

In a sport that demands team work, separation can be what breaks people. What one person does on their own affects the team and those who have been dedicated easily stand out from the rest.  Think about what you have been doing right now to help the team. Think about whether your actions have been more constructive or destructive to what you have been building up for months as a team.

Summer is not a time to lose sight of the goal. It's a time to self-evaluate your progress and rededicate yourself to improving on your own...  because that is what your teammates will notice. 

Statement

"work until your idols become your rivals"

Role of the Coxswain

One of the highly debated subjects of the coxswain's role within the crew is what is the purpose of a coxswain?

From an outside perspective a coxswain is described as the "cheerleader within the boat." They're equipped with a microphone and speakers to dictate motivation to the crew during races. Another role people describe is steering the boat; either sitting at the front or the back and steering the boat since all the rowers are facing the opposite direction.

While we know some of this to be true, and some of it to be false, and along with many other responsibilites that comes with the title coxswain; the main purpose for a coxswain is to make everyone else's life easier. 

I know I just simplified everything we do into one sentence but it's the truth that so many of us often forget. As you get up to higher levels of rowing and rowers are getting more experience in small boats, the ugly truth is that they are perfectly capable of steering a boat without us. They can also motivation themselves, run drills themselves, and PR all without us.

This week I got the pleasure of coxing for a visually disabled mixed four. Even with their disability they row in blind boats (not intended to be punny, just boats without a cox) and earlier this year rowed a double in the Head of the Charles without even being able to see the course. When I got asked to cox them I was really nervous since I had no idea what they were going to be expecting of me. But they weren't looking for me to give them magical motivation or technique calls that were going to fix all the boats problems. They were just looking for someone to steer, run the workouts, and communicate with the coach -- someone who would make their practice easier.

Don't get me wrong, coxswains are a huge part of the boat. From fixing technique to giving that extra push during a workout, coxswains DO have an impact within the boat. But what I'm saying is that when you do these "extra" things and forget why you're there, thats when you'll be running into issues. All too often people forget their role and whether it's getting too into the piece and forgetting about your course or not following the coaches instructions, that's when you're making it harder on your rowers.

Rowing is hard enough as it is, lets not make it even harder on ourselves by going off target and forgetting the basics.

Reach for the Summit 2

"Hard work is hard work. But the results of hard work are fun. They're rewarding. People ask our kids all the time, 'Why go to Tennesse? It's so hard.' The answer is, because the process leads to greater rewards."

In rowing, like most other things, there are many uncontrollables. However, the level of which you work is within your control. The only one who knows how hard you work and can force you to complete it is you. You are the driving force behind every workout and every extra effort you put in. Hard work isn't fun but the results will be. It's hard to go into training now, knowing that racing season is so far away. It's easy to let yourself slip and not put in your full effort if you aren't seeing results now. But something I can promise is if you put in the effort now the results will be there. You'll see it in your attitude, in your confidence, and in your approach to all future training.

With hard work and dedication comes the confidence that you believe success will be sure to follow. 

"Belief in yourself is what happens when you know you've done the things that entitle you to success. Real confidence is not groundless. It is based on everything you've practiced all year long. It's based in your experience and how much homework you have done." -Patt Summit

Believe in your work and believe in the process. Hard work will pay off in more ways than trophies.

Statement

"if you constantly push yourself to the limit there are no limits"

Reach for the Summit

"Here’s how I’m going to beat you . I’m going to outwork you. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. You’ve just learned my most valuable secret. It’s not that exciting, I know. You were hoping for some mystery, or witchcraft. The problem is, there is no great intangible quality to success. It’s not a gift people are born with, or a touch, or a talent, or a knack. It’s a simple matter of putting your back into it ...But I can tell you this: The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender. Tennessee wins because, in the end, our players feel they have worked too hard not to.” -Pat Summitt

If anyone doesn't know who Pat Summitt is she holds the record for the most all-time wins for a coach in NCAA basketball history and has never had a losing season in her 38 years of coaching. If anyone knows anything about success it would be her. Recently, I have started reading her book on success called Reach for the Summit, where she talks about the concept of outworking the competition. 

How simple, yet powerful, of an idea it is. Imagine going out to any race against any competitor, and already knowing that you have put in more meters, more work, and more time than they have. Imagine the confidence you would gain by knowing you have trained harder. 

Effort dictates results. What are you doing today that your competition field hasn't began to do? Or better yet, what are they doing that you're NOT? Figure it out, and change it now. If something is going to separate you from the competition do not let it be under working. Think about last season and use it as motivation. If you didn't do as well as you thought you could; step it up, if it was your best season yet; get working again to make next years' even better. 

Last season is over and everyone is in fair game for the next one. Time to get going and start working before your competition does, because trust me, I know I already have. 

The Value of Marginal Gains

In everything you do there is always room for improvement; even if it’s as little as 1%. Small gains are what add up to make the larger improvements, and gradually increase over time.  1% is what gets rid of the bad habits, turns them into good, and then evolves into a permanent change. Many people like to overlook the small efforts or try to take the easy way around solving issues and improving. 

“It’s easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making better decisions on a daily basis.” 

Every habit is the result of many small decisions over time and the sum of small choices add up.  1% can be as little taking the stairs or drinking a glass of water with your breakfast, and as the days add up these little actions create a larger ripple affect. 

Success is a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. —Jim Rohn

Think about it this way; if you were do to something 1% better every day how far apart would that separate you from your competition? 

(the original article I quoted from is http://jamesclear.com/marginal-gains and I highly suggest reading through his other published works) 

Statement

"Put your mind, body, and your very existence on the line and see what happens"

Season Overview

Now that our season has been over for a few weeks I have had some time to reflect on the year


Although this is my fifth year coxing, it was my first year at the University level which was a huge change for me. I had gone to nationals in high school but even compared to that these races seemed so much bigger. This past year I coxed scrimmages on our home course, head races down in Texas, and even our Conference Championships on the East Coast. Our results were not what we had hoped, and this year was the first in a few that we didn’t get to compete at NCAA’s. Our second place finish in our conference was a disappointing one as a team, but I know personally that I had made some huge improvements throughout the year and I am proud of how much my coxing and my rowers have grown. After returning back, we had a team meeting about the upcoming year and there has definitely been a change in attitudes for approaching next year. Second place is always tough, but it’s not always a bad spot to be in. I’m looking forward to spending some time away from the water and learning about the sport on my own and knowing that the start of next year will be a new and refreshing one.

Quickest Way to Improve Your Coxing

By Emily Coffman

One of the most common beginner mistake in the coxing world is believing that the only way to improve coxing is in fact by coxing a boat.

You Tube videos of the rowing stroke

I know that might seem logical but over the years I have found some of my biggest “ah- ha” coxing improvements have been made on land. These three techniques have helped me advance my coxing so whether you’re looking for that extra step to beat out the top coxswain or just looking for another way to practice during the winter months I’d give these techniques a try.

1. Listen to your recordings

Go back to your old recordings. Maybe you’ve recorded yourself and hated the way it sounded or maybe you’ve recorded yourself and never played it back (or maybe you haven’t recorded yourself before and in this case start NOW!) but either way chances are you’ve never analyzed yourself before. Listen through and write down everything you say. I mean everything, including any sounds or filler words you say.

Then as you go back through take note of any patterns you notice. Do you say “and” before most commands? Do you use mostly references to body swing? Neither is necessarily bad but at what point do you get sick of yourself saying these things? By getting to know your own coxing better you can critique yourself before your rowers do it for you.

2. Listen to other recordings

Now that you’ve analyzed your own coxing style you can move onto listening to others. By listening to others you can pick up on their patterns and phrases and see how they compare to your own. It might sound simple but when you call “power off the footboard” for the millionth time in one race and you no longer get a response what do you call then? Listen to these recordings and see what calls they use and you can slowly merge them into your vocabulary.

3. Watch footage of a rowing stroke

Now I know you can do plenty of this during practice but here’s a way to use the most out of your time by watching at home. Find footage of the rowing stroke, on youtube and I’m sure you’ll find hundreds. As you watch, chose one rower, one technique problem they could fix, and focus on it.

If you were their coxswain what call would you say to make a change? Write it down. Then come up with at least two other ways to correct the same mistake and write them down as well.

By coming up with multiple solutions OFF the water, when the problem arises on the water theres less thinking you have to do on the spot. Everyone wants to make their job easier and this process is the best cheat-cheat of all.
Try these techniques out and let me know how they worked for you. Have any other suggestions? I’d love to hear those too. Feel free to email me at emilyjcoffman@gmail.com

(originally posted https://www.rowperfect.co.uk/quickest-way-improve-coxing/)