No fighting

Punishment vs. Discipline

And choosing your fights. 

I am not an all or nothing person, usually, when it comes to rowing, and coaching.  I realize this puts me at odds with some people, and odds at others, and right down the middle with the rest, but I’m going off of my own experience.

Let’s set the scene.

Two athletes who are supposed to be at practice, miss practice, and now a boat is short rowers.  What do you do?

There are two schools of thought, and there are three punishment/discipline methods for the outcome.

1.  You let them row.  After all, everyone else is there, and isn’t leaving them on land punishing them for something beyond their control, especially if you don’t know why someone is missing?

2.  You keep them on land.  We win as one, we lose as one, and this is a losing prospect.  There’s work that can be done on land, and rowing in a boat should be seen as a privilege.

And now, the punishment/discipline.

1.  You only hand it out to those missing individuals.

2.  Everyone else gets punished/disciplined.

3.  Everyone gets it.

Ok, let’s work this backward from where I currently stand.

To keep this from getting long, I handle everything as consistently as possible.  First, everyone on the team gets one.  One miss, one excused practice.  You get one per season – fall, spring – and outside of that, you’re now on my time.

Making up the workout doesn’t always fly with me because it can impact the workouts going forward.  What I typically say is this: “You have deposits and withdrawals on this team.  Deposits are made in $0.05 increments.  Withdrawals are made $1 at a time.  Missing practice, you withdrew a dollar.  It will take you 20 to make that up.  And that makeup isn’t the workout, but the trust you have with me, and with your teammates.  Remember, you have the row with them, and they have to want you.”

I like to put it back on them.  It doesn’t always work, but it usually does. 

So that’s where I stand.  I don’t punish everyone else, I don’t usually punish the individuals – unless circumstances demand, but those are more than missing a single practice – and I don’t punish everyone.  I find that those three will breed contempt of either me, those individuals, or everyone.  That’s a lose-lose situation.

So, the first one.  I let them row.  Why?  Because we need it.  If I have a setup like at Oregon State where the campus is 2 miles from the boathouse, and the boathouse, and erg facilities are next door to each other, then sure, I can suspend the boat from rowing for the day.  It’s not my favorite thing to do – and I’ll get to that in a moment – but sometimes I will. 

But if that is not the case, and let’s say the erg facility is more than 20 miles away like Oregon, then no.  Everyone goes out, and those missing will miss.

Ok, so why isn’t it my favorite thing to do?  Because I feel as though we are missing the forest for the trees.  One person missing, so I banish eight others to land?  Eight others who do NOT get coaching contact, or get time on the water – especially when you’re in a location where water time might come at a premium. 

And what’s the alternative that everyone reaches for?  Erging or running.  Well with novices, I don’t want them erging on their own if I can help it, especially in the fall.  Their technique isn’t great because we’re working on it.  And so, putting them on land means they erg without someone being there to correct bad habits.  And because water practices go long, that means they are erging for 90 plus minutes.  That’s a heck of a workout for novices right off the bat. 

Running?  No.  Most people don’t know how to run effectively – myself included – so they’re pounding the pavement rather than striding correctly.  I worked with an Olympian who hated running because it put more stress on the joints we need for rowing than rowing did, and often resulted in other issues cropping up.  Moreover, most people don’t run.  They lope.  So for 90 minutes we’ve got eight people some of whom will run, and others who will barely move the heartrate above resting.

Row them.  Everyone can use more time in the boat.

And this gets to my breakdown like above with the deposit and withdrawal.

I will not hold your hand, because I don’t have to.  Because I have the ultimate equalizer, and wield ultimate power aka, I decide lineups.  If you’re someone who seems to miss a practice a week, you’re not only annoying me, and the rest of the team, but you’re falling behind technically, and physically.  Do you think I’m going to be happy to boat you and make three to seven other athletes haul your carcass around?  No.  Are you at the top of the list of those who race once, or don’t race at all if the schedule is crunched?  Absolutely. 

Is that entirely on your shoulders?  Yes, yes, it is.  Welcome to the real world.  It’s like that for a job, it’s like that for a relationship, it’s like that with many, many things.  The more you put in, the more you get out, the less you do, the less you get. 

Anyhow, that’s my take.