Handling varying levels of dedication to the sport in masters clubs. How do you give the both the person who wants to practice once a week and the person who trains daily a meaningful race situation?
Timestamps
01:00 This is normal for masters rowing. Training and practice commitment isn’t an issue usually until it comes to racing. When going to a regatta you want to be in a crew where where you’re the ‘worst’ in the crew. Competitive people want the best possible crew.
02:30 Coach selects lineups
In most youth rowing clubs the coaches do selection – this takes the emotion out of the lineups. Types of race – in your calendar there are local events and bigger events like the masters national championships. Each year you will have 2 or 3 peaks which help you manage your training load. Typically most masters will do 3 + races in a single day.
05:00 Racing Priorities
In local regattas your racing priorities may be different. The more experienced people can race both with less experienced (mixed ability crews) as well as their own regular training group. To get the racing priorities accurate, the single scull is the best measure. The outcome is up to you alone.
Regatta organisers can enable a pathway into racing for masters – novice – new masters – age group. Differentiate based on rowing experience, not age for the first 5 years of racing.
07:45 Preferences and compromises
Aligning can be challenging. Fitness matters a lot in racing; bladework skills are also important. Enabling compromise as part of your lineup selection can help give a meaningful experience. The fitter athletes find compromise less palatable rowing when with less experienced people.
There is satisfaction to be had from a mixed ability crew. Skill judging stroke rate and technical calls through the race is a worthwhile endeavour. “That was harder than childbirth”. Achieving the best possible outcome for this crew.
Can you mentally set yourself up to see satisfaction from both types of races with experienced people and less experienced people?
14:30 Regular training groups
Folks who always train together means there is no way in for a newcomer. Club priorities can enable coaches to make selections and validate their choices with the Captain (who’s independent). A goal could be to enable your groups (elite, intermediate, new masters, novices) to all have at least one event in which they stand a chance of being competitive. I’ve found this is a method which helps to bring on less experienced people so that in future years they advance faster than if you just leave them to race in their skill group.
17:00 The art of compromise is discussion without emotion. Rebecca invites people to choose a priority crew which she tries to guarantee that race. Everything else is secondary. This means some events are “sub-optimal. The competitive spirit drives racers to selfish outcomes. This is an attribute of successful racers. It can be hard for athletes to accept their perception of being put in sub-optimal crew lineups. Independent lineup confirmation and discussion of compromises helps to frame these decisions. Balance our priority against the opportunity of this one regatta.
The club is the entity which should set the goals (3-5 years) and how this impacts regatta entry choices. Tell us how your club manages their crews for regattas.
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