Diary alignment is the hardest thing for masters to figure out. Three tips for you to try
- Set up training groups
- Make a regular practice day
- Have backup plans to find substitutes/alternates
Timestamps
01:00 Regular practice in the same lineups helps you to get better faster.
What NOT to do.
Avoid agreeing crew lineups on the day in the boathouse – fix crews ahead of time so when they arrive they know who they are rowing with, the equipment to use – boat and oars. Prevent people from only rowing with their friends in the interest of community within the club.
02:30 A masters club that has a goal to grow, to add newcomers – it’s more useful to mix up crews. When you’re a newcomer it can be daunting seeing a large number of strangers. In a crew you can chat to people in your crew and get to know them.
03:30 Ideally set up groups
You can make an easy member division into learn to row group, intermediate, advanced, racing and fitness groups. If you have a group each needs a co-ordinator/captain.
Use 2 types of software to help you.
- Software to manage your rowing club.
- Software to enable messaging.
SMS is immediate and people notice it (email can be lost or ignored). Rowing club software options – listed on rowing.chat/retailers the Directory of rowing businesses.
- Fitclub
- Boathouse Connect
- iCrew
- Rowfer
- RowerHub
- iSportz
- Hello club.
05:45 Ideally book a long way ahead of time – masters are busy people. It can be hard to organise a week ahead, two weeks ahead is better. With software, each person can check/tick the days they are available. The Club can offer different times of day for workouts. The group organiser can easily see in the software calendar who is available and make crew lineups.
07:00 Keep your group regular
Try to find a day when you always do the same crew – important for large boats. This helps the co-ordinator. The software sends out crew lineups ahead of time (which also serve as a reminder). Acceptable behaviours – ideally if you cannot come, find your own replacement. The responsibility is on you.
08:30 Running a regular crew
You need more than 4 or 9 people to run a crew of a four or eight. It takes 12 people to run an eights group. Running a four/quad can be done with 5 or 6 people. The port/starboard preferences mean you need more people for an eight (unless everyone can row on both sides).
Work with a coalition of the willing – set up the behaviours with those who are prepared to get involved. People who are keen to get better and get into another crew for racing are often the most willing. How do you enable people to move between groups? How can people find substitutes or alternates at the last minute? Can you go to another group to find a final person to make up a crew? Some athletes advance their skills rapidly by being the person available to take the empty seat.
11:15 Back up plans
Work out what you can do if you need…. mixing men and women, finding people to fill seats etc.
One person in charge of scheduling (allocating equipment and lineups). They don’t need to be a coach, but must know each person’s skill level in order to be effective. Try to avoid people hogging equipment – do you allow equipment requests? By having a person doing the scheduling they can be fair and ensure the boats get shared around.
When you sign up can you request crew / boat / tie of day? How can you get consistency for your training group to get more skilful and it’s fun to row with a regular group.
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