Coxing: A Feast for the Eyes

So you’ve been working hard all winter, soaking in knowledge, bonding with your rowers, and probably curating some erg-room playlists.

You’ve been with your rowers since day one, making keen technical observations and learning the perfect thing to say halfway through the team’s hardest workout. Now you have to figure out how to apply what you’ve learned when you’re back in the stern (or bow).

I spoke to Izzi Weiss about the transition from land to water in the spring. Izzi coxed at the University of Virginia for four years and won gold and bronze medals with the U.S. Under 23 team. Weiss runs Inside Turn, a coxswain consultancy that helps coxswains at every stage of their career take the next step.

First, don’t underestimate the importance of the emotional connection you’ve created with your rowers over the past few months of training. If you’ve paid attention to your rowers and approached practices with intention, you can reap the rewards on the water.

“You get to establish strong bonds on land and have more time to help rowers with what they’re working on,” Weiss said. “You can build a rapport that’s different from being in the boat.”

Sure, you may not be on the erg with your rowers (or maybe you are!), but if you’ve been engaged in your land sessions and invested in your rowers’ development, then you’ve demonstrated that you’re with them every stroke.

Now, you have an opportunity to strengthen those bonds on the water.

“There’s a sense that you’ve really showed up for them, and now they can show up for you and work together in a different way,” Weiss said. “You’ve been there for them in really hard situations, and they trust you and rely on you.”

From a practical standpoint, because you’ve seen how your rowers react to hard training, you’re better attuned to when they might need extra encouragement or input.

The move from winter training back onto the water is an opportunity to help your rowers technically as they get back into a boat. For a coxswain, winter training is a feast for the eyes; you can see so much more standing in the erg room than sitting in the stern. You can see where rowers begin a session and how their technique changes from fatigue or stress. 

“Obviously, in the fall and spring, you work with people on their bladework, but in the winter you can see how their bodies are moving when they’re rowing in a way you can’t in the boat,” Weiss said.

On the water, “you can see [their bodies] only if they’re in the boat next to you, and in that case you can’t help them in that moment.”

Use the winter to connect what you’re seeing the bodies of your rowers do with what you see their blades do on the water.

“Try to understand people’s body position and technical growth areas beyond the handle and the oar,” Weiss said. “If you know that so-and-so drops her chest into the catch, then, when her blade is moving away from the water, you can put together what’s happening. If you remember how she ergs, that gives you a lot more context on what could be happening on the water that’s causing poor bladework.”

This enables you to give better feedback when looking at blades. Pointing out the problem is far less effective for fostering improvement than offering a solution. Observing stroke after stroke on land can give you the confidence to present solutions to struggling rowers once you’re back on the water.

“The most important carryover to me is that you get on the water and you know more about your rowers than when you finished the fall,” Weiss said.

If you walk into the boat bay in the spring with renewed excitement and a better understanding of your teammates, it should pay dividends on the water immediately. 

Hannah Woodruff is an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Radcliffe heavyweight team. She began rowing at Phillips Exeter Academy, was a coxswain at Wellesley College, and has coached college, high-school, and club crews for over 10 years.

The post Coxing: A Feast for the Eyes appeared first on Rowing News.