What is a seat worth?

Hello loyal readers,

Row2K put up a nice article on seat racing today, and it just so happens that seat racing has been a topic of discussion with some of my coaching friends recently.  There was a diverse opinion on seat racing in general, and you can see this in the article.  

Where do I stand with seat racing?  

I agree with what Coach Kennett said that it's a tool, but only a tool.  I can tell you that I am not a big fan of seat racing for any number of reasons.

* Ideal conditions.

* Waterway.

* Time of the year in relation to the water and air temp.

* Fatigue factor.

* Course.

I believe that building fast boats comes down to eliminating the variables that you can control so that what you see is truly being influenced by the athletes in the boat.  We can't have it exactly perfect, so getting close is the best that we can do.  In my opinion, there are simply too many variables in seat racing to make it worth my while.

I've run seat races three times in my career.  PRC, UPS, and my second year at LOCR.  All three instances, seat racing wasn't the primary selection tool, but the final test.  The lineups were built throughout the year, and when it was close, we'd haul out the seat race.  

How do I run my seat races?

PRC is the only program that had what I would consider an ideal water way.  The lake was 1500 meters in length, maybe 300 meters at its widest point, and despite being next to the Pacific Ocean, was protected by cliffs and dunes.  It could get windy on the water, but that was typically at the far end of the lake near the dam, and those days were few and far between.  The lake had three spotting points that were easy to locate, and had good navigation points for coxswains in bowloader fours making it relatively easy to keep a straight point.

The worst place was LOCR.  It was on the Willamette, and in a location that wasn't ideal with a near 90 degree left hand turn just above the boathouse, and a slow curve to the right going down by the boathouse with a sharper curve as you neared the railroad bridge.  Because it was a river, there was also a variable current so one lane was significantly quicker going down, and then more difficult on the way back up.  

I used to run seat races by making even boats - as even as possible - lining up, and starting from a dead stop without a start.  Dead even, five strokes to build to race rate, and roughly 5 minutes without a course, or 1500 meters if we had one - UPS did.  I do not like building into the race because inevitably one of the boats is more firm than the other and I do not want to try and calculate the seconds or lengths.  

Now, if I'm running a seat race, it will happen in one of two ways.  I will either take the lineup and run it on it's own or with a control boat over a set distance twice - down and back so to speak - and then swap athletes, give the boat two laps to paddle light and get the other athlete warm, and then down and back again.  This is easier if you're on still water.  If you're on a river, then I'll set up a distance, and run two even boats.  One boat will start in front of the other by a set amount of time, and we will race it, note the margin and then swap athletes.  

Do the athletes know if they are seat racing?

Yes.  Same with 2k tests.  I don't randomly surprise the athletes with tests because we don't just appear at a regatta.  I know there is this idea that a good athlete will be ready to go regardless, and to that I say, bullshit.  You don't see a single professional sports team, in any sport, just randomly appear at a stadium ready to play.  There's a schedule, there's protocol for it, and we follow it.  I talk about eliminating variables, so Monday, the athletes know that Friday we are seat racing, or Saturday we are seat racing.  They have all week to prepare for it.  And if they don't, then that's a piece of information for me down the road.  That tells me that a particular athlete will not do what is necessary to prepare for a race regardless of what it is, and so that could very well be their seat race - more on this in a bit.

Am I worried that an athlete or boat might throw the race?  No.  I understand some would argue that it's human nature, but I believe the team culture will offset that.  Before starting the racing, I will remind the athletes of the following:

* If you dog a piece, you hurt yourself.

* If you are caught dogging a piece, you will immediately lose your seat in any boat.

* Seat race results, like test results, are simply part of the equation for deciding lineups.  

I cannot recall a single instance where athletes pulled up for someone, or intentionally went slower for someone.  In the end, serious athletes want to do well, and they know if their friend is going to help them with this or not.  

Switches?

Seat racing, in my opinion, is about finding out the answers to questions that you have.  It is not about asking questions.  If you have to ask questions while seat racing, then my question to you is, why are we seat racing when you don't even know what you're looking for?

Finding fast boats is not an answer.  That's the end result.  That's what everyone wants.  We want the fastest boats possible, with the correct lineups.  The right athletes in the right seats.  But showing up one day and seat racing 15 combinations isn't seat racing.  That's you and a spinner board with names, and you just flicking the needle hoping something happens.  

Seat racing is quite simple.  I need to know if this lineups is faster with A or B.  So I'm going to test A and test B.  Same lineup, same rate, same direction.  That tells me if A is faster than B.  Or vice versa.

Seat racing does not work if you race A vs B, then B vs. E, then D vs. A, then C vs. E, then B vs. C, and A vs. E, and then....  That's just a bunch of race results that get you nowhere.  We came out to find out if A is faster than B, and we don't know that because we've added variables by changing the lineups.  The lineup might be A C E B D, but we won't know because we just spun the wheel.  

Know what you're trying to find out, and then move on.

Test, test, test.

There is no point to seat racing if you don't test your results.  That's why I don't do the multiple switches across multiple boats.  I'm trying to find out who moves the boat best, not just that day, but on a sustained pressure day.  

A beats B by 5.21 seconds on race one, then brings the boat that lost by 5.21 seconds within 1.2 seconds.  Ok, so person A is faster than person B.  On the race.  Now let's go test that.  Let's make sure that the margin I am noting is also the margin I am seeing over a sustain piece.  Let's test this in two days on 5x5' at race rate.  I am looking to see that person A sustains winning margins over all pieces.  

If all you do is switch, then the results are simply the winners for that practice, and you've found nothing.  

Consistency.

I was told when I began coaching that if you're going to rig, rig consistently.  If you're off, you're off, but at least you'll be off down the entire boat.  

The same goes for seat racing.  Do not seat race one day side by side, and then change that to a time trial of sorts, and then change that do a 3-miler, low rate.  

What I was told about seat racing was this:  You want the race to simulate race conditions as closely as possible.  So my seat races are run at our race pace - depending on the level and the crew - under race conditions other than starts.  Coxswains call rates and distances and margins.  No powers, steer straight, wait for the coach to call you off the piece.  

Final thoughts?

I don't like seat races.  I believe much of your information can be gathered from test data, and what you see on the water, and day to day.  

I do not allow athletes to stump for seat races.  That builds animosity especially since they will fixate on the person, not realizing that maybe there's someone else they should be racing.

Do not manufacture races or race results.  I go into all testing with a blank slate in my head.  I have ideas about who might do what, but when it comes to these important, winner take all pieces, or evaluations, I try and clear the head.  Eliminate your bias.  

Everything an athlete does at the boathouse and away from the team counts.  Attendance, grades, chemistry on the team, citizenship.  Rowing is this wonderful sport where our championships tend to coincide with finals.  Someone failing class will become more stressed as we draw closer to a championship, and is going to be distracted, a chemistry problem - being grouchy, stressed - and is going to beg off of a practice or out of a practice early.  

Seat race results like test results are not everything.  Ultimately it comes down to whom moves the boat the best, and does it consistently.  Winning one seat race doesn't mean much to me if your boat is always down when you're in it, and up when you're not.  Or if you're on, then off, then on.  

Finally, trust your gut.  Each year I'll tell the athletes that I will be honest, and transparent with them when it comes to seat selection.  And I will be as scientific and consistent in selection as possible.  But there will be times when there's something that I see that I want to look at.  Sometimes person A beats person B, but there's something about the way the boat responds with person B that just makes it fly.  That's not satisfying, that's not something that I want to dwell on, but that is what I call coach instinct.  Experience is telling you to check something.  

Whatever you do to decide lineups, how ever you decide lineups, be consistent, be clear, be transparent, and understand that one way is not always going to be the answer.