WORKING WITH TECHNIQUE

There have been plenty whole books written on this topic, so we aren't going into all that much detail here.  As a novice coxswain, you should be familiar with the problems of novice rowers and have some idea how to fix them.  Listen to your coach when he/she speaks.  That's the best way to learn.

·        Check- When you feel your back slamming into the back of a seat, or a strong jerk on each stroke, you are feeling what is called check.  This happens when the ratio of the drive to the recovery is off, or when rowers aren't catching together.  Tell your rowers to slow down the slide and speed up the drive, and see the note about catches.

·        Rocking side to side- This means the boat isn't set.  Set is just a fancy rower way of saying balanced.  Tell your rowers to keep even handle heights with the person in front of them.  Also allow the rowers to look out of the boat at the oars for a minute to make sure the blades are the same height off the water. 

·        Leaning to one side- Another way for the boat to be unset.  If the boat is leaning down to starboard, say, "We're down to starboard. Starboards raise your hands, ports lower them."  If it's down to port, say, "We're down to port. Ports raise your hands, starboards lower them."

·        Blades not entering water at the same time- Call the catches.  Whenever stroke catches, say CATCH!  Also remind the rowers to watch the person in front of them, and follow them.  Tell them they need to anticipate what that person is going to do, so they won't be late.  Catches in novice boats are almost always too late.  Tell everyone, especially your stroke to catch just before it feels right.

·        Fast Slides- This causes check, but it deserves it's own section, since it's so common and messes up the boat so much.  The slide is when the boat is gliding through the water.  Tell the rowers to let the boat slide under them, and not move towards the catch on their own.  Coach John likes to tell them to hover, but nobody really gets that.  Try it out, maybe your rowers will figure out what he's talking about.

3 Basic Steps to Fix a Problem

1.     Identify the problem
2.     Give the rowers one or two suggestions.
3.     Let them know when they have corrected the problem—express it in your voice! "Excellent, very nice, you got it, way to fix it, fabulous, yes, good concentration."

Don't spend more than a minute or two on an individual.
Give specific feedback to each rower each practice.
Come back to each rower, ten or twenty minutes later to tell him if he's fixed the problem.

SAFETY

Keep your eyes and ears open, and you should be fine.  Make sure you pay attention to where other boats are in relation to you at all times.  Also, DO NOT SPIN right upstream of the Roswell Road Bridge.  See the ruins of the D'bas if you have any doubts.

DOCKING

          There are two ways that we have found to dock that really work:

1.    Angle Docking- This is Crank's favorite way to dock, and she thanks Coach John greatly for finally teaching it to her.  Alyssa prefers this method too.  When you are crossing the river, stay a little to the right of the dock.  Aim at about the middle of the dock.  Row with ONLY STERN or BOW PAIR and go until you are about to hit the dock.  Before you do, say, "Weigh Nuff! Lean away!"  and you will float in straight.  It's best to try this a few times in a bow-coxed 4 before you try it in an 8.  Don't even try it in a 4 till you've been coxing at least 2 months.  We like the bow of all the boats.

2.    Straight Docking- This is the preferred way of docking for most novice coxswains.  Aim for the far end of the dock, and make sure you aren't too close to it on your port side, and then just row it up stern pair.  Watch out for wakes of Saint Andrew's coaches when using this method. 

At regattas, everyone seems to forget how to dock and needs to be pulled in.  Don't worry about this.  Your coach will be there.  Even Varsity can't do it.

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