Back in the Office

A whirlwind summer indeed - Cherry Hill NJ, Henley-on-Thames, Worcester MA, Toronto ONT, the Hamptons (for a day), Bulldog Rowing Camp, Northeast Rowing Camp in Maine...and finally back home to Hartford.

We've got an incredibly busy next three days to finalize our preparations for the freshmen moving into campus - I'm going to try and get some pictures of matriculation and our recruiting efforts for all to see. Stay tuned!

The Rain in Maine Falls Mostly on Everyone

Okay...that's probably not quite what Henry Higgins would have said but it has been very interesting weather wise...Very hot and humid...then windy and dark...and then a ton of rain. Three out of the four rows were productive today and we focused a lot on establishing ourselves on the recovery in a strong and ready position and in the afternoon we added in some front end connection work. The physicality of these athletes is impressive and I think there are bright rowing futures ahead for them.

I'll be doing a talk this evening focusing on relaxation and race hypnosis. Should be interesting to see their reaction in a different venue.

Blogging from Northeast

Arrived in Raymond Maine a couple of hours ago and am getting settled in for the Northeast Rowing Camp run by Bill Miller. It's the 21st year of the camp and I feel lucky to be included as part of the coaching staff. The exposure to lots of different coaching styles will be fun and educational and a good way to lead into the beginning of our Trinity season. I'll try and keep the updates flowing as the week progresses.

Finishing up in the Office

Finishing up a long day in the office with a lot of different things that happened. Five really great recruiting calls yesterday evening and today and I'm optimistic that this class will shape up well. The weight room project is continuing and the specialized equipment looks awesome. Most likely a much better use of space for the whole College.

I'm also really excited by the prospect of our new development coach and recruiting coordinator Melissa Schomers from the University of Iowa. Melissa came highly recommended and I believe will do a fantastic job of teaching the fundamentals of rowing, a passion for the sport, and help forge great relationships with our future rowers. More about Melissa later on...

In the mean time...the new academic year is fast approaching...Are you prepared?

Weight Room/Exercise Room updates

I wanted to keep you all updated on how the exercise room and weight room are being updated. Nearly 45 new pieces of aerobic equipment are being moved into the existing weight room along with some new weight racks - I claimed the existing lifting platforms for usage at the boathouse.

The old exercise room has a brand new floor and almost all of the existing weight racks are being moved into that area. In addition to being air conditioned there will be 12 ergs on slides along the mirrored back wall.

What does this mean? It means we'll have to do an excellent job of managing our space, making use of the 3rd floor of the boathouse as a training site, and keeping the tanks as an excellent work area. We gain the use of an improved general cardio facility and improved weight area but please don't mistake the intensity of an elliptical machine compared with an ergometer.

Adaptability!

Getting Down to Business

These are the days you have to really enjoy - where there's no pressing engagement but rather a little openness and flexibility to work ahead and make some headway. Hopefully I'll have a workout that I can write about later but needless to say I'm really looking forward to seeing our athletes return invigorated and ready to learn. Being super fit helps a lot as well...

Swagger

I love following sports and seeing fantastic competition that requires talent, dedication, intelligence, and execution. We're in the thick of baseball season and I've heard a number of well-known and respected sports radio hosts and actual managers of baseball teams talk about the "swagger" that their athletes exhibit when they're winning. I heard manager Joe Torre of the Los Angeles Dodgers say, "we have to get our swagger back..."

Does this type of comment not bother anybody? As far as I know, there aren't any baseball "swagger" drills...there's better pitching, better health, hitting practice, visualization, scouting, situational baseball play, video analysis...But no "swagger" practice. Having swagger demands that you show excellence or are continually winning...I guess it would be fun to try the "winning drill" over and over again too.

I do know what they mean though - I'm not taking what they say literally but I wish they would actually talk about what they're going to try and do to help improve their team.

I believe that in order to become an excellent rowing team you have to be able to meet an excellent physical standard, demonstrate and understand the fundamentals of blade skill and body movement, and then have the courage and trust to execute this with your teammates. Once you have these things you'll deserve to have "swagger" and be able to attack the season.

Whether you have enough athletes that can meet the standard, are willing to go after it, or are willing to give it their real best shot to get there, is another question entirely.

Bulldog Rowing Camp Complete

The final week of Bulldog Rowing camp finished with a lot of rain but some very productive practices. I was working with a 2nd women's boat for the first half of the week and then combined with Coach Porter to run some practices for the top two even boats. The practices became very competitive, college-style, and efficient and I think it may have been slightly eye-opening for the coxswains but they did a tremendous job adjusting.

The main things we really worked on were front end leverage with the importance of bodies over, stabilizing the shell through good clearance off the water, connection to the water, and then as much aggression as possible. There were some stand out teaching moments based on situations we faced as a group.

Now it's back to the task at hand of hiring an assistant coach, closing on my home purchase tomorrow, and then finalizing plans for the upcoming season. Thanks for following!