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I have recently changed clubs and have got a whole new group of athletes to coach.  With many of them there is an obvious and simple change that could be made to help them go faster.  For example: the athlete who starts each drive phase by bending her arms and lifting with her back, the boy who drives nicely out of the catch and then loses connection half way through the drive and slows the boat down towards the finish, the girl who pushes her bottom hand away from the finish first when sculling.   The list could go on for a while!  It is in each case easy to see how the boat could be made to go faster with a simple change of technique.

In each case I made a suggestion.  Of course I thought before speaking, explained why the change would be an improvement, told the athlete how the change would feel, described the change in different ways, praised positive change, and generally behaved as a good and positive coach would.

The athlete with the connection problem fixed it in 20 strokes, loved the change and ended the session beaming and totally convinced.  The key for him was to realise that the boat was faster when he sculled that way.  The girl with the hand troubles fixed it after a long spell of coaching, lots of different exercises and some questioning of the need to spend much effort on something trivial.  The key for her was realising her long nails were no longer incompatible with sculling, good hand work eliminates scratched knuckles.

The girl with the horrible drive remains a work in progress.  Or to put it differently, so far I have failed with her.  She can drive more or less as I would like, with the textbook straight arms and correct sequence out of the catch.  What is by turns mystifying and infuriating is that she won’t!  If I make suggestions she can, and will change but the change lasts for a few strokes at most and as soon as I turn my attention elsewhere she returns to the old ways.  Why?

If we are on the ergometer the change will cause the score to improve, it will extract praise from me.  In the boat praise is also forthcoming, public, enthusiastic praise in front of her peers.  Still I haven’t been able to get her to hold the change for more than a few strokes at a time.  Somehow I haven’t been convincing enough.  The temptation is to think she is being deliberately contrary, that she doesn’t believe me and thinks she knows better.  The other easy option is to write her off as someone who can’t make change, who is uncoachable, who doesn’t have the ability to learn.

I recently had the pleasure of listening to Nicky Coles address a group of athletes about her career and how she achieved so much.  One thing struck me forcibly.  Nicky said that she didn’t make real technical progress until she realised why she was hanging on to old faults, why she preferred to row ‘incorrectly’.  Her point was that it was often easier, more comfortable, to row badly, and that until the athlete took responsibility for her own technique things wouldn’t change.  

This has interesting implications for coaches.  With athletes who struggle to change we may have to interact at a more profound level than merely physical instructions.  I may have to engage with these difficult athletes and help them to realise that they are responsible, that the technique changes I want are not just to please me, to make the crew look good.    I may have to come down from my position of comfort where I issue instructions to the athlete and expect compliance and help the athletes to be responsible.

In fact if you look at the previous paragraph you can see the problem; I refer to the athletes as difficult.  Maybe I should see it as a shortcoming in me not them!

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Welcome to the Rowperfect newsletter

We have two new products to show off - Dreher Aero sculls and Oars.  Leading oar designer, Jim Dreher again leads innovation by creating an aerofoil shaft.

Duncan Holland reports from the New Zealand Coaches Conference where Mike Spraklen was guest speaker and we suggest ways to teach novices how to cox safely and quickly.

The winner of our competition from the last newsletter for Mark de Rond's book is Mike Knowles of Tideway Scullers.

And we'll shortly be sending you some suggestions about Christmas presents you may want to give or buy.

Happy rowing!

Grant Craies and Rebecca Caroe

The Dreher Aero is a new design for carbon oars and sculls.  The result is the first oar that attempts to overcome air resistance on the oar shaft and blade in the recovery phase.  The result - a shaft shaped like an aerofoil. Follow link for photos and specifications

We also have more photos of the new Rowperfect Indoor Sculler shown in Boston, USA at the Head of the Charles.

Read Duncan Holland's report on the NZ coaches conference.

Olympic cox, Adrian Ellison, replies to our questions on teaching coxing to beginners.

New products in the Rowperfect Shop

Rowing Voice e-Magazine - produced by Rachel Quarrell and Chris Dodd, this independent rowing magazine covers news, features and fabulous photography from around the world.  Buy a subscription for yourself.

Miniature trophy oars in your club colours.

2009 FISA Rowing Calendar

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Duncan Holland writes:

I am rushing this out the morning after the night before.  Yesterday was a big day at the NZRowing Coaches' Conference with a full programme of speakers and then the social highlight, a banquet in the Beehive.  The after dinner speaker was Richard Tonks, head coach for NZRowing. 

The major individual speaker yesterday was Mike Spracklen and he gave us the first of the three presentations we will have from him this weekend.  Yesterday Mike spoke about the role of the coach and how to lead.  He made repeated mention of ethics and standards and hammered the point that a good leader must base her / his behaviour on a sound ethical and philosophical basis.

I am too slow a note-taker to write much of what he said but the following are points that resonated particularly for me:

• Disharmony is inevitable amongst athletes and authority's reaction is often to make rules.  This leads to evaporating trust and the coach gets caught in the middle.
• Squabbles between leaders are behind most trouble in sport.
• "If you tell the truth you don't need a good memory."
• Base your behaviour on values not feelings.
• The two key attributes of a coach are the ability to inspire trust and confidence and the ability to communicate a vision.

It was clear that Mike sees himself very much as a leader of men, as the guru in the group and that Canadian Rowing has given him the space to fulfil this role.  The results are there for us all to see.

Today Mike talks about technique and about Fairbairn. 

More soon

Duncan

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Duncan Holland writes;

After a hiatus that was associated with moving us, and our household across the world to our former home in Christchurch New Zealand we are back at work in rowing.  I have two contracts for the summer; Head Coach for the Avon Rowing Club (NZL) and for Villa Maria College, also of Christchurch and NZL.  Stories and ideas from these new challenges will enliven my blog over the next months and, I hope, years.

This weekend I am at the NZRowing Coaches' conference.  A great opportunity to meet old friends and colleagues and to catch up with what has been happening here while we have been away.  As you all know top level competitive rowing in New Zealand has been a success story over the last few years but the domestic scene has been interesting too.  School rowing is booming, club rowing struggling, recreational rowing growing. A familiar story.

The conference boasts possibly the first major speaking engagement by the legendary Mike Spracklen since his crew's success in Beijing.  Mike has three formal sessions here,

• The Canadian Men’s 8+;
• Technique and Training - Fairbairn,
• The Coach as a Leader. 

I am particularly excited about the Fairbairn session as I am a long time fan of the man.

The other particularly interesting topic for me is a wide ranging look at school rowing.  Under the general topic of 'Best practice' various eminent practitioners from NZL and AUS will discuss School Rowing.

Watch this space!

Duncan.

Duncan Holland
raf.duncan@bluewin.ch

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Duncan Holland writes;

We all know the Olympic motto Citius Altius Fortius which is variously translated but is all about the millimetres and hundredths of a second by which medals are won and lost.  It is possible to measure if an athlete runs faster, or jumps higher, or lifts more weight than another.  As the Games have become more technologically advanced so to has the measuring of tiny differences. 

In rowing we now have high speed video cameras to help the judges’ eyes and times are measure to 1/100th of a second.  Not much over a race of 2000m.  (If my maths is correct it is about 50mm)  Now 50mm is not much but it is a clear margin and I, and most rowers, can accept close verdicts with some equanimity.  Every sportsman or woman must eventually come face to face with losing and most do it with some grace.  The perhaps most famous example of this is the victory of Karsten over Neykova in the women’s Single in the Sydney games.  Karsten won by 0.01of a second!

Something I can’t accept is sport where the result is a subjective decision of a judge or panel of judges.  I can’t imagine spending a large part of my life striving for perfection and victory to have it denied by a dubious call from a fallible and possibly corrupt judge.

Stories abound from previous Olympics including the infamous boxing tournament in Seoul in 1988.  Here it seemed clear that home town judges were bribed to promote a local boxer.

But even without corruption human error can creep in.  I watched Craig Fallon fight a judo bout for GB and the commentators told how he had lost a medal in Athens through a dubious last second call and the fall that cost him a shot at the gold in Beijing was also debatable according to the ringside experts.

So what is the answer? I don’t know.  Banning all sports from the Olympics that rely on judgements to decider a winner is not a practical political move.  So I will just remain loyal to rowing as my choice of sport and next time I am involved in a close decision remind myself that at least it is absolute.  In rowing there is no dispute about the result.

Duncan

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Duncan Holland writes;

I watched the first day of the rowing this morning, what a day for the Kiwis!  Seven of the New Zealand crews were on the water today and they brought home five first places and two seconds.  

Qualifying eight boats for this regatta was a great performance, and it looks as if the New Zealanders are out to carry on what they have been doing for the last few years and be one of the top rowing teams in the world.  How do they do it?

I am an outsider these days and have little knowledge of what goes on in the Kiwi camp but I have noticed a fascinating thing; the Kiwi rowers are cheerful!  I have coached in five countries and have either been in the national team or coached athletes in the team in all of them.  In the other four my memories of the team are largely of people bitching and grumbling about other crews or about the management.  

Observing the New Zealanders over the last four years the most obvious difference from the others is that they are basically happy.  They enjoy themselves and seem largely content with their coaches and management.

Most teams these days talk about being athlete centred, the Kiwi rowers seem to have found out how to do it.  I believe this is the secret to their success.

I hope and believe the Kiwis are on their way to a record success these games.  If so then maybe they can lead a movement to put fun back into sport!

Duncan

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Duncan Holland writes;

Simon Barnes who writes on sport and nature for the Times is one of my favourites.  His pieces often look behind the obvious and trite and he frequently sees beauty and poetry in sport.  He shares my lifelong fascination for sports and sports people and I usually agree with him; not this time though!

Friday’s Barnes piece begun ‘The worst decision sport ever made was to start testing for drugs.’  The piece went on to lucidly and logically argue why this was true.  He ignores though, the best argument for trying to keep sport drug free.   

Organised sport, sport with rules, is an artificial construct, it is a very human endeavour.  If the only goal of a game was to win we wouldn’t stick to the rules, the concept of cheating wouldn’t exist.  The whole point is that the participants accept some arbitrary rules and play within them, test themselves against the situation as well as against the opposition.  Some of the rules are about physical things, the size of the pitch, the weight of the ball; some are about the human side, the forms of behaviour, and the actions that are and aren’t allowed.  The rules of a sport define in a very real, as well as metaphorical way, the playing field.  One of the fundamental ideas of sport is that all participants shall have an equal chance, that the playing field shall be level.  The very idea of cheating is wrapped up in the definition of the sport.  There are no rules in a fight to the death.

Within this agreed arena, this playing field, the essence of the game is the contest between the players.  Human beings are not born equal, each brings a unique genetic mix to the game.  The core of sport, what turns a game into something bigger and worthwhile, is people trying to wring the maximum performance from the limited potential they have.  Sometimes one of us is able to transcend our potential and then we have a magical moment, one of those sporting moments that can illuminate the darkness of a mundane daily existence. Think of Waddell in Sydney, Hemery in Mexico, Redgrave in Athens.  The true drama and beauty of these sporting moments was the in the struggle of the hero to transcend his limitations.

Drug taking in sport is cheating because it alters the very nature of the players.  Each of us is dealt a genetic hand, a body and brain that is our equipment to take on the world with.  A drug taker has altered his or her body, altered the limits within which the game should be played.  If the players don’t accept the rules then sports become pointless self-gratification and circus acts.

At its best sport can show us some of the glory of being human.  Great sportspeople can illuminate the struggle to rise above our limitations and conquer ourselves as we struggle to reach our goals.  That is why I am watching the Beijing Games.

Duncan

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Duncan Holland writes:

I wrote a couple of days ago about how rowing clubs should look after talented youngsters who weren’t part of a National Talent scheme.  Today as I browsed the rowing sites and was looking at the Row2k US Olympic trivia I found something that caused me to think.

Of the 45 athletes in the US Olympic Rowing Team 22 didn’t row before they attended college.  This is a similar pattern to the Dutch Team where domestic rowing is dominated by university clubs and many top athletes don’t start before they leave school.  In both countries there is a vibrant and highly competitive university rowing culture. The USA and the Netherlands are both successful rowing nations and have been consistent producers of fast boats over the last few decades.  They seem to have little problem turning talented young beginners of 19 or 20 into world class rowers.

The question is:  Are countries such as Great Britain that spend much time and energy on young athletes wasting energy, or are the Netherlands and the USA missing the bus by failing to identify enough talent early enough?

What is the ideal age to learn to row?

Duncan

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Duncan Holland writes;

I watched a BBC programme last night, ‘Colin Jackson, the
making of me ’.  (As an aside the BBC is
one part of Britain
I am going to miss.)  The programme
addressed the old nature versus nurture debate in the context of Jackson . 
It didn’t do what the trailers promised, answer the question, but it
raised some good debating points.

The real answer of course is that to be a world class
athlete both sides are needed, great genes and great support.  This is where I start getting
interested.  Jackson was fortunate in
having supportive parents and a superb coach just down the road who was
prepared to invest time and energy into a kid with not much apparent talent,
and who saw sooner than others that Jackson had something special.

Rowing in most countries is haphazard in its search for talent;
GBR is an exception here with the World Class Start programme.  There is though, the informal network of
clubs.  Most clubs have a few big young
rowers who are considered to be talented. 
What I am interested in is the conversion this talent to
performance.  In the old days before the
advent of National Training Centres and HPC ’s and RPC ’s and professional
coaches these talented youngsters were bred up in the clubs and educated in the
way of the sport by rowing with, and mixing with, the older, faster rowers in
the club.  Now with most of the top
rowers spending their time as professionals hidden away at the National Centre
the young athletes miss role models and leadership in the clubs.

This sets the rest of us a challenge; we need to help those
talented rowers who aren’t identified early to blossom.  I believe the best way to do this is to keep
them in a group.  It isn’t necessary to
isolate talent.  Rowing in a crew boat,
even if most of the crew have less talent, is a good way for a potential star
to develop.  Don’t forget that a top
rower needs social skills as well as physical ones.  A good apprenticeship in club crews, and at
local regattas, can prepare an athlete to make the jump to top sport.

And finally, Jackson
told us he was proud of his genetic make up, his rare and special mix of muscle
fibre types.  I would suggest he should
be proud of what he did with his inheritance. 
Lots of people inherit a great body, few become World Champion!

Duncan

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The Rowperfect team has been working hard to get you some exclusive content and commentary about the forthcoming Olympic Regatta in Beijing .

We are adding new bloggers to our roster and so would like to introduce Richard Chambers - rowing for GB in the Mens Lightweight Coxless Four, Richard has been on our 'radar' for a while since his successful talk at the ARA Coaching conference last January.  More detail on Richard plus an interview he gave the World Rowing website last month. 

Richard's work will also be published on The Guardian Unlimited website - an official media partner of the British Olympic Association.

Duncan Holland will continue to give his expert commentary on the regatta, crews and how the race planning develops through the rounds of racing.  A New Zealander by adoption, Duncan has coached in Switzerland and the Netherlands on their Olympic and World Championship programmes and will offer a coaches' perspective on the regatta.

We are also hoping to get occasional athlete commentary from Jen Goldsack (USA), Jochen Kühner (GER) and Rod Chisholm (AUS).  Each representing different nations but some with connections to the UK!

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