When racing, it's important everyone knows what a call means. Whether it's 'sit up' or 'push' or 'sting and float'- there are depths of meaning behind that call.
I remember Mike Spraklen coaching my crew and in a debrief he asked what the coxswain called. She said what it was. Then he went round the circle of athletes asking each of us what those words meant to us. Every one of us gave a slightly different answer. A clear demonstration that we hadn't agreed what the call meant and what we did when we heard it.
In the anecdote below by Drew Ginn he explains that you have to set up the crew/boat to be ready to do the call as well as actually doing it. This shows the level of depth and clarity needed for really successful execution.
Set up the call first - everyone must have a common understanding. Then decide how to use that call. What purpose does it serve in your race plan? To answer this I copy below the words used by Australian legend Drew Ginn. He explains the race plan and how important it was that they got the race "set up" in the first half.
How to set up a race in the first 1000m? by Drew Ginn
[Taken from his Facebook page.]
In 2006 the race plan was consistent with previous years in pairs and fours. This race was a good example of focusing on our process and staying with boat speed. First 250m set up and solid 2nd 250m and by focusing on length and breathing we established our rhythm early and held boat speed well.
Below were the focuses and reminders I would make sitting in the bow seat.
- First 3 strokes - Build (Move the boat not just rate)
- 5 moving
- 10 sit back
- 15 keep moving
- 20 breathe
- 25 stride
- 30 breathe
- 35 length
- 35 breathe
- 500m Catches
- 750m Arms
- 1000m Legs
Once into the 2nd and 3rd 500ms the calls were simple and focused on front end, then back end of the stroke. And each call was made with this type of process: prep call, make the call and feedback on the call. This would be a few strokes before and after each call which was times with each 250m or 45sec.
In any boat having clarity is critical and in pairs its obvious that any inefficiencies and differences in mindset and application has a massive impact. Not straight away but 2 to 3min later the pair just gets heavy and you find out around 800m or so you lose speed and this is why so often pairs who can stay with the speed of the boat and be efficient stand out.
Sequence, length and power leads to rhythm and staying calm under pressure means the boat runs. I always loved the sensation of the Catches call at 500m and thinking 'slide my hips off the front and staying super long in the arms'.
Hips speed, handle speed is about athleticism and I often found you could keep boat speed up but not feel like it was working, verses moving with it and staying with it.
Always loved sitting behind guys like Duncan Free, James Tomkins, Mike McKay, Josh Dunkley Smith as they we great at leading the drive and being connected in the first foot. Which meant in the bow it was about supporting them but being in and on at the catch, and then just hang for as long as possible to let them work. And this was the trick. Accelerating through them to add value while not making it heavy.
The magic of a pair of synchronicity with a little syncopation.
