Actions Speak Louder than Words
Q: I’m the Varsity coxn on my team and I’ve been coxing for about a year now, but I do feel like I am taken advantage of at times by the older rowers, even when I assert myself and speak with authority.
Any suggestions on how I could let my rowers know I know what I’m doing even though I’m not as experienced?
Thanks!
Shannon
A: Telling your rowers that you should be respected and that you know what you are talking about will not work. You’ve got to show your rowers that you know what you are talking about. You can do this by several ways.
- When you say last 10 it better be–accuracy is crucial when you need to prove that you know what you are talking about. That way your rowers will start to trust you.
- Participate in land workouts–when you can, join in on the runs, weights and even ergs. That way when you say to work harder during practice they know that you do too and really mean it. That way your rowers will start to trust you and respect you.
- Come early, leave late–take ownership in getting to practice, being ready for practice and leading practice. Also make sure when you leave the boathouse the boats are clean, put away, slings are put away and the training facility is tidy. That way your rowers will start to rely on you and trust you.
- Be consistent–steering, docking, counting, and delivering information in the boat. The more consistent you can be the more your rowers will trust you.
- Be willing to take feedback and change to what your rowers need. That way your rowers will respect the fact that you listen to them and they will trust and respect you for it.
I hope you are getting the theme of your actions will be more effective than your words. Earning the trust and respect of your rowers is not a given because you are sitting in that 9th seat. You have to fill the role of the 9th seat accurately and respectfully and in return you start to earn the respect of the rowers filling their roles in their seats. With this sport, patience is a great thing to have and use. Be patient but work hard to learn your craft and the delivery of of your actions and words.
Be a teammate first then a coxswain second,
mwhip+
Tags: accuracy, practice, rowers respect, steering
Posted at Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 in: Coxswain Q & A
What if you have a rower that doesn’t take constructive critisism well? Like if you tell them that their hand levels are off, and they take it as a personal attack. How can you show them that you’re just trying to help them as a rower and the boat as a whole?
Whip, first of all, thanks for coming to the row for the cure and thanks to you and Sus. for the signatures! You guys were awesome to have around. Come back any time! Second, Mark I know exactly what your talking about. Criticism is something that a rower will have to put up with on a daily basis. Anyone can tell you that criticism is the only way in which people improve at anything in life. Make sure the way you are saying things in the boat does not sound overly critical and is well dictated so that the rower can understand. Rowers juggle a lot of tasks while putting the blade in the water, and I hate to use the phrase ‘dumb it down’ for them, but definitely keep it simple. Also, when you tell them to change something, tell them why it must be changed and how what they are dong is throwing the boat off in whatever way. When going into lengthy detail about a change that needs to be made, make sure you do it between pieces or while the boat is stopped so that they can keep up with and understand what you are saying. When speaking to the whole boat, at least between low rate and low pressure pieces, I have found it useful to stand up slightly on occasion so that those in the bow can at least see your face and so you can see their handles if that’s what your working on. I don’t recommend standing up too often because it can get annoying to the rowers and it makes the boat more difficult to set and again, do so only between light workouts and drills. And make sure the boat is set and don’t fall through the hull! Most importantly, BE POLITE! If none of this advice works, unless Whip and anyone else has something to add, I’d say you should talk to your coach about the problem or approach the rower if your coach does not do anything first. There are too many errors too be made in this sport for someone to react negatively to constructive advice and as a result, the person who is largely unresponsive to advice in a rowing shell may not be around for very long.
If you are on a team with a coach, I would not recommend standing up to talk. I feel it separates yourself from them and you should be a teammate filling your role as the 9th seat just as 6 seat has to back up the stroke…etc. If you are at a club that rarely has a coach and the coxswain becomes the default coach then coach away and stand up if you feel that you must, but I would feel weird doing it unless it was a boat trick! Has anyone tried “surfing” in a boat? It’s really fun, I think I did it in High School on a really hot sunny day at Lake Natoma. Our coach made us stand up and not hold on to anything while the other girls were rowing. It was hilarious.
Yes, the surf drill was a fun one. I stayed in the seat to steer but we had four rowers stand and four row just to wake everyone up. Good balance drill too. Correct again whip, standing up does separate you from the crew no doubt but sometimes (about twice a year) I feel like I need to look at handle and rigging heights if something is way off. When I do so, it is never in the presence of a coach, only if Im running a drill myself. It can be a good birds eye view and the change that I made two rowers in my engine room make had a good impact. Good point thank you.
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