When you look at a crew rowing what is the first thing you think about? Their timing? Perhaps that they need to row longer, or their catches could be a bit looser? How many times have you looked at a crew and considered the coxswain’s performance? Cox coaching is something that, unfortunately, is often overlooked in the face of more obvious outstanding issues with the crew.
As coxes ourselves, we have regularly found that much of the feedback we received (especially in the early part of our careers) was delivered in the form of angry sounding, negative shouts from within the boat, often lacking constructive ways to improve. Of course, there are many athletes and coaches out there (for example those we had at the Oxford University Boat Clubs), who have a precise and effective method for improving their coxes’ skills. We wanted to make sure these opportunities were available to all, so we set about working on how we could change the conversations around this area.