Rich, an experienced Hughes Hall Cox, shares with us some of his words of wisdoms for novice coxes.

1)       Why do coxing?

a.        Leadership, giving commands, communication skills, being an important part of the team, it's fun!!

Before arriving at the boathouse:

2)       Familiarise yourself with the CUCBC rules and regulations of the river. Print off a labelled map of the cam. Remember that you are always towards the right hand side of the river (with exception of the crossing points which your coach will make you aware of). Understand what is green, yellow, red flag, lighting up and lighting down.

a.        NEVER COX WITHOUT A LIFE JACKET.

b.       This is a very cold rowing season, especially for coxes, remember to wear many layers, hats, scarfs, gloves, get some wellies.

c.        Talk about nomenclature..eg bow/stroke/bow pair,four etc 1-8

3)       Getting the boat out

a.        “Everybody...Hands on!”....

b.       “roll the boat out...ready...go!”

c.        ”stand opposite your rigger”

d.       ”up to waists..ready....go!”

e.       ”up to shoulders...ready....go!”

f.         “Walk the boat out...ready...go!”

g.        “watch your rigger!”

h.       “up to heads...ready...go!”

i.         “to the edge of the bank...be careful!”

j.         “Lower the boat carefully..ready...go!”

k.        “Get your blades..ready...go!” (make sure there is always someone holding onto the boat at this point!)

You then need to chose which rowers should get in first (B side or S side first). The blades are what stops the boat capsizing so you want the side whose blades extend into the river to get into the boat first. Remember that as you look at rowers from the coxes seat, B blades extend to your right and S to your left. So on a typical training session:

l.         “Stroke side holding... bow side in... ready.....go!”

m.      “Bow side holding... stroke side in... ready... go!”

n.       The cox is always the last man/woman INTO the boat (and the first one OUT OF the boat)

You then need to slot the cox box into the holder and plug it into the boat (this will be obvious when you see it). Check that ‘bow pair’ can hear you

o.       “Bow pair..can you hear me?”

p.       “Can you number off from bow” (this is to make sure everyone is ready).

4)       Pushing off

a.        Check that there are no boats coming up quickly behind you.

b.       “Lean away and push off..ready...go!”

c.        Use your bow pair to align the front of the boat. If you get 2 to take a stroke by him/her self, then the front of the boat will move right and vice versa if you get 1 to take a stroke.

5)       Getting the boat moving

a.        Frontstops? Backstops? B 4, S 4? Middle 4?

b.       Talk about rolling pairs and how that works and ensure symmetry of rowers at all times.

6)       Key commands – safety comes first, always avoid a collision whoever is right or wrong.

a.        “Easy there”

b.       “Take the run off”

c.        “Hold it up”

7)       Other boats/ other coxes/ other coaches

a.        Overtaking, being overtaken, traffic jams

b.       Changing lanes

8)       Listening to the coach- relaying information.

9)       Spinning the boat.

10)   Landing the boat at the end of the session.