Rowing

A Guide to Coxing

General advice

Courtesy

When coxing you should always treat other river users politely even if they are abusive towards you. There are a few simple rules you should follow:

1) If a crew interrupts their outing to avoid interrupting yours, whether or not they are obliged to do so, thank them for doing so.

2) If you make a mistake and impede another crew as a result then apologise straight away. Everyone makes mistakes and people will be ready to forgive an error if you apologise for it. Failure to apologise will earn you a reputation of being arrogant and inconsiderate, and people will be less inclined to help you.

3) When conversing with other crews, anglers and members of the public say "please" and "thank you".

4) If you wish to overtake another crew you should say "come by please". The cox in front should reply either "yes, come by" or "no, because…". "Yes, come by" indicates that the cox of the crew in front is happy for you to overtake them. However, it is not his responsibility to check that it is safe for you to do so. You must make that judgement yourself. A cox should only reply "No, because…" if there is a good reason to do so. Simply wanting to stay in front does not constitute a good reason. Even if you cannot hear precisely why the cox in front does not want you to overtake you should trust his judgement. It might be unsafe to do so or the crew might be about to start rowing at firm pressure and would therefore have to overtake you back almost immediately. If you do overtake, remember to thank the cox of the crew you are overtaking for their co-operation, either verbally or with some suitable gesture.

5) Try to avoid keeping other crews waiting. The river is often crowded so it important to behave in a considerate way.

6) If you are involved in an incident with any river users or members of the public you should report the incident to the Captain. If the incident involves another crew it is useful to record the registration number on the side of their boat.

7) Try to be tolerant of crews which seem to be behaving in bizarre ways. Their cox is probably a novice and will undoubtedly appreciate your patience.

Other points

Birds will generally move out of the way however swans can become hostile if you get between them and their cygnets. If you do find yourself being attacked by a swan try not to antagonise it and do not fight back. Try to remain calm and move the boat forwards and away from the bank. Avoid swimming dogs. They are not always intelligent enough to move out of the way.

You will expect the crew to be concentrating so don't make irrelevant comments or start pointing out interesting sights on the bank. Learn to sit still. Crews will not respond well if you are always fidgeting.

It is important to be decisive. If you are having difficulty making a decision then it is likely that there is not much to choose between the two options. In this case it is often better to choose the wrong option than to dither.

Try to maintain a good relationship with the crew. They must respect and trust you. Although turning up to their weights sessions is boring, it will earn you their respect and help you feel like one unit.

The Club owns a dictaphone which you should borrow to record your outings. Listening to these recordings and analysing your own performance is very valuable. The Club has a number of recordings made by experienced coxes which you are encouraged to borrow and might find very useful.

Sometimes it will feel like you are all on your own. You will find yourself not feeling part of the crew or the coaching team. The rowers will be in a bad mood and the coach will get irritated when you make a mistake. Everyone has these outings. Don't let them demoralise you.

Occasionally you will have accidents and damage equipment. You will feel awful about this. However, everyone understands that accidents happen. If it was your fault then apologise to your crew and boatman and learn from your error. Try not to let it knock your confidence or affect your ability.

I hope the volume of information in this guide will not overwhelm you. Particularly if you have not coxed before, there is a lot to take in. However, you do not need to absorb it all immediately and coaches will always be able to help you. Senior coxes will always be willing to give you advice. They will remember what it was like to be a novice and try and help if you ask. Remember, if you are unsure about anything then ask. Nobody will mind. Seeking regular feedback and taking the advice on board is the best way to improve.

I hope you enjoy coxing - it is often extremely good fun. Most rewarding of all is winning a race against a faster crew because you coxed well.