Shooting It Straight w/ Mary & Marcus - Steering
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- Length: 13 minutes (2.99 MB)
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The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. After safety, steering straight is a coxswains #1 job. This month Marcus and I discuss how we approach our #1 job and how we successfully take our 60+ foot boat down the race course as straight as possible.
It is our hope that after you listen to this podcast we eliminate the Nordic Track steering style and create the more subtle approach. As boat feel increases in the coxswain seat your steering becomes savvier. A savvy coxswain is a wanted coxswain and wanted coxswains get boated.
Please send any questions to us at coxpodcast@gmail.com or leave any comments below.
-Mary & Marcus
I don't know Sam, I'm still not a fan of having coxswains think about pulling the steering cables toward them. I just associate that with tugging and then I just don't see how you can be smooth by pulling the steering cables/rope. I think there is a greater margin of error that way too.
I also never rely on the toggles. I pinch the rope wherever my hands naturally fall. I would respectfully say that it is laziness and not rely on adduction of the fingers to steer. I also know that there is more than one way to skin a cat...so if you can keep your boat straight and not affect your rowers while steering than more power to you.--Mary
i suppose it's a matter of what one learns or gets accustomed to. can you push-steer while keeping your hands fixed on the gunwales? i think it was a not-so-subtle hint to me when my coach told me that a famous coxswain had his hands duct-taped to the gunwales and was only allowed to steer with his fingers in such fashion, and that made me favor the pull-steering. and by pull i mean with the fingers (toggle resting in crook of index/middle fingers)...the hands stay fixed to the gunwales.
i did try push-steering again this weekend. i think i could get used to it more quickly if i put loops into the cord and hooked my thumbs through them.
I definitely keep my hands fixed to the gunwales while pinching the steering cables. I literally push the steering cables no more than a centimeter at race pace and also at a consistent steady pace.
I think the main reason why I'm such a fan of pushing to steer is that since I make sure the steering cables are taut from the cross bar behind me I know exactly how much to push the steering cable in front of me.
Right on Mary,
I just wanted to point out what you stated subtly, Mary. That at "no more than a centimeter at RACE PACE." Notice the RACE PACE. That makes a huge difference. Fast boat...small changes, slow boat...you need a little more. So in the event that the boat is moving slowly (ie. drills, by 6's)you can and should move your hands a little more. This is the difference between racing and practice. My 2 cents.
i didn't get used to push-steering since the toggles/knots on the boats i had at school were not calibrated correctly (i.e. not level at zero degrees rudder), and some of the steering columns had a nasty amount of friction, so it became easier to pull-steer with the toggles/knots in between my fingers. maybe it's laziness, but it is definitely easier to finesse steering using adduction of the fingers. of course, if you have slack in your tiller, you're not in good shape!
and thanks for validating steering on the recovery--steering on the drive just means that whatever force your rudder is putting toward oneside is only loading the rowers on that side--somewhat variable at any given point of a piece, so the overall effect disappears.