Feb 22, 2017
Head of the Hooch // 2016 // Chattanooga, TN lake lanier rowing club - llrc
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Head of the Hooch // 2016 // Chattanooga, TN lake lanier rowing club - llrc
Notice: Molesey veterans head race 2018: river closure notice
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Notice: Burway Rowing Club small boats head race 2018: river restriction notice
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Notice: Hampton small boats head race 2017: river restriction notice
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Hi so I've only been coxing for about 6 weeks and we have our first regatta coming up, Chattanooga Head Race, and I'm racing both a four and an eight (A of B). I'm very nervous about the regatta and I was wondering if you could give me some tips; I'd really appreciate it!:)
Hi,
So first off for head races, make sure to dress warmly and I recommend bringing a wrench into the boat just in case something comes loose on the row up. And you’re out on the water for a long time, you really don’t want to be battling with being too cold while trying to cox a head race.
Next, look at your course map. Study it. I always find that actually knowing my course ahead of time tends to calm my nerves for head races - I knew where I want to go and how I want to steer the course. On the row up to the start you’ll get a chance to feel out the course a little bit too. Also knowing my bow numbers and who my boat is chasing helps as well - I find it also helps my crew to know that I have things under control and know whats going to go on. Well in general I find being almost over prepared in terms of where I’m steering, when I’m launching, who I’m following and everything like that helps with my nerves.
Also looking at the map quickly, if I found the correct one, the course doesn’t look very challenging so you should be fine for steering. Just remember that over long turns small adjustments to nudge your bow towards the turn make the turns a lot easier then just cranking the steering.
I also like to the break the race down into about 1km pieces of focus. Because you can’t just crank out and power through a head race, technique is important and so is maintaining it. I like to keep focus on catching together, swinging out of the bow, length through the water, pulling in high through the finish as main points of focus. A loose race plan with room to adjust to the weather conditions and how well my rowers can keep their focus.
To sum it up easily, have a plan. Know the course as best you can through the map, know launch times and bow numbers, and know what you want your crew to focus on. And layers! Layers are your friend!
Other than that, racing in a four vs. an eight isn’t too different. The differences between the two boats in a race are the same in practice.
Hi! I'm a new cox; I just switched after a year of rowing. I'm slowly getting the hang of it but fall racing is starting and I'm suuuuuuper nervous. Do you have any tips and what are the best things you've heard/have said during a race?
Hi !
Well, since you’ve switched and have experience as a rower, that can play to your advantage a lot. You’ve actually experienced races and the pain that a rower goes through during a race - it helps with some motivation to actually know what racing feels like. It can also help as you have an idea of what you’d want a cox to say to you during a race; say that to your crew.
As for head racing I tend to have amount equal amounts of calls on technique as I do on power/motivation. Head races are long, and drain rowers mentally as well and physically - keeping focus in the boat or on the boat’s goals is really important. Because it’s fucking hard to maintain focus for 5-6 km of a race.
Personally I try to keep a good amount of focus on length through the water, sitting up tall, and swinging together out of bow as these are things a lot of rowers lose over time and as they get tired. Don’t let them. Building and maintaining a rhythm helps to keep everything going smoothly - to tune into the rhythm the rowers have to be focuses on their boat and crew. For this I’ll often use the jump/send calls for three or four strokes.
Power wise for calls, I focus on getting the heels down off the catch, snapping the legs and squeezing the finish. To get the crew doing this is requires attention to power application and sneaks in some focus onto technique.
Now some rowers like to know how they’re doing relative to other boats, so if it’s a reasonable distance with the boat in front of us, or someone I know my boat can beat I’ll try to get my crew to hunt them down - though I’ll often use the phrase of inching on them every stroke - because passing in a head race isn’t always quick. Other times I’ll ignore the boats in front of me if my crew is falling apart technique wise/scrambling, or if the boat is too far away and getting further.
that feeling in a head race when you're closing in bow to stern tip in the middle of a turn under a bridge and you come out going wide to overtake an unyielding boat and you slay them before the last 1k of the race