Our athletes want to race and compete. Though motivated, they lack knowledge and experience. Coaches improve their rowers and crews by providing this knowledge and experience. We bring perspective from outside the boat and should look at the bigger picture always. We help our athletes best by identifying repeatedly the factors limiting performance and addressing them above all other concerns.

Athletes aside, most programs have substantial limitations. One or more of these may be addressable and, if remedied, result in a profound increase in speed. Survey the scene, compare your situation to those of your peer competitors (or those you want as your competitors), and see what can be done. Team culture? Recruiting? More coaches? Water time? Equipment? Admittedly, money plays a big role in the success of any program, but some limiting factors can be tackled without it. 

When thinking of limiting factors, we think more commonly of what’s happening in the boat. Here, it’s valuable to ascertain whether it’s limitations in skill, fitness and power, or psychology that are holding the crew back the most. If it’s skill, then differentiate between style and substance. Substance involves the laws of physics. Style is your way of doing things. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to dictate style at the expense of teaching substance. It’s shocking how much time and energy are spent on the minutiae of rowing at the expense of performing the basics better. 

If you’re not sure where to start, begin by making sure the boat is rigged appropriately for your athletes. Comfort in the boat is a precursor to performance. The next level of comfort involves stability of the shell when it’s moving. Stability provides a level platform for your rowers all through the stroke cycle. If that’s adequate, then everyone—and I mean everyone—can pull harder.

Yes, power is generally the ultimate limiting factor. If you’re pleased with the power output, help your rowers do a better job getting connected earlier in the drive. The front end is the ultimate technical limiting factor, and it can be coached. If still in doubt, enlist a more experienced coach to view your crew and offer his or her opinion on what’s limiting their racing. A fresh set of eyes can unlock amazing opportunities for increased speed. 

Sometimes the limiting factor may be just one athlete. Here your options are either to replace the athlete or coach up and improve the athlete. Replacing is easiest but not always available. Coaching up is harder, but by identifying the single greatest limitation of your athletes, you can speed their development. Better to focus narrowly on their limiting factors than overwhelm them by addressing every issue.  

Whether with your overall program, your crew, or a single athlete, exercise your coaching perspective by identifying the biggest limiting factor to successful performance. Once identified, address it continuously until progress is achieved and a new, but less detrimental, limiting factor emerges.

Then repeat the process.

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Coaches urge their athletes often to prioritize rest, whether focusing on recovery on a Sunday in season or on getting a real break from training for a week or two after the championship. We know this is a crucial part of not only performance but also longevity in the sport. Athletes cannot train at an ever-increasing volume or intensity; there must be time for adaptation. What’s often overlooked is that this is true for coaches, too. It’s in our nature to forge ahead all year long, always searching for that slight competitive edge, one more call with a recruit, one more note to a donor.

As Lizzy Houston, associate head coach of the Stanford lightweight women, puts it, “There is no office. I’ll make a lineup at 7 p.m. or check out the training plan I made for the next two weeks and see if I can make an adjustment.”

Wes Ng, head coach of women’s rowing at the University of Pennsylvania, sees parallels with training.

“There is certainly the analogy between the type of exercise you’re doing and the type of recovery you’re doing—stimulus and adaptation. Are we doing that on the coaching side? We’re probably skewed toward nothing but stimulus and very little recovery.”

Coaches, like their athletes, cannot work at an ever-increasing volume if the profession is going to be sustainable. To be good leaders and mentors, coaches need to walk the talk and seize the opportunity to rest themselves. Just as an overtrained, under-recovered athlete is ripe for injury or underperformance, coaches who don’t take time for themselves are going to lack the patience, clarity, and even motivation to bring their best to the job each day.

The realities of the competitive seasons mean that coaches are hard-pressed to take any meaningful time away from their responsibilities. That’s why it’s so imperative that we take advantage of the winter break. Our athletes have gone home for a week or a month. There’s likely nothing more that can be done to ensure they are training. Now we just have to wait. Rather than fret, something I was certainly prone to, now is the time to relish the space and quiet. Athletes are likely not texting or calling as regularly. Staff meetings are at a minimum. It’s one of the few times of year you can really turn off your work phone and email.

Another reason to take time off and be diligent about restricting your availability during this time is to teach your athletes how to treat you. If you answer every text immediately, even at night or on a day off, athletes will grow to expect that of you, understandably. Conversely, if you tell your athletes that you are available to them only within certain time frames (excluding emergencies, of course), you teach them to have realistic expectations and to solve problems on their own. If you say you’re taking time to focus on yourself, your family, and your friends over the holidays, you will undermine that message totally by being responsive immediately to every text and email.

This doesn’t mean you should abandon these team members about whom you care, no doubt, very deeply. Use your “Out of Office” email response. Set expectations with your team before parting ways for winter break. Give them the time and attention they deserve when you have the time and attention to devote to them. This is the best way to teach your team how you do, and do not, want to communicate during the regular season.

So take this rare time to do whatever makes you feel fresh and ready to take on the bulk of winter training and then the spring. Figure out what that is and don’t let anything get in the way of taking care of yourself.

Happy Holidays!

The post Off the Clock appeared first on Rowing News.

She goes on to clearly and passionately describe her love of a challenge and her aspirations of living with the multifaceted identity of athlete, coach, and mother. Cooke Carcagno summarizes, “I want my kids to see me as an athlete and a coach. To love this person who works hard and gives herself to others. I want my athletes to see me as a mother and a coach, to know that this impossible statistic is possible, achievable, and so deliciously satisfying. I want my life to be about chasing victories, attempting the impossible, and never giving up. I want to destroy the patriarchal terms of “stay at home mom” or a “working mom,” as if identity could be established by a simple location. I want to be myself and to have my decisions respected.”

To read the story, click here.

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“There is a real need among female rowing coaches for community and professional development,” said Madeline Davis Tully, founder of the event and former coach of women’s rowing at Stanford University, The Ohio State University, and Boston University.

“This conference is a very real, very practical way to get and keep women in coaching, making the sport better for everyone.”

The purpose of the WCC is to educate, connect, and inspire emerging and established coaches from every level of the sport – collegiate, junior, masters, and club—and to create a profession that is better-equipped, more inclusive, and more sustainable.

Last summer, 11 female head coaches left their positions in Division I rowing, and nearly half those positions were filled by men. Today, less than a third of college head rowing coaches are women.

“It’s clear that the time is now for a conference like this,” Davis Tully said.

Coaches are traveling from as far as California and Florida to learn from expert speakers about such topics as leadership, bravery, and advocating for yourself and your team. 

The presenters and their topics include:

Holly Austin
Head Coach and Founder, Ready Set Row
Leading with Authenticity and Building Connection: The Brave Rowing Coach

Dr. Sharon Beverly, Ph.D.
Founder and President, Beverly and Associates
Mastering the Process to Land Your Next Job

Liz Dennison
Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Positioning Your Program for Success: How to Effectively Advocate for Yourself and Your Team

Miranda Paris Holder, PCC
Founder and Principal Coach, Holder Leadership
The Inner Game of Leadership

Crista Samaras
CEO and Founder, Brave Enterprises
Bravery

Thirteen coaches will attend the conference without charge through generous scholarships from Concept2, Head of the Hooch Regatta, Shimano, and USRowing. Other conference sponsors are the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association, Concept2, Hydrow, Ready Set Row, and Rowing News.

The conference will take place at Hydrow corporate headquarters, 10 Summer St., Fifth Floor, in the Downtown Crossing retail and pedestrian area of Boston. Childcare is available on site for conference attendees.

The Women’s Coaching Conference will return to Boston next year, and a similar event is planned for the West Coast as well as a conference for both male and female coaches at a location yet to be determined.

For more information, visit the WCC website at https://wccconference.com and on Instagram @wccconference.

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In a significant development for the Saskatchewan rowing community, John Wetzstein, a distinguished national team coach with Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA), has accepted the role of Sport Technical Director and High Performance Coach with the Saskatchewan Rowing Association. This marks a homecoming for Wetzstein, who with his elite coaching knowledge, is set to play a crucial role in shaping the future of rowing in his home province.

Amanda Billesberger, President of the Saskatchewan Rowing Association, expressed her enthusiasm for John’s appointment.

“We are pleased to welcome John as our new Sport Technical Director and High Performance Coach. John’s wealth of knowledge and the expertise that he will share with our coaches and rowers is outstanding,” Billesberger said. “His return to Saskatchewan is an exciting homecoming for John and SaskRowing. We look forward to the continued growth of our program under John’s leadership.”

Wetzstein has been involved with the Canadian National Team program for the past decade, including leading the crew that captured Canada’s first Paralympic rowing medal at the Rio 2016 Games and most recently as the coach of the Men’s Sculling program.

“I have mixed feelings about leaving my current role. There are colleagues and athletes that I have enjoyed working with so very much and there is sadness around that. But it is also true that in a real way I’m not actually leaving Rowing Canada Aviron. I’ll be working to help athletes and coaches in Saskatchewan do more, be better, reach levels of excellence that will benefit the Canadian rowing community,” Wetzstein shared. “My friends and colleagues in the National Team program are still my friends and colleagues and I’m looking forward to being back in Saskatchewan and to bring what I’ve learned with me to grow the sport and develop both athletes and coaches alike.”

RCA High Performance Director Adam Parfitt thanked John for his passion and dedication over the past years and is looking forward to seeing the results John will have with the emerging Saskatchewan rowers.

“On behalf of RCA and our National Team coaches and athletes, I thank John for his hard work, passion and determination to help our nation’s elite rowers over the past decade,” Parfitt shared. “I have no doubt that John’s wealth of experience and passion for helping athletes will inspire and elevate the rowing community in Saskatchewan. We are excited to see the positive influence he will have on the development of both coaches and athletes as he returns to his home province. We wish him all the best.”

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After an outstanding career spanning over three decades, Carol Love announces her departure from Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA).

Her departure brings an end to a memorable era, during which Love made an indelible mark on the sport of rowing in Canada.

Over her extensive coaching career, Love has led many rowers to the podium at all levels of the sport, guided by the principles of care and compassion – most recently coaching the women’s eight to a bronze medal and the 2022 World Rowing Championships and Olympic qualification at World Rowing Championships in 2023.

Off the water, the 1976 Olympian has played an integral role in developing RCA’s next generation of Olympians and coaches. Her commitment to excellence has been instrumental in inspiring and fostering the growth and success of Canadian rowing.

“Carol’s contributions to the sport of rowing in Canada cannot be overstated,” said Adam Parfitt, High Performance Director at RCA. “Carol has always challenged us to be better and do better. She came into the program at such a critical time when trust needed to be rebuilt and she accomplished that. We are deeply grateful for her leadership and the legacy she leaves behind.”

Reflecting on her departure, Love expressed pride and optimism. “I joined the NTC staff when we were navigating through a time of uncertainty and lack of trust,” said Love. “A bronze medal at the World 2022 World Championships, followed by a Henley win over the British and finally qualifying the boat for the 2024 Paris Olympics is where I depart. To put the team back on top of the podium in Paris requires another skill set to lead the way. It is time for me to reclaim the other parts of my life and I am excited for that. My wish is to have left behind a culture where trust, integrity and a caring team of athletes and staff can collaborate, together to achieve success.”

RCA offers our deepest gratitude to Carol Love for her contributions to our sport. We wish her well in her next chapter.

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Erin Matson, first-year head coach of the University of North Carolina Field Hockey team, led the Tar Heels to their eleventh NCAA Championship this past Sunday, their fifth in the past six years. While that is remarkable in and of itself, the most remarkable aspect of this story is that Matson is just 23 years old and less than a year out from the conclusion of her own career at UNC. Called the “Michael Jordan of field hockey” by her former coach, Matson is setting a new standard for young head coaches.

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Like many others, I’m a Ted Lasso fan. My favorite scene is the dart game where Ted says, “Be curious, not judgmental.”  It’s some of the best coaching advice imaginable.

It’s a coach’s duty to critique athletes, but rarely is criticism helpful. Telling rowers all the things they’re doing wrong does not move them closer to doing things right. It’s like a game of Whac-A-Mole; they may stop making that mistake, but not knowing what should be done, they just make a new mistake.

Better to ask yourself why they’re doing what they’re doing. (In business school, they would tell us, “Start with why?”). A fundamentally curious approach can get to the root of the problem and help your rowers make the necessary corrections. Leaning away from the rigger at the release? Perhaps they’re rigged too low and are accommodating an uncomfortable mechanical position. Not rowing full slide? Maybe they’re unable to get compressed because their shoes are too high. A coach barking “Don’t lean away!” or “Get up the slide!” isn’t going to fix the problem and will only frustrate everyone.

This is true equally off the water. When behavioral issues interfere, ask, “What’s going on here?” Sometimes it’s young people (or not so young) just being immature and selfish.  Calling them out privately can right this wrong. More often, there’s an underlying issue causing the problem. If one or more of your rowers is consistently late, it may be for reasons beyond their control. When does class get out? Who’s in charge of the carpool? More serious misbehavior may stem from more serious underlying problems. Ask questions. Showing concern and framing the discussion in terms of helping athletes perform their best can elicit a fuller understanding of what needs to change for them to succeed. Better to begin with the assumption that all your rowers want to perform correctly and get things right. If they’re not, then ask yourself and them what’s interfering with their doing so?

Often, the most difficult people to avoid judging are our peers. When fellow and/or opposing coaches create difficulties, it’s harder to stay curious, but the benefits of doing so are just as great. Giving them the benefit of the doubt—by being inquisitive—also will be reciprocated (as will judging harshly).

Too often, we assume rowers know more than they do. Having coached for years, we take things for granted. College rowers are relatively new to the sport and possess neither the experience nor knowledge of us veterans in the launch. Consequently, it’s easy for us to get frustrated and for our frustration to boil over. Better to stay curious and appreciate how much we don’t know and how much we can learn from our athletes with an approach that’s open and inquiring.

Doing so makes coaching much more fun, too.

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