And YePP was certainly noticeable in its ‘centre stage’ location, with a new display designed specifically for the event. Spread across 30sq metres of floor plan and around 10 metres in length, with 3 dynamic video walls, YePP’s presence was difficult to miss.

An excellent line up of presenters included several from outside the sport like the legendary Dr Ric Charlesworth - Olympic Silver Medallist as an athlete and dual Olympic Gold Medal winning coach for Hockey; Jacco Verhaeren - Swimming Australia National Head Coach; and Damien Farrow – Professor of Sports Science, Victorian University and Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), the presenters received acclaim from all.

To all those who came up to our display and introduced yourselves – thanks again, and likewise to all of you who scheduled live demos of YePP’s sibisystem.

Capture and analyse an image of the athlete, and another of their oar; acceleration profiles for the boat, providing velocity, stroke rate, plus acceleration; and now for the first time ever, a complete athlete input-contribution and stroke profiling for every gate in the boat - all packaged in a simple to implement, wireless solution with built in YePP reliability.

Never has such insight been available to coaches and athletes, all in a system incorporating YePP’s full-integration design - from the water up! No longer are you be required to source data streams from disparate sources, and then have to somehow shoehorn them together with a best-fit attempt at synchronisation.

Let YePP do it for you - simply.

Get the picture – the complete picture!

How To Kill Your Job
You must think wider and dig deeper to avoid job-killers. Here’s the trick, you are expected to do certain things in your job.

As coaches:
• we are expected to recruit
• we are expected to retain
• we are expected to follow the rules
• We are expected to be safe
• We are expected [in some situations] to win

When we don’t do what is expected, we get fired, and someone who will meet the expectations will take our place.
It is as simple as that.

How To Kill Your Career
Careers are different. Careers are killed by unmet obligations.

As coaches:
• we are obligated to prohibit and prevent harassment
• we are obligated to be reasonable-and-prudent
• we are obligated to follow nationally accepted standards
• we are obligated to follow societal rules
• we are obligated (in some situations) to win

Once again, that simple.

Action You Can [and should] Take
As soon as possible, have a conversation with all the people who have the power to fire you.

Ask them two specific questions:
1. What is expected of me?
2. What am I obligated to do?

Record the answers. If they are acceptable then incorporate appropriate actions into your workflows so you meet the expectations and obligations.

And, if their answers are not acceptable? … Simple, find another job, since you will soon be looking for one any way.
Coaching Sports Today

Here are a few examples.

Stabilising the boat
What is (probably) the most important first skill for a beginner?
If the boat isn’t stable, those who are trying to learn how to row will not progress - period. It is therefore a prerequisite that all rowers are shown how to balance the boat effectively whilst sitting still.

Hack 1 - teach all rowers to set the boat by sitting at half slide
Keep the handle in their laps, in contact with their thigh (or in the crook of their arm) so that any inclination of the boat onto their side is immediately met with resistance without any conscious response from the stationary crew members.

Feathering
Why do we ask beginners to feather?
It causes all sorts of issues and challenges (at least, if feathering doesn’t, then the subsequent attempt at squaring certainly does!).

Contrary to common belief, it has nothing to do with air resistance and everything to do with dealing with the inevitable contact between the spoon and the water surface on the recovery. However, full feathering threatens crab catching and excessive changes in grip etc.

Hack 2 - forbid rowers to fully feather
Allow them to turn the blade only 45º at most, achieved only by dropping the wrist joint. This is more than enough to ensure the spoon bounces off the surface when necessary.

The secret is to ensure that the grip on the handle doesn’t change during the rowing cycle so that merely flattening (raising) the wrist joint again is “guaranteed” to square the blade and avoid the dangers associated with rowing under-squared.

Why separate the roles of inside/outside hands for feathering and squaring? It’s just an unnecessary complication which can be introduced later in a beginner’s rowing career.

Hack 3 - use both hands to feather and square
It’s simpler, makes changing sides less traumatic and also reflects the skills you will need as a sculler - i.e. using both hands. Again, the secret is to ensure that the grip on the handle doesn’t change during the rowing cycle [i.e. imagine super-gluing the pads of your fingers to the handle when preparing for the first stroke].

The Catch
What is it?
If I said to 100 rowers 'Sharpen your catches', 60% would start the drive more aggressively and 40% would try to cover the spoon [get it into the water] more quickly. The term is ambiguous and unhelpful.

Hack 4 - drop the word Catch
Replace it with two words indicating two separate actions: e.g. placement and lock-on. These need to be explained, taught, learnt and practised separately. Later we can discuss the 'Virtual Box'™, the need to sit still at front stops on every stroke and the benefits of moving your brain from your backside into your hands.



John Hill background - john@oxfordrowcoach.co.uk
I have been coaching for about 25yrs and most of it has been with adult beginners. Being based in Oxford for over two decades, I have had the unusual privilege (sic) of witnessing dozens of other coaches - mainly with college crews - at work with their own beginners. My observations leave me with a mix of incredulity, fascination, frustration and, occasionally, inspiration. I owe a debt of gratitude to these unnamed sources of good ideas - even if the creative spark was sometimes ignited by the banality of their coaching style! I’m also indebted to numerous other parties I have listened to, read about or otherwise come into contact with in my years as a rower and a coach. There is a small possibility that a tiny element of my coaching is of my own making but I’d welcome more contributions from others to develop the ideas further. It is my intention to provide an online, video-based service via Oxford Row Coach [currently under construction] to prompt and lead coaches through the early stages with their new beginners. Initially, I’d like your opinion on a few of the principals involved.

You’ve probably whispered those or something similar - I have.

Well, you might be correct.
But … what if you’re wrong?

What IF your reality is different than your expectations?
You expect to lose; but you won - are you prepared?
You expect troublesome parents; but they are warm and caring - are you ready?
You expect terrible refs; but, instead, they are the best refs you’ve ever had - what now?

Action You Can (and should) Take

Preparing for the experience you truly believe is possible [with the right processes in place, this could be a good recruiting year] is smart.
Preparing for the exception to the rule, that outside chance, the one-in-a-million outcome – [amazing, I can’t believe she just committed to our school] is what makes an exceptional coach.

But you have limited, time, energy, attention.

How do you prepare for the unexpected?

Three simple suggestions:
1. Make the unexpected expected: create an atmosphere of flexibility, and reaction. More importantly - be proactive, and plan ahead.
2. Delegate [what you can] - remove as much as you can from your plate, so you will have extra brain-width for a time when you’ll need it.
3. Be ready in the moment: regardless of all the types of experiences you have prepared for, there will still be that unexpected experience lurking. Be in the moment and prepared to move fast, and breathe deeply when you need it most.

The unexpected experience makes coaching special, as long as you are expecting it.

Here in the UK, recent emphasis has been to build on the legacy of the 2012 Olympics. Following the success of GB Rowing at the Olympics (and indeed since then) public interest in rowing has been high, with long waiting lists for beginner’s courses.

The Olympic legacy emphasized the widening of participation in sports and I’m sure that many UK rowing clubs have taken full advantage of the opportunity to grow their membership significantly. However, some clubs may also want to improve their recruitment of potential elite athletes. This is a different challenge and requires selective recruitment.

The best starting point in my view is other local sports clubs, on the basis that if you want to find young, ‘sporty’ people that is where they are most likely to be. However, your approach to these clubs has to be carefully planned and followed through if good relationships are to be established and maintained. Firstly, think carefully about the kind of athlete you are looking for as potential rowers. While almost anyone can learn to row, it is undoubtedly easier for some than others.

Sports which emphasise upper body strength (rugby for example) may not be the best place to start. In my experience as a coach, rugby players often find it difficult to deliver leg strength during a rowing stroke and tend to make too much use of their backs and arms. Sports which build cardiovascular performance (cycling, running, swimming) may be a better match.

Sports which focus on balance and posture (gymnastics, dance and riding) are also a good match. Netball and basketball players have the height which translates into long levers for rowing. Members of sailing clubs, windsurfing clubs and scuba-diving clubs bring boatmanship and water sense. That’s not to say that there isn’t a young bowls player somewhere with the makings of an elite rower, but the odds are probably against it.

Building informal links with local sports clubs is a good thing to do anyway. You may find that some of your rowers are also members of these other clubs and can make introductions. An invitation to a ‘Rowing Club Open Day’ will probably work better than “we want to poach your best athletes for our club” but feel free to think ‘outside the box’. Here are some ideas:

1. Build a list of whatever you think are the appropriate sports clubs in your area.

2. Visit them, see what they do, invite them to visit you.

3. Be friendly and welcoming to members of other clubs when you meet them. No-one is going to want to join a club full of people who treat them with indifference.

4. Play to your strengths. If your clubhouse is your best feature, show it off. If your people are the best thing about your club, make them your ambassadors.

5. Make it easy for potential recruits to join. Don’t demand hundreds of pounds for a full year’s membership. Offer them a low-cost / short-term introductory membership while they learn to row.

6. Treat newly recruited beginners with respect – ideally as a squad with their own coach(es) cox(es) and a predictable schedule of outings.

7. Make sure the new recruits learn to row as quickly as possible – if they aren’t taught to row, they will probably leave.

8. Once they can row as competent novices, encourage them to move up to higher squads as soon as they can keep up with the intensity of training in that squad.

9. Make sure that the higher squads provide an inclusive, supportive environment for aspiring rowers.

If your local university has a rowing club, graduates who stay local may be looking for somewhere to row. Advertise your club to them. If your local university doesn’t have a rowing club, think about offering a student discount.

Once you start thinking about it, opportunities for recruitment are not hard to find. Remember though that recruitment is a process, not an event. Success isn’t just about getting new athletes signed up, it’s about nurturing and growing their potential – probably over several seasons, so that you as a club and they as individuals can row to success.

In 1984, my left eyelid stopped working as a result of coaching stress. Another visit, around 1997, was brought on by an idiot with a rifle who decided to shoot up our practice. Oh, and in 2011 my ticket to COACH-HELL was paid for by a parent who knew no boundaries. And those are just a few of my many visits.

People say coaches have it made. They don’t have a clue.

Coaching is a tough gig - and its one huge contradiction:
Our job is to help people get better, yet we pay a price to do so.
A coach imagines and orchestrates an intricate performance, while their life falls apart. Coach is asked to build and develop a winning program, while their resources are shrinking.

Way too many coaches visit HELL. Possibly you? Definitely me.

What’s COACH-HELL look like? Hmm.
Well, none of its versions are pretty, but they are different from each other. Specifically, here are the more popular [and populated] COACH-HELLs:

BURNOUT HELL
Coaching is stressful. I don’t care if you coach 3-year old mudpie making - there is stress there. Working with people and stress go hand-in-hand. Unrelenting stress, when you can’t [or won’t] get away from it, causes some heavy duty problems - one of those being burnout.

I’m an expert on coaching burnout. Wish I wasn’t. From every angle [having it, studying it, writing about it] burnout and I know each other all too well. It is a special type of Hell that can and will bring a coach to a dead stop - just like a car hitting a brick wall.

TYPECAST HELL
Something to consider …
95% of full-time coaches have no exit-plan.

The other 5% think they’ll exit coaching by becoming an athletic director, or by dropping dead on the court. How do I know these numbers? I’m guestimating, but I’d wager those numbers are close to reality.

If you do something long enough, you get typecast. Plain Stuck.
Happens to actors, such as Judah Friedlander (of 30 Rock fame). He said, 'Show business always tries to stereotype you, so that is something you have to fight against no matter who you are'.

The longer you coach, the stronger the gravity of coaching - the harder to break free - and to do something else. It’s like you just stepped in the world’s strongest epoxy.

BOSS HELL
Bosses are human beings first, and bosses second.

Meaning the chances are: 30%/30%/30%
that your boss will be either: Awful; Marginal; Good.

The other 10%?
I’d guess 5% for exceptional and the other 5% for bosses who should be in prison. So, chances are 2:3 your boss will be marginal or worse.

Bosses are the number one reason people leave their job. That’s true [according to the Gallup Poll]. Give you something to think about, especially if you be the boss!

WON/LOSS HELL
Losing can be tough.

Do everything right and the athletes pour their heart into it, then losing can be a heart-breaking HELL [if you let it be].

I get it - coaches are hired to win. From that angle, though, of the 337 ‘D1’ basketball teams, 336 are losers. Really?

Interesting, winning can also be Hell. I tell people this and they look at me like I’ve been footballing without a helmet. Just ask cardiologist Bob Martin. Winning can add stress, and your body cannot differentiate between stress from losing or stress from winning.

Either end of the spectrum, losing or winning, can be a Hell.

TIME-SUCK HELL
There was this show about parrots last month - how they are the most demanding pets an owner can have. Basically, the audience was told, if you can’t dedicate every moment of your entire life to the parrot, don’t have one.

Sound like coaching?

You could add another fifty hours to each day and there still wouldn’t be enough time to get all your coaching done. And that’s a HELL, for coaches and athletes.

Andre Agassi, one of the best tennis players in the World, hated tennis. He said, 'it’s something you’ve done since you were six years old, and there’s a sense that if you stop giving 100% you are doomed to failure, and that is unacceptable. No wonder so many players hate their sport – the surprise is that so few admit it'.

Agassi was in HELL, just like many coaches.

SLEEP HELL
What the heck is it with coaches boasting about how little sleep they get. ‘I was up until 3 am watching team video’ or ‘I haven’t slept in 3 days, but we’re gonna win this one!’

We all know it’s dangerous, right. I almost lost my brother to sleep deprived driving. Dangerous.

And here’s the stupid part. Did you know 17 hours awake is equivalent to a blood alcohol content of .05, and 21 hours awake is the same as .08.
In my state, a driver can be charged with DWI between .04-.08!

What quality of coaching is happening when you’ve been up for 20 hours? I don’t even need to ask, we both know - coaching while sleep deprived is bad coaching.

RELATIONSHIP HELL
We work with people. We are human-service professionals.
Meaning?

Relationships are at the epicentre of what we do. And when they go bad, and they will, it can be pure HELL.

The top reasons athletes quit? Relationships.
Top reasons coaches quit? Relationships.

It boils down to this: r-e-l-a-t-i-o-n-s-h-i-p-s [but you know that already, right?]

RESOURCE HELL
“I need an assistant coach”
“I need a new gym floor”
“I need helmets”
“I need to travel to California”
“I need a raise funds”

There’re only so many pieces of the pie, and odds are pretty good the pie where you coach is shrinking, or getting sliced into more pieces each day.

The coach who can do a lot with a little, might still go to RESOURCE-HELL, but should be able to find her way home.


Actions You Can (and should) Take

Here’s the trick about visiting a COACH-HELL - you want a round trip.

Marginal coaches end up in HELL and then get stuck there. Good coaches figure out how to get back. It’s not easy, but certainly possible.

A few tips to assist in securing a round-trip:

• Eat healthy, meditate, exercise
• Build a social support network
• Plan your next act
• Communicate clearly with those around you
• Articulate the priorities of your program
• Allocate your time
• Sleep, damn it, sleep

Also, give these three actions a whirl:

1. Try this simple list below - are in a COACH-HELL now?
2. Keep a lookout for your coach-friends and peers
3. Have those buddies keep an eye on you

Sooner or later, someone’s taking a visit to COACH-HELL. It’s a lousy place. A little help just might be the return ticket home.


Are you in COACH-HELL ?

Let find out:

1) Are you emotional exhausted, cynical, or feel that you are doing a poor job professionally?
If so, you may be in Burnout Hell.

2) Are you ready to leave coaching, but cannot find another job out of coaching?
If yes, you may be in Typecast Hell.

3) Is the relationship between you and your boss positive, effective, and constructive?
If not, you might be in Boss Hell.

4) Are you constantly worried about the outcome of your contests, especially after they are over?
If so, you may be in Won/Loss Hell.

5) Do you enjoy your coaching, and feel that you have sufficient time for the other parts of your life.
If not, then you might be in Time-Suck Hell.

6) Are you getting a minimum of 7 hours of sleep each day? If not, odds are you are in Sleep Hell.

7) Do you consistently clash with people you need to work with?
If so, you may be in Relationship Hell.

8) Are there critical items that you need for your team’s operation or development that you cannot get due to lack of resources?
If so, then you’re probably in Resource Hell.

Most clubs, it needs hardly be said, do not work this way. Most clubs manage their performance year to year accepting that some years will be good and some will be bad because ‘that’s just the way things are’. But is it really just the way things are, or is it just what happens if you fail to plan ahead?

The components of success:
German model highlights three key requirements for consistently producing internationally competitive rowers:
1. Nation-wide recruitment
2. Cultivation of young athletes and
3. Rigorous selection over several years

From the point of view of the typical club there are five fundamental and interconnected resources which underpin success:

equipment
Good equipment (mainly boats and blades) is a requirement as much for the motivation of athletes as for any objective performance improvements which the equipment brings. Equipment is actually one of the easier aspects of planning for success. Equipment may be more or less expensive but in the end it is ‘just about raising and spending money.

athletes
The club must recruit and retain a squad of athletes collectively capable and motivated enough to achieve the strategic goal. It is worth noting that within the strategic 5 year timeframe, the athletes who will achieve the goal may not be members of the club at the time the goal is set. Most clubs have an effective ‘catchment area’ from which they recruit their members so their opportunities for recruitment are local rather than national. However, an inclusive recruitment policy which seeks to create a regular intake of talent at junior level is a good start. Once each new cohort of juniors is ‘on board, training, selection and competition becomes the natural routine of club life. It is a hard fact however, that juniors tend to go away to university at almost exactly the point at which you want to get them into the senior squads, and they don’t always come back, so recruitment has to be at all levels.

coaching
As with the athletes, the club must recruit and retain coaches capable of achieving the strategic goal. Again, the coach or coaches who achieve the goal may not be part of the club on the date the goal is set. It can be hard to admit, but if years of trying have so far been unrewarded by success at national or international levels, then at the very least your coaching skills probably need revision and updating. High performance coaching is a specialist and multifaceted skill, combining knowledge of a range of disciplines encompassing physiology, psychology, sports science and project management.

facilities
The basic facilities, i.e. the clubhouse, the quality of the available river or lake for training on – are the most important. But there are also training facilities, transport facilities, coaching facilities (e.g. training camps) all of which can add to the ability of the club to attract and retain talent.

funding
Last on the list, but a required enabler for at least three of the other four components.

the action plan
First, you have to know your strategic goal in detail. If your club sets its sights on winning a particular national or international event, you need to know that event, the course, times of the last few winning crews, who was in those crews and what their performances were. If attaining your strategic goal is going to require that you have a boat full of Olympic rowers, then you either have to step up to the training, selection and funding implications of that or (perhaps more prudently) pick a more attainable goal.

Secondly, when you’ve decided on your goal as a club, you have to go public with it. Every member of the club needs to know what their club is planning to do, even if they aren’t going to be directly involved. It is said that when he was in charge of the Apollo moon landing programme, Werner von Braun gave every single member of his team a picture of the moon to keep on their desks. Likewise, every member of your club needs to know what the club is planning to do because that goal is going to be the priority informing every major decision the club makes for the next few years.

Thirdly, know your Critical Success Factors – the essential skills and assets you absolutely cannot do without if you are going to get to your strategic goal.

A new boat is probably not at the top of this list but if it is going to be a requirement in a couple of years’ time you may need a funding plan to meet that cost.

More likely in the short term you are going to need to improve your coaching staff through training or recruitment and to improve your recruitment of potential athletes.

A typical rower’s career at the intensive level of training required at senior level may span less than five years so you may need to think about how best to recruit and retain promising 20-22 year olds.

The full list of Critical Success Factors will be different for every club and should be worked out and agreed by those responsible for the strategic direction of the club.

It will probably be no more than five or six items long – more than that and you have probably failed to get to the root causes of some of the issues standing between the club and its goal.

Fourthly, agree and document a project plan for the club which will secure your Critical Success Factors within a realistic timeframe and ensure that the required skills, people and resources are in place to give you your best chance of achieving your goal. Again the shorter and more concise this project plan is the more likely it is to work. The plan must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-limited) and it must be a working document reviewed and updated regularly by the club committee or appropriate sub-committee. Always be aware that a plan which doesn’t actually require that anything changes from the way things are done today is a plan which will continue to deliver today’s results.

That said, never lose sight of the fact that a rowing club is different things to different people. A strategic plan to win silverware at whatever event you are targeting has the potential to create tensions and disagreements between the rowers and coaches who are directly involved in the pursuit of the strategic goal and the rest of the club membership who are supporting the effort through their subscriptions, fund-raising and recruitment work. No club can afford to neglect or otherwise alienate the bulk of their membership. The search for success is going to be challenging, but the clubs who take on and succeed in that search are the clubs with their names on the silverware.

Similarly, rowers, or rather their boats, have a hierarchy of needs. First is timing, then balance and lastly, power. Getting these out of order is only ever going to be destructive – fortunately not as spectacularly destructive as it can be with a real engine but I’m sure many coaches have seen crews - particularly novice crews, ‘come apart’ as they attempt to apply more power than they can actually handle.

In an engine, force has to be carefully controlled in both its magnitude and direction, and forces acting in the wrong direction are very bad news and must be eliminated. Similarly with rowing, the very worst fault a boat can suffer from is excessive force acting in the wrong direction. Rowers who pull hard into their laps or who throw their body weight sideways during the stroke are exerting forces which absolutely must be corrected before there is any chance of creating an efficient engine. Inefficient crews, however hard they work, never achieve the boat speed their efforts should produce because too much of their energy goes into producing a rolling, splashy, jerky movement of the boat.

Many novice rowers completely fail to understand the importance of their body weight and how it moves. The engine analogy can be helpful in explaining to them that they need to be aware of the precision required in all of their movements if they are going to be part of an efficient crew.

As a coach riding the towpath, I spend most of my time watching and listening to these rowing ‘engines’. I run them first of all at low revs, maybe on just two or four of their eight cylinders, checking for instability and noise. When the engine seems to be running smoothly, I run them at gradually higher revs and higher power.

The engine analogy is of course incomplete in that a crew is much more than an engine. They are also the ‘suspension’ of the boat, keeping it level, and the gearbox of the boat with a set of ‘gears’ ranging from full slide to hands-only. To all of these abilities they also bring [if you are lucky] intelligence and an ability to learn, so that they get better and better at fulfilling all of these roles as they gain more experience.

It is an immensely rewarding experience to see a crew gradually come together as a single working unit like a good engine, responsive and powerful yet also smooth and quiet. To be part of such a crew is to experience rowing at its very best and a feeling of shared achievement which few other sports can offer.

Howard Aiken - The Rowing Club

When coaching crew members as individuals, you need a controlled environment where they can concentrate on the basics. A rowing tank is ideal for some of this work, but a rowing tank is only an imperfect simulation of a real boat. On the water, you'll usually want to control the boat by having some of the rowers acting as 'stabilizers'. But how long should you leave these stabilizers on? To put it another way, how soon is too soon to move to working ‘all eight’ for the majority of the training and consigning the stabilizers to a few minutes of the warm-up?

In this post I'm arguing that adopting ‘all eight’ as the standard for outings, sooner rather than later, is a better approach in training than keeping the crew working in fours or sixes while you iron out individual issues of technique. There are two fundamental reasons for this:

1. Many problems with technique only show up when working in an unstable boat
2. Much of any rower's learning has less to do with listening to the coach and more to do with building unconscious reflex responses to the boat

Let me say again, just for clarity, that I am not disputing the importance of using a stabilized boat for basic training. What I'm arguing is that coaches should get their crew to tackle the challenge of rowing without stabilizers as early as possible, and thereafter use the stabilized boat as the exception rather than the rule for training outings.

Thinking back to my own time as a novice rower, I can remember quite clearly the anxiety I felt when any crew I was in was asked to make the switch from rowing in sixes to rowing all eight. The sudden lurch as the stabilizing blades were lifted off the water to join in the rowing was in all senses a 'big thing' and because it kept happening in outing after outing as our coach kept switching back and forth between rowing in eights, sixes and fours it remained a 'big thing' for longer than I think was necessary. If our coach/es had made us stick with the unstable boat once we had started rowing all eight we would [I think] have progressed faster.

Part of the problem was probably lack of a reliable and easily understood coaching technique for balancing the boat, which in those days was taught as a matter of hand and blade co-ordination rather than primarily to do with stabilised and controlled movement of body weight. The wider appreciation of 'core stability' as an essential part of rowing training in recent years has clarified the nature of the challenge a crew faces in balancing a boat and [where it is used] has greatly shortened the time taken to achieve this.

Once coach and crew have a good grasp of what must be done to balance the boat, the crew need to make the technique an unconscious reflex rather than a deliberate action, because only as an unconscious reflex is it available as a platform for the rest of their rowing technique. Like everyone else, rowers can only focus on a limited number of tasks at one time and if they have to focus on balancing the boat, then less of their attention is available to devote to other aspects of their rowing such as speed and power.

In my view the best way to turn balance from deliberate technique to automatic reflex is relentless repetition - which is why I would argue that working all eight should be the rule for the vast majority of a crew's time on the water. The simple fact is that in competition they will have to row all eight so they need to build that basic competency as fast as possible. However elegantly they can execute drills and exercises while the boat is being balanced for them, that isn't what is going to be asked of them in competition.

So what problems should a coach expect to face in moving up to an unstable boat sooner rather than later? I divide these into three groups:

Defensive Rowing
I've mentioned unconscious reflexes as part of the learning process rowers go through. Unfortunately, some rowers have unconscious reflexes which are very unhelpful. They give rise to what I call 'defensive rowing', an unconscious response to rowing in an unstable boat.

Typically rowers suffering from this problem may be able to row with perfectly acceptable technique while the boat is being held stable by other crew members. However, when the stabilizers are removed they typically shorten their stroke, lean away from their rigger and pull each stroke down into their laps. This of course increases the instability of the boat and [particularly in novice boats] can set up a vicious circle in which the boat quickly becomes too unstable for most of the crew to row effectively. Because the defensive rower may be unaware of what they are doing differently in the unstable boat, this can be hard error to fix.

First you have to improve the stability of the boat without going back to rowing in sixes. I do this by getting the crew to focus on keeping their upper bodies completely still after they leave backstops and resisting the temptation to reach for extra length at front stops. Secondly you have to get the defensive rower/s to 'trust the boat' - to visualise the stable boat and to believe it will remain stable if they continue to row correctly. That way we set up a virtuous circle in which correct technique is rewarded with an increasingly stable boat. Easier said than done, but it certainly can be done.

Inaccurate Rowing
One of the greatest challenges for the novice rower is to be both relaxed and accurate in their rowing. In particular, we really do need accuracy in the height at which each rower finishes their stroke [the Reference Point] regardless of how lightly or firmly the crew is rowing. This is very easy to miss while rowing in a stabilized boat and rowers are often caught by surprise by the importance of accuracy when rowing all eight.

Mis-timed Rowing
Most rowers appreciate the importance of catching with stroke. Sadly, many miss the importance of staying with stroke through the rest of the drive, the finish and the recovery. Good timing requires that each rower's head and hands move in time with stroke's head and hands. Again this is easy to miss in a stabilized boat and crews who don't realise its importance tend to struggle with stability.

Clearly, coaches have some challenges to face in getting crews to row confidently and consistently with all blades, but in my view it is where the real training starts. Working in fours and sixes is the rowing equivalent of cycling with training wheels - which is not something you will see competent cyclists doing very often.

The Rowing Club

They searched for 1 percent improvements in tiny areas that were overlooked by almost everyone else:
discovering the pillow that offered the best sleep and taking it with them to hotels
testing for the most effective type of massage gel
teaching riders the best way to wash their hands to avoid infection

They searched for 1 percent improvements everywhere.

Brailsford believed that if they could successfully execute this strategy, then Team Sky would be in a position to win the Tour de France in five years’ time.
He was wrong. They won it in three years!

In 2012, Team Sky rider Sir Bradley Wiggins became the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France. That same year, Brailsford coached the British cycling team at the 2012 Olympic Games and dominated the competition by winning 70 percent of the gold medals available.

In 2013, Team Sky repeated their feat by winning the Tour de France again, this time with rider Chris Froome. Many have referred to the British cycling feats in the Olympics and the Tour de France over the past 10 years as the most successful run in modern cycling history.

And now for the important question: what can we learn from Brailsford’s approach?


The Aggregation of Marginal Gains

It’s so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making better decisions on a daily basis.
Almost every habit that you have - good or bad - is the result of many small decisions over time.

And yet, how easily we forget this when we want to make a change.

So often we convince ourselves that change is only meaningful if there is some large, visible outcome associated with it. Whether it is losing weight, building a business, traveling the world or any other goal, we often put pressure on ourselves to make some earth-shattering improvement that everyone will talk about.

Meanwhile, improving by just 1 percent isn’t notable [and sometimes it isn’t even noticeable]. But it can be just as meaningful, especially in the long run.

And from what I can tell, this pattern works the same way in reverse [an aggregation of marginal losses, in other words]. If you find yourself stuck with bad habits or poor results, it’s usually not because something happened overnight. It’s the sum of many small choices - a 1 percent decline here and there - that eventually leads to a problem.

In the beginning, there is basically no difference between making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse (in other words, it won’t impact you very much today). But as time goes on, these small improvements or declines compound and you suddenly find a very big gap between people who make slightly better decisions on a daily basis and those who don’t. This is why small choices don’t make much of a difference at the time, but add up over the long-term.

On a related note, this is why I love setting a schedule for important things, planning for failure, and using the ‘never miss twice’ rule. I know that it’s not a big deal if I make a mistake or slip up on a habit every now and then. It’s the compound effect of never getting back on track that causes problems. By setting a schedule to never miss twice, you can prevent simple errors from snowballing out of control.


The Bottom Line

Success is a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day.
- Jim Rohn

You probably won’t find yourself in the Tour de France anytime soon, but the concept of aggregating marginal gains can be useful all the same.

Most people love to talk about success [and life in general] as an event. We talk about losing 50 pounds or building a successful business or winning the Tour de France as if they are events. But the truth is that most of the significant things in life aren’t stand-alone events, but rather the sum of all the moments when we chose to do things 1 percent better or 1 percent worse. Aggregating these marginal gains makes a difference.

There is power in small wins and slow gains. This is why average speed yields above average results. This is why the system is greater than the goal. This is why mastering your habits is more important than achieving a certain outcome.

Where are your 1 percent improvements?

James Clear

They're made by 'Purist' the same guys who make Specialized bikes and they're the world's best ... just like our sibi system.


To enter make sure you FOLLOW us on our INSTAGRAM account and JOIN YePP now while you're on the site (we need your address). Don't forget to COMMENT the Instagram post with the TAG YePPpurist


Winners will be announced on 1st Feb and notified by SMS - so be sure to include your mb phone number when you register.


PURE, PURER, PUREST
With technology inspired by nature, Purist is a close to drinking from a glass as you can get, but with all the flexibility and safety of a sports water bottle.

Just like a lotus leaf sheds water and contaminants, so does the Purist - shielding the inside of your bottle from odours, stains and mould. One drink and you will realise what you've been missing. The pure taste of water.

In the context of this blog your ‘lifestyle’ is your day-to-day activity pattern. If you have an active lifestyle your body shape will tend to show firmer muscle tone and better posture and your cardio-vascular system will tend to have an increased capacity for carrying oxygen. The reverse will be true if you have a sedentary lifestyle. To be effective in terms of competitive performance, training must be part of your lifestyle. That means quite simply it should be something you do most days. If necessary, keep a diary and schedule regular times in it for your training.

If your training is important to you then it will take priority over other activities and your friends and family will respect and adapt to your schedule. You can of course compensate to some extent for less frequent training by increasing the intensity of exercise when you do train, but to be a competitive rower even at club level you really have to be training most days, because it is the things you do most days that your body adapts to.

Rule 2 - Know Your Training Programme

Which specific exercises should you be doing and how should you be doing them? While it is true that to some extent all physical activity is ‘exercise’, not all exercise is training. Think for a moment about the metabolic requirements of a 100m sprint as compared to a 10k run. The 100m sprint requires a (primarily) anaerobic burst of energy and the metabolisation of nutrients already present in the muscles and bloodstream – not least because there simply isn’t time to transport them from elsewhere in the body.

The 10k run on the other hand is an aerobic exercise which depends on the mobilization of the body’s carbohydrate and fat stores over an extended period of time. Unsurprisingly therefore, sprint training and endurance training are not the same and do not produce the same results. Rowers of course need both types of training and need to be aware of how much of each they are doing. So a clear itemised programme which delivers a mix of aerobic and (some) anaerobic training, and a sufficient variety of exercises to stop you from getting bored is essential.

In addition to training their metabolic systems, rowers also need to build muscular strength. More rowing is the best way to do this, but time spent on the ergometer comes a close second. In my opinion weight training comes third and training with heavy weights should only be done after an induction course with a competent instructor. After all, a training programme which puts an athlete out of action through injury is a waste of time and effort.

Rule 3 - Know Your Performance Numbers

Measure your performance every time you train and keep a careful record with dates and times. This is easiest to do on the erg, but can also be done for runs (when you know the distance or always run the same distance) and weight training. It is less easy on the river – an uncontrolled environment which is unlikely to be the same session to session – or when doing things like circuit training, so don’t get obsessive about this, but it is very motivating to see your performance improving over time.

Rule 4 - Aim for Regular, Incremental Improvement

If you are training regularly and effectively then this WILL happen. As a coach I would much rather see regular incremental performance improvements – even small improvements, than inconsistent training delivering irregular highs and lows.

Finally, a hint.
Do your first training session on the first day of your vacation. It gets you and the people around you used to your training schedule as quickly as possible and once it becomes part of your routine it becomes much easier to maintain. 'Start as you mean to go on' is good advice on many levels.

Howard Aiken - The Rowing Club

Rowing 'like' stroke can be as much a challenge for experienced rowers as it is for beginners. While beginners often lack the co-ordination to follow stroke accurately, experienced rowers sometimes have to overcome years of habit to change the way they row. To give just one example, if they have the habit of rowing with a significant pause at the finish, it can be surprisingly difficult to get an experienced rower to get their hands away faster on the recovery.

Once you have coached a crew to row like stroke it follows that every time the occupant of the stroke seat changes, the whole crew has to adopt a slightly different style. The effort, however, is worth it. There is a visible difference between a crew who are only in time at the catch and a crew who are in time throughout the entire stroke cycle. If they are ‘rowing like stroke’, the hands, heads and slides will all be moving together and as a result the blades remain synchronised throughout the stroke and just as importantly, the movement of the crew’s body weight in the boat is controlled and the balance of the boat is improved.

If at all possible, you should have an alternative stroke person available in your squad in case your first choice stroke is unavailable. This will also give your first choice stroke the opportunity to row in another seat occasionally – ideally on bowside. Given the many benefits of rowing in the stroke seat I’m surprised by how reluctant many rowers are to try for the role, but it is worth the effort of living up to the ideal of coaching rowers to row in any seat. Every so often you are rewarded by the discovery of a previously hidden talent – a bonus for the coach, the rower and the boat as a whole.

While it is unlikely that you will find two candidates for the stroke seat who have exactly the same rowing style, it is virtually impossible that you will find two candidates with the same psychological attributes. The “toughness of spirit” I mentioned earlier becomes more important in more experienced boats where the occupant of the stroke seat needs the ability to push themselves and their crew right to the edge of their capabilities while maintaining the consistency and discipline required to keep the boat working as an effective unit. The other side of that coin is the 'grace under pressure' required to deal with unexpected circumstances (particularly under race conditions) calmly and rationally rather than angrily or aggressively. It is often the case that the kind of rower who regularly occupies the stroke seat a) has a high opinion of their own rowing and b) tends to hold (and express) strong opinions about the performance of the rest of the crew. To some extent this is part of stroke’s role, but a certain amount of understanding and empathy is helpful and important too.

Lastly, fitness has to be one of stroke’s key characteristics. He or she doesn’t have to be the strongest rower in the boat, but if stroke isn’t fit enough to push the performance of the rest of the crew close to their limits then they aren’t getting the best from the boat.

Given all of these requirements and issues it is not surprising that many coaches tend to stick with the same faces at stroke for months or indeed years at a time. However, in my view it is good for all concerned to have the courage to experiment and to try new options. You have to expect that many of the experiments will fail, but experimenting is at the heart of effective coaching and without it we are limiting our own and our crews’ potential for success.

Howard Aiken - The Rowing Club

As the Xmas holiday season approaches, we predict that things will start to go a bit crazy as they usually do, and if early feedback and orders are an indicator we're expecting we'll be in for a very, very busy December and January.

One of the most unique features of YePP's sibisystem is not even a technical attribute. It's actually in the way we 'offer it' and make the system available. It means that for very little money up front - under $5,000, you can obtain a sibisystem with enough licences for 80 athletes and 15 coaches. We achieve this by spreading the cost and providing a simply, monthly payment plan that averages to around just $0.29 per athlete per day! Just like a mobile phone plan.


If you want place an order, or just want to know more about YePP's sibisystem - then open a ticket in support and send us a request, or click on one of the 'pre-register' buttons in the store.

Aiken, a regular contributor to The Rowing Club - publishes an informative resource for coaches providing simple explanations and tips for coaching and crew improvement alike.

ROW360 received tremendous applause following the release of their maiden issue only a couple of months ago, and is now available in hard copy as well as a digital edition.
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Although based in London, the magazine's focus and reach is international, with journalists, photographers and contributors attending of our favourite regattas and rowing hotspots across the globe.

ROW360's review also looks into YePP's EAP [Early Adopter Programme] where Aiken interviews key players from an Australian private girls school - Melbourne Girls Grammar.

We hope you enjoy the article!

If you're an Australian resident and would like to receive a FREE print copy of ROW360, just send us a 'support ticket' with ROW360 as the 'subject' and we'll mail out a copy.

Across this article we’ll be introducing you to a new and amazing technology – a technology that’s set to revolutionise the way we master the sport.

sibi is simply short for ‘see it believe it’ and it’s the link between perception and reality.

Designed to easily and cost-effectively identify and improve a rower’s performance, it allows the athlete to review their action precisely and repeatedly, introducing never before seen technologies and systems to the sport of rowing.

It’s also the only rowing learning-aid in the world which provides twin-140 degree views of a rower’s stroke.


So, how does sibi work?

Well, one of its unique features is the purpose built, dual-lens camera system.

Designed to be completely waterproof, wireless and hands-free, it’s capable of sub-millisecond synchronisation of up to 16 strategically placed digital-video devices - each of them ready to simultaneously capture your stroke and represent it in a rich, multi-dimensional environment.

And in every installation, every camera is laser aligned precisely and speedily using YePP’s own unique instruments.

It means that all sibi ‘capture environments’ are absolutely identical. This uniform and precise positioning allows in-depth and accurate assessments to be made, and comparisons to be drawn – regardless of where the capture sequence was performed.

And unlike other video-based learning aids, which are limited to capturing data at only 24 frames per second, the sibisystem captures 100 – each in full colour, more than 4 times the speed currently available.

Multiply that by the 16 cameras and you get over 6,400 frames of visual data for every stroke.

sibianalyst application

Of course this massive amount of information would be useless without a system specifically designed to interpret it into practical and easy to understand information. So YePP has designed its own unique software – sibianalyst, software that’s the most advanced of its kind.

This leading-edge software provides you with a dynamic, multi-dimensional editing suite – giving you the ability to review, analyse and compare your stroke quickly and easily.

For example, you can create your own Key Frame sequences. Basically it means you can edit your own digital video using any combination of camera angles and pauses, and create your own personalised playlist, which can be saved and reused again for future sessions.

sibi’s analysis software also provides you with some never before seen features.

The Strobe Mode for example is one of sibi’s most powerful tools. It automatically draws the rower’s stroke as defined by the body, oar-handle and blade. All you need do is indicate the start and end points and sibi will create a strobed image in multi-dimensional space for all 16 viewpoints. From here the strobed image can be overlaid on the rower’s current sequence to view precisely any variation in stroke paths.


sibianalyst overlay

One of the more exciting features sibianalyst provides is the Overlay function. It allows you to compare ‘your’ sequence to a sequence ‘you or another’ rower created earlier.

It also means that rowers can build a profile-library of their stroke history and literally see how they’ve progressed. But unlike current systems, sibi’s unique point of difference is that it achieves this in a multi-dimensional space – a feature previously unavailable … until now.

Finally, the coach and rower have the option to save their inputs for future review and, as the number of sibi installations grows, the power of the sibi concept multiplies exponentially.

sibi is to be made available to rowing clubs, institutions, universities and schools internationally, the vast majority of which offer high-level coaching. All of them continually seek fresh and new points of difference to attract and maintain an ever expanding base.


sibi is a ‘dream’ that is about to become ‘reality’.

As a concept previously only touched upon in laboratories [and then more akin to an experiment than learning aid], it’s to be available with unimaginable convenience for every rower – rank amateur through to elite athlete.


sibi is not a gimmick – it is true product innovation.

It symbolises the first generation of a serious, technology-based, rowing learning aid – a future proofed system that will change the way that rowing is learned.


sibi is poised to truly ‘make practice perfect’.

Visit YePP now and be among the first to receive updates on the sibisystem as it rolls out to your region.

Join for free!

Fergus and the ROW360 Team released their first issue into the North American. European, UK markets with huge success and well deserved praise lauded on them.

Scholes says "we believe there's plenty of opportunity and heaps of demand out there for another title in the global marketplace. Following the tremendous feedback we received from the release of our first issue we're now more committed than ever to making a serious splash in the marketplace".

I reckon [and hope] we'll be seeing a lot more of these guys in the seasons to come.

A fantastic job and congratulations ROW360

Peter Thomson - YePP's design director says, "our plan is to focus on the Australian domestic market initially - particularly for the balance of this season, then we'll move towards the northern hemisphere as their season begins to open".

With over 5 years of research and development effort, lots and lots of fun [peppered with equal amounts of heartache], YePP has finally delivered what it believes is the world's most advanced integrated rowing system.

If you'd like to learn more of what YePP can do for your programme, then let's get in touch. The simplest way is to phone or use our support system.

We want to hear from you - SO LET'S SPEAK REAL SOON!

YePP’s global manufacturing footprint covers several countries including substantial involvement from the USA, Germany, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and New Zealand. Including Australia that's nine all up!

At present, we're awaiting delivery of pre-production electronics and our production plastic enclosures. They're expected later this week and, yeah we are excited. Final assembly and quality control is always conducted locally at our facility in Melbourne and means our designers and engineers will also benefit from the learning process.

So a huge 'thank you' to all our many YePP crew members worldwide for their massive effort and continued support!

Sadly, they are less regularly employed by rowing clubs and I feel this is our loss, because successful athletes from outside rowing have more useful messages for aspiring rowers than they have for aspiring sales managers.

One of their most fundamental messages is the importance of setting a clear objective. Focus on a clear objective, which for Olympic athletes, may be years ahead, informs everything they do. Even at the more modest level of club rowing, thinking about your objectives for the season ahead is a key to success. Both individually and as crews, rowers need to think about and agree what they want to achieve, if they are to maximise their chances of a successful season. It might be a particular event, it might be the level you want to row at, it might be the times you want to record - whatever your objectives are, you, your coach and your crewmates need to discuss, agree and commit to them if you are to have the best chance of turning them into reality.

Generally speaking the shorter your list of objectives and the clearer and more measurable each objective is, the more progress you are likely to make. It might even be a good idea to steal some ideas from the world of management and think about SMART objectives. SMART objectives are:

• Specific – clearly defined (e.g. not ‘row better’)
• Measurable – so that you can know when you have achieved them
• Aggressive – requiring significantly above average performance
• Realistic – within your capabilities, given available resources.
• Time-limited – deliverable within an agreed timescale.

These concepts will be familiar to many from their lives outside rowing and if you mean be more successful as a rower, as a squad or as a club, they can be employed in your early season planning without making you feel too much as if you are back at work.

Let’s suppose then that you set an objective which represents a significant step up in your performance over last season. You make sure it is SMART and you write it down (every member of the squad should have a copy). So far so good. Where has that got you? Well, for a start, if your objective requires a significant improvement in your performance then it follows that from the first day of training in the new season you have to make a similar step up in your commitment and effort. You have to expect to train and perform like the crews who you want to be your peers, the crews who were ahead of you last season. Training the way you did last season will (surprise surprise) deliver about the same results as you got last season.

Every season starts as a new beginning and an opportunity to change and improve. Just as sports training and success can be relevant and motivational in the business world, tools and techniques taken from the business world can be relevant and motivational in sport. A little bit of collective 'businesslike' thinking at this time is a worthwhile exercise to get everyone focussed on delivering the performance you are going to need to do better.

The Rowing Club

Sporting the latest sibitransporter, YePP's sibicamera and sibibridge devices are now [albeit only recently released] mature starters at every meeting, with the camera at revision #8 in the current production environment and bridge at revision #6. By comparison our sibihub seems almost infantile, sitting at revision #4.

Either way, you can rest assured that several thousands of hours and uncountable iterations have paved the way for the world’s most advanced and integrated rowing system –YePP’s sibisystem.

If most clubs held on to more of the people who have ‘tried out’ the coxing seats they would have more coxes available then they do. So why do so many new coxes not last long?

Sadly, part of the reason may be that novice coxes don’t always get the attention from coaches that they deserve. One aspect of this is the tendency to put novice coxes with novice rowers. While I can see why this would happen, it really is like putting a novice rider on an unbroken pony – albeit a rather slow one. The more inexperienced a crew is, the less likely they are to row consistently and a crew which rows inconsistently will be harder to steer. Add to this the problems which beginners have manoeuvring a boat safely when spinning or landing and you can appreciate what a challenge we present new coxes with and why so many of them get discouraged and leave as a result.

I would suggest that it would be a good idea to provide newly recruited coxes with a mix of boats to cox, some beginner/novice boats certainly, but also some more capable intermediate boats which will provide a more rewarding experience from the cox’s seat. I’m NOT suggesting that new coxes should be asked to cox high-speed pieces, but if a more experienced crew is rowing a ‘technical’ outing, a new cox can learn what their exercises and drills look like when they are executed correctly. They are then in a much better position to help the novices and in the end the whole club benefits.

Another idea worth trying is the ‘cox squad’. How many clubs, before travelling to row in a regatta on someone else’s river, get their coxes together as a squad for a briefing on the rules of navigation and safety applicable to the venue? A simple way of passing valuable information from experienced coxes who have rowed that particular river before to those who will be seeing it for the first time - and again the whole club benefits.

Rowers also have a role in making a new cox feel welcome and valued. It really isn’t hard to understand that without the cox the outing doesn’t happen. Help make their experience a positive one, one they will want to come back to. Welcome them as part of your crew and help make every new cox into a good cox and an asset to your boat and your club.

Lastly, considering the safety of the crew and the care of the boat, it is the skills of the cox, not of the crew, which determines the river/weather conditions in which you can run a safe outing. No matter how good the crew is, don’t put a novice cox on the water when the conditions make the risks unacceptable.

The Rowing Club

Following the handover of YePP’s sibisystem from the R&D team in June, YePP has now established a home for its sales, marketing and distribution in brand new premises located just 500mtrs around the corner.


Spread across two levels it features a fabulous 430m2 open-plan, polished concrete floor and stacks of natural light and, most importantly, it’s just around the corner from Melbourne’s best, and the YePP crew’s favourite coffee – Dukes in Chapel Street Windsor.

I was reminded of this a few days ago when I volunteered to bankride for a men’s eight from my own squad who were competing at a regatta a couple of days later. At the end of the outing when they asked me for my comments, I simply told them that they were good to go and ready for the regatta. I genuinely felt that there was almost no useful coaching to be given in terms of improving their rowing, because they were rowing very well indeed.

Their starts were consistently good, their timing was good and their balance was better than I’d ever seen it. Were they rowing perfectly? No. Were they guaranteed to win? No. But they were rowing well enough and fast enough to give any competitor in their event some very serious competition. We had reached the point where to make changes in pursuit of improved performance was in my view more likely to be counterproductive than helpful.

This particular eight had been rowing together consistently for a few weeks and the benefit of that time on the river together was arguably the biggest contributor to their improved performance. Like any club crew, they could benefit from even more concentration (it simply isn’t possible to concentrate too hard) and I told them so, but further coaching - seeking to improve their performance by changing how they were rowing, was a bad idea. Just as race day itself is not the time for conducting experiments, the last couple of outings before an event should be about consolidation rather than further changes.

The coach’s role at that point is like that of a theatre director at dress rehearsals. He or she is supervising repeated run-throughs of the same performance with the aim of ensuring that everyone knows exactly what to expect and is clear on what is wanted from them.

At these times a coach needs a clear understanding of the difference between ‘coaching’ and ‘finding fault’. Perfect performance is an elusive goal and certainly at club level there will always be individual or collective faults to be corrected. However, two days before a competition which the crew could win is not the time to be correcting those faults. If the crew is producing competitive boat speed over the event distance then the primary coaching objective has been achieved.

From that point, through the heats to the final, preparation (equipment maintenance checks), motivation (mental attitude and behaviour) and repetition (during each warm-up for example) are the priorities. Coaches need to know when enough is enough – when the time has come to deliver the performance rather than striving to improve it further. When I am with my crews at a competition, once they are on the water I make it a rule to say nothing more than ‘good luck’. The unaccustomed silence from the towpath seems to help their concentration.

On race day, a well-prepared crew does not need further instruction. That can wait until after the event, when win or lose, the search for better, faster rowing will resume. And yes – our men’s eight won all their heats and the final.

The Rowing Club

“All up we’ve probably developed and prototyped about 7 complete concepts for the transporter, including 3 full sets of tooling for each of the major iterations”, says Andrew Crawford – YePP’s lead industrial engineer. “It’s been driven, like all elements of YePP’s sibisystem, from two primary viewpoints – industrial design ideals and invaluable User feedback”.

• we prefer to keep it in the boat with us … we even race with it
• it's beaut not to have to wait around when you want to transfer to another crew
• great not having to worry about handling all the separate pieces

These have been some of the comments and feedback that YePP has received from EAP members [Early Adopter Programme], all of which has served to direct our final release candidate. We had no intention initially of crews keeping the sibitransporter in the boat during a session. The obvious feedback was that its size should be kept to a minimum, and now we’ve managed to trim down the overall height by 17%.


“I think the magnets which we embedded into the rear and bottom faces of the sibitransporter have been a tremendous success. They keep things perfectly in place if a crew is out in an 8, both on and off the water – and even when it’s inside the sibiroadcase.

This brings to total a massive 16 different parts [counting just the tech-resin components] which contribute to create a single sibisystem – that's a lot of injection moulding tools!.

Winning regularly even at club level requires a real commitment to year-round training, a commitment which in rowing is going to consume more time and more calories than in many other sports. Winning even once at national or international level requires greater sacrifices than most rowers would want to bear and I can’t be alone in knowing people who have left rowing not after losing but after winning at national championship level.

“We didn’t win, but we had a good race” is the key here. A typical regatta is organised as knockout, and many rowers will know the experience of turning up as a competitor at 9am and being a spectator by 10am. Are you happy? No. But if you rowed well and the boat went well and you were in touch with the competition from start to finish, you don’t feel bad. Rowing is a non-contact sport, so there is very little you can do about the performance of other competitors.

You and your crew are racing your own race against your own limitations and you measure yourself as much against your past performance as against the competition. Rowing well in a crew boat is a challenge in itself and mastering that challenge, together, from start to finish, under the intense mental and physical pressures of competition, is a real achievement. Every rower knows that and takes real pleasure in it every time it happens – win or lose.

The Rowing Club

Just watching how a crew carry their boat and put it on the water gives a good (not infallible) guide to their performance in the race. Watching them manoeuvre their boat on the water gives more clues. If one crew can spin their boat while keeping it balanced and the other crew can’t spin their boat without putting at least one set of riggers underwater I know which crew I’d back to win.

Every rower should know that an outing starts when the cox calls “Hands on!” to get the crew to lift the boat off the rack or trestles. From that moment until the boat is back on the rack, they are a crew. There are crews who will approach the apparently simple task of lifting the boat with their full attention. They will work together, moving together, and when they lower the boat onto the water bows and stern will touch the water together. Other crews will lift their boat as if it was luggage and are quite capable of having one end of the boat in the water while the other end is still being held at ‘waists’. Even if such a crew begins to concentrate on working together once they are in the boat, the crew that began working together at the words ‘”Hands on!” is several minutes ahead of them in the process of establishing the level of shared concentration required to row well and win races.

From the coaching point of view, the challenge is to get your rowers to treat every part of the outing as part of their rowing, deserving the same concentration and attention to detail as a racing start or a balance drill. This can be a hard message to get across, particularly if the crew has got into bad habits, so to be honest, I simply tell crews that this is how I want it done and I put them right if they do otherwise. The cox has a key role in helping the crew raise this aspect of their game. He or she is an important ally in creating and reinforcing awareness that there is a ‘right way’ to lift a boat, to put a boat on the water, to spin a boat at the end of a reach etc. Good boat handling is more than just getting the boat to the water without breaking it or injuring bystanders (which I think everyone would agree is ‘bad’).

We know good performance when we see it. It is the crew who lift and move their boat with a minimum of fuss or comment and keep it level through ‘Waists’, ‘Shoulders’ and ‘Heads’. They put it on the water in controlled way, keeping it level because they are moving together. They will impress the competition (if the competition is watching) before they take a stroke. They will be ‘in the zone’ and thinking about the race while their less well-drilled opponents are shouting advice to each other and waving to their girlfriends/boyfriends on their way to the water’s edge. Coaching to impress is not the objective – after all, if your competitors know what they are doing, their concentration is in their own boat and they aren’t watching you. The objective – as always – is to row well and win races, and good crew skills in the boathouse and on the landing stage are part of that training.

Some hints and tips:
• Lifting a boat from rack or trestles: at ‘hands on’, get the crew to turn their heads to look along the boat rather than across it.
• Putting a boat on the water: Get bow and stroke to watch the OTHER end of the boat and lower their end at the same time.
• Spinning an eight or four: Get the crew to visualise a rail down the centre of the boat at the same hand height at which the boat is balanced and level. Start from backstops or frontstops as appropriate and have both sides of the boat moving together throughout. Move the hands backwards and forwards along the imaginary 'rail' with NO up and down movement.

The Rowing Club

Head Coach - Lachlan Beckett oversees a coaching staff of fulltime and casual employees totalling 36 in number during this current season. He’s definitely got his work cut out for him ensuring that, as he puts it, “they’re singing from the same songbook”.


YePP’s relationship with MGG began not long after YePP was just a glimmer of a concept. It was through the support and direction of Christian Neeson, who at the time was Head of Rowing, later Head of Sport, and currently the Director Physical Performance and Health, that the relationship emerged.

Working closely also with Kade Greenland – 1st VIII Coach, YePP and MGG ‘proved out’ many of the concepts that today form the core of the sibisystem. Together, they continue to champion the benefits of YePP and for that we are extremely grateful – thank you MGG crew.

It is as true in rowing as in any other sport that important races are often won or lost by inches, so any legal change which offers even small improvements in performance is worth considering.

I’m going to touch on four aspects of rowing technique or crew ion which any crew or coach can check on to make sure that they are getting the best boat speed they can for the effort they are putting in. Perhaps because it is easier to see these issues from outside the boat than inside it, or because crews can sometimes settle into a particular way of rowing to correct some other problem, these training points are by no means confined to beginners or novice boats.

Blade Depth
Some crews acquire the habit of rowing ‘deep’, with both the spoon and a significant part of the loom below the surface of the water. Each submerged loom creates a ‘bow-wave’ as it moves through the water and the drag caused by the bow wave acts as a brake on the boat - see http://bit.ly/1huDCF5 for more detail. The crew are therefore wasting precious energy on making these waves rather than moving the boat.

Get the crew to understand that:
a) the blade naturally floats with its upper edge above the water
b) they can reduce the depth of the blade during the drive phase if they focus on dropping the blade gently onto the water before they start the stroke
c) if they pull through the drive phase with the blade floating at its natural depth the stroke feels much lighter, because the blade is being used more efficiently

Dragging Blades
Novice crews often acquire the habit of dragging their blades across the surface of the water from the finish back to the catch. This helps stabilize the boat, reducing the amount of roll, which is reassuring for inexperienced rowers. However, the drag created by eight blades sliding across the water surface, while not as great as the bow-waves referred to above, is still hundreds of times greater than the drag created if they were in the air.
Hint to coaches: my experience is that asking the rower to lower his or her hands on the recovery doesn't usually work when seeking to correct this error. Telling them to lift the spoon off the water is far more effective. As the Americans would say - "Go figure".

Speed into Frontstops
The dynamics of boat acceleration are complex and it is a fact that as the crew leaves backstops on the recovery, the boat actually accelerates as kinetic energy is transferred from rowers to boat. However if the rowers hit frontstops hard – rather than decelerating into frontstops – boat speed is checked, because the rowers (who weigh much more than the boat) are moving in the opposite direction to the boat. A good cue for rowers is the sound made by the wheels of their seat. If the sound is a rising note as they move through the recovery then they are accelerating into frontstops. If the sound is a falling note then they are decelerating into frontstops. A smooth deceleration into frontstops followed by the smallest instant of stillness as the catch is taken and the drive begins, is the most effective way to conserve boat speed. This of course is much easier said than done when working at race pace.

Cox’s Weight
I would advise all crews training for competition to train with as much weight in the boat as possible. If this includes a coxswain who weighs 90 kilos or more then so be it. For the races themselves, however, minimum weight in the boat has to be the rule. Racing with a cox who weighs 20 kilos more than the coxes in the other boats cannot in my view be a competitive advantage, no matter how good a cox he or she may be. Having a choice of competent coxes is of course a luxury unavailable to many crews, but if you do have a choice, use the lightweight cox for competitions.

There is a fifth issue affecting many club boats but which is not an aspect of rowing technique or crew ion – and this is hull blemishes. I remember when I was being coached in sculling, my coach put a single bungee cord around the hull of my single scull. I was shocked by force of the braking effect it produced, simply by disrupting the smooth flow of water over the hull. If there are blemishes which you can feel on a hull when you run your hands along it, get them repaired and smoothed out before the regatta season gets under way. They are costing you far more boat speed than you imagine.

Taken together, the marginal improvements in performance offered by each of these changes can add up to the difference between winning and losing. If you want an introduction to the role of marginal gains here is a short video here - http://bit.ly/SrWeQy

The Rowing Club

One of my first coaches (a Nat Champs gold medallist - so I think she knew what she was talking about) insisted that the fastest starts she ever rowed were "full power, full length" from the go. Some college crews I have coached in the past, have devised 'start sequences' of knitting pattern complexity. My current coach has an exactly opposite view and teaches a very simple, shortened stroke sequence, and this is in fact what I teach the crews I now coach.

So what is the best advice for rowers and coaches looking for the best possible start?

First and foremost, the fact that there are so many conflicting opinions on the best start is quite possibly an indication that there isn't one, because if one particular sequence was clearly better that another, we'd all be using it. Secondly, don't get the search for the right start out of proportion. Even the best start won't win the race for you, although a bad start can certainly lose one.

My personal view is that an effective start sequence has three distinct functions:
1. to provide a reliable and predictable series of strokes with which to accelerate the boat rapidly
2. to minimise the risk of crew errors
3. to set the boat up for race pace at the planned stroke rate

In terms of reliability and predictability, the start sequence is the only part of the race which is entirely under the crew's control. If the crew has been well trained, they know exactly what to do and what to expect during their start. Because they know exactly what is going to happen, the crew don't have to follow stroke, they can row 'with' stroke. This can be a difficult distinction to convey, but what I mean is that (for example) if the crew know how fast the rate is going to build and have rowed it repeatedly together, then the rower in the stroke seat doesn't actually have to lead and the rest of the crew doesn't have to follow. They all execute the same sequence together. This gets the boat moving as a tightly co-ordinated unit, which is the ideal we are always striving for in crew boat racing.

Crew errors are of course the major hazard during a race. If crews could always race without making errors, then the strongest, fittest crews would always win. The fact that they don't is due to the errors all crews make in turning the energy they apply during a race into sustained boat speed. Here again, a well-rehearsed start sequence is an excellent way to reduce the risk of errors early in the race. I coach my crews to treat the start sequence as a technical exercise rather than a brute force powerfest. In coxed boats, this has the interesting consequence of reducing the noise level so often associated with starts, because the cox's role is now to keep the crew calm while prompting them through the precise execution of the sequence. They have to prevent the crew from 'boiling over' in the excitement of the moment. This of course only applies for a few strokes while the crew accelerates the boat efficiently to race pace. At that point coxes revert to their usual role of 'motivating' the crew loudly.

It almost goes without saying that the start sequence should be consistent with the race plan. The start sequence for a sprint race should build from a standing start to a stroke rate and boat speed appropriate to a sprint. The start sequence for a head race should build from (usually) a rolling start to a speed appropriate to the longer distance.

In simple terms, the real difference between a good start and a bad start, is that during a good start the whole crew is able to take every stroke together, whereas during a bad start, one or more members of the crew misses or mis-times a stroke. I personally feel that this is a strong argument in favour of simple start sequences. Others would of course argue otherwise.

To summarise then, best practice in racing starts is to:
1. keep it simple
2. practice it as a crew until you can deliver it reliably without errors
3. make sure it fits seamlessly into the race plan

A good start is above all a morale-booster for the crew. If they can take half a length out of the opposition while they do it, so much the better - but the minimum it should achieve is a smoothly synchronised, error-free acceleration to race pace.

The Rowing Club

Rowing makes these muscular demands not at odd intervals but in rapid sequence, over a protracted period of time, repeatedly and without respite.

When you row, the major muscles in your arms, legs, and back do most of the grunt work, propelling, the boat forward against the unrelenting resistance of water and wind. At the same time, scores of smaller muscles in the neck, wrists, hands, and even feet continually fine-tune your efforts, holding the body in constant equipoise in order to maintain the exquisite balance necessary to keep a twenty four inch wide vessel - roughly the width of a mans waist - on an even keel. The result of all this muscular effort, on both the larger scale and the smaller, is that your body burns calories and consumes oxygen at a rate that is unmatched in almost any other human endeavour.

Physiologists, in fact, have calculated that rowing a two-thousand-meter race takes the same physiological toll as playing two basketball games back to back. And it exacts that toll in about six minutes. A well conditioned oarsman or oarswoman competing at the highest levels must be able to take in and consume as much as eight litres of oxygen per minute; an average male is capable of taking in roughly four to five litres at most.

Pound for pound Olympic oarsmen may take in and process as much oxygen as a thoroughbred race horse. While 75-80% of the energy a rower produces in a race is aerobic energy fuelled by oxygen, races always begin an usually end with hard sprints. These sprints require levels of energy production that far exceed the body’s capacity to produce aerobic energy, regardless of oxygen intake. Instead the body must immediately produce anaerobic energy. This, in turn, produces large quantities of lactic acid, and that acid rapidly build up in the tissue of the muscles.

The consequence is that the muscles often begin to scream in agony almost from the outset of a race and continue screaming until the very end. And it’s not only the muscles that scream. The skeletal system to which all those muscles are attached also undergoes tremendous amounts of strains and stresses. Without proper training and conditioning - and sometimes even with them - competitive rowers are apt to experience a wide variety of ills in the knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, ribs, neck, and above all the spine.

These injuries and complaints range from blisters to severe tendonitis, bursitis, slipped vertebrae, rotator cuff dysfunction and stress fractures. The common denominator in all these conditions is overwhelming pain. Pain is part and parcel of the deal. It’s not a question of whether you will hurt, or of how much you will hurt; it’s a question of what you will do, and how well you will do it, while pain has her wanton way with you.”

Boys in the Boat

The Rowing Club

It was a session organised at the request of Julian Whitehead – [Boys Head Coach], and co-ordinated by Andrew Kenneally – [Boys 1st VIII Coach] to learn more of the benefits that they can expect from engaging YePP.

“It also served to test some new, key firmware features for the software development team at the same time”, said Alex Falkovich – YePP’s lead firmware developer.


“We’ve been looking at and developing a few new algorithms which work to identify and balance exposure in some of the extreme conditions encountered during water sessions, like the high contrast encountered with strong backlighting”.