Tribute to the last-minute lineup

Coaches sweat, obsess and drive their spouses crazy debating lineups. We try and set lineups four weeks or so before the final race of the season, so boats get an opportunity to "gel" together. The boat develops its own personality and approach to a race, the coach identifies this and puts together a race plan accordingly. We sit back on the shore and (hopefully) everything comes together with a winning race.

Makes a nice, calm picture, doesn't it? Makes sense; there is a process to this whole thing. The team likes this idea, because is reinforces the idea that the coach knows what's going on, thus the team knows what's going on and everyone thinks they know what is going to happen.

Then the coach gets the situation faced by the Pitt heavy 4 last weekend. The stroke went down with a foot infection on Wednesday before they left for Philly and Dad Vails. A boat that had been stable, selected and racing well, pointing toward a finals finish suddenly needed to find a new stroke rhythm, and quickly. Plus, a new member, who hadn't rowed in that boat for the last month was being introduced into the mix. In an 8, this might not be such a big deal. 8s have a personality, and a new oarsman just has to go along with what's happening. 4s aren't so easy by a long margin.

Then add in the idea that the new member of the boat would also stroke it. My expectations, as well as theirs, weren't that high.

Coaches like control. That's why we obsess about lineups and results and the competitions' race results and seat racing and erg scores and weather patterns and rigging and race plans and hull selection. We've been oarsmen before, and want that same feeling of control that we had when an oar was in our hands. So we try and fool ourselves with figures and theories and seat racing into believing that we can predict the future. Then when disaster strikes, we assume that because that boat won't have the benefit of time together and our knowlege and experience and theories that it will suck.

Then the oarsmen go out and prove us dead wrong. After such a displacement, the Pitt 4 made the final of Dad Vails. I don't think they believed they would make it out of heats. I had no idea what to think. What the heck was I thinking anyway? Obviously, I have no idea about what I'm doing......

But then again, perhaps I and other coaches do. It's not about seat racing and erg scores and rigging. Yes, these have a place, but not anywhere near the weight we place on them. The best indication of a boat's possible success is the heart and courage and will of the athletes in it. If they believe they can do something special, they usually will. As many other discussions on this blog come down to, it's all about trust. If a boat trusts each other, they will push harder than a crew without that belief. The only way for a lineup to become a crew, and not just a list of people is for those people to trust in the effort and will of each other. That is what makes crews faster than the sum of their parts.

What's funny is that this can't be taught in one workout or drill. It's something a coach can help grow. Mainly, such trust and belief is created by the members of the team themselves. Well done, heavy 4. Beyond expectation, you accomplished the highest talent a crew can master in a season, and it carried you into the finals and great racing.

Categories: Pitt, Rowing, Tribute, Regattas, Coaching