Please help me improve my coxing!!!?

Question

im 16 yrs old bout 5'11'' which i no is tall but im nly 51kgs which is light enuff! now id be 1 of da best coxes in my club but i want to go further than clubs i want 2 cox da boats datrepresent my country (ireland btw)!! in ireland der are competitons called the homes which are between england ireland an scotland an wales!!please help dis is important 2 me

Answer 1

I'm also a cox from N. England, and I also have the issue of height as I'm 5'9''. I would say to become a better cox you need to focus on 3 main points:

a) Steering, b) Coaching, c) Motivation

A) - Steering is one of those things that once you get it right your crew will begin to respect you and you will be able to focus on the other points. So, to steer correctly try not to touch the rudder too much and especially on straights get a good line out of the previous corner and stick to the line the whole way down the straight.

B.) - This is the one I find the hardest, but I do have some pointers; Firstly, learn the rowing technique inside out and preferbly learn how to correct for example a late blade at the catch - which could be two things 1.)- too slow off finish / slow on slide or 2.) dropping hands into catch causing a very obvious "skying" where the blade begins to rise off the water. To correct these things you need to for 1.) coach the rower into speeding up their slide in time with their stroke-man or 2.) tell the rower "raise your hands into catch" - try and be positive and not negative. The coaching aspect will come over time, try and listen to what your coach tells the rowers and learn these corrections.

C.) Motivation - I find easy and the most fun. This is your chance to get your adrenaline flowing. No matter what some people say, this can be the point that keeps your crew going  over a 6km race and not giving up. I would say keep it simple, because when a rower is in full race mode they only listen for certain key words and not a lecture. Therefore I would advice in training you try out some things and see what your crew react to and 9 times out of 10 they will react the same in a race.

Anyway good-luck and possibly see you at worlds some day!!!