Coxing is rather a lot like driving a car with a 2010s-era voice assistant in which each wheel has a mind of its own. However, the pains endemic to such an arrangement can be eased by the use of clear, consistent terminology to communicate between the cox and rowers. This aims to be a guide to such terminology — so-called calls — to act as a reference for both budding coxes and rowers.
Call shorthand syntax
To write these calls out in a concise manner, I’ve used a little bit of shorthand:
- Parts of a command in parentheses () are commonly omitted
- Where a command specifies changeable information, I’ve used double braces {{}} to indicate this. Common ones are:
- {{seat}} to indicate a (set of) seat(s) the command should be applied to (i.e a subset of stroke, seven, six, five, four, three, two, bow)
- {{number}} to indicate a number (e.g. the number of strokes someone should take)
Stopping
These are probably the most common calls out there (predominantly as there are many different ways you may wish to start, but you’ll pretty much always stop with “easy there”). As such, and also because they’re to do with stopping (i.e. not hitting something), they’re probably the most important of the lot.
| Call | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | Stop doing what you’re doing, generally in the context of a non-standard command (such as taking the run off with stroke or seven to make it round a tight corner), especially if you don’t want the rest of the crew to stop rowing | ”seven easy” |
| Easy there | Finish the stroke you’re currently doing and then come to arms away with your blade off the water | |
| Drop | Said following easy there: drop your blade onto the water | |
| Lower | Same as above; used where the coach or cox wants the rowers to lower their blades in a controlled manner rather than slapping them down | |
| Take the run (off) | Turn your blade 45° (or, if you know what you’re doing, partially bury it while feathered) in order to bring the boat to a stop without the discomfort of holding it up at speed | |
| Hold it (up) | Stop whatever you’re doing and put your blade square into the water to bring the boat to a stop (or keep it stopped) | |
| Hold it hard | Same as above, but with greater urgency; blades should be jammed in hard and kept there until told otherwise |
Starting
A call to start the crew rowing is probably the most complex call out there, mostly because you need to specify all of the details tabulated below. They all have a default meaning that will be adopted if you don’t specify.
| Stroke detail | Default |
|---|---|
| Who should row | all eight, but this should ideally never be excluded |
| Stroke length | full slide |
| Blade feathering | with feathering |
I tend to start a call to start rowing with “rowing off”, so an example call might be
rowing off, all eight, full slide, square blades, ready… go
Adjusting
These calls are for adjusting which way the boat is pointing, and will mostly be done with bow pair (when rowing on) and stern pair (when backing down). The distinction between a tap and a stroke is not observed by all clubs/rowers, but it’s best practice to observe it so you don’t get caught out.
| Call | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| {{seat}} take a tap | {{seat}} should take an arms-only stroke | ”bow take a tap” |
| {{seat}} tap on | {{seat}} should row on arms-only until told otherwise | ”two tap on” |
| {{seat}} take a stroke | {{seat}} should take a full-slide stroke; can additionally specify a different length | ”bow and three take a stroke” |
| {{seat}} row on | {{seat}} should take full-slide strokes continuously until told to stop | ”two row on” |
| {{seat}} back me down {{number}} | {{seat}} should take {{number}} backing down strokes; can additionally specify the length of the strokes. {{number}} can be “continuous” for a call analogous to “row on" | "stroke back me down one arms only” |
If you’re stopped, you can additionally use commands such as “stroke square up” in conjunction with the stream to control the direction the boat is facing. As an example, if you’re pointed upstream and get stroke to square up, that extra material in the water will cause the stream to rotate you away from strokeside (i.e. to the right).
Changing
Spinning
These calls outline the way that most coxes will turn their crews. It notably does not include any calls for tap turns. This is primarily because I have never coxed a tap turn, and so do not know what the precise calls would be.
| Call | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (Standard) alternating spin, starting {{side}} | Start an alternating spin wherein strokeside and bowside alternately back it down and row on, respectively | ”alternating spin, starting with strokeside, ready, go” |
| {{number}} from {{side}} | During an alternating spin, used to adjust your position on the river by adding more strokes from a given side (e.g. two bowside rowing on strokes will pull you further across the river) | “two from bowside” |
| Racing spin, starting {{side}} | Start an alternating spin wherein strokeside and bowside alternately row on and back it down, respectively. The opposite of a standard spin, it is used during regattas under race circulation (particularly Torpids and Summer VIIIs). When using this, it’s often good to explicitly state which type of stroke at least one side will be using, as it’s the opposite to what they’re used to | ”racing spin, starting with strokeside rowing on” |
| To me… to you | This is a particularly good call to use with novices, as it emphasises how everyone in the crew should move together. “to me” replaces “strokeside” and “to you” replaces “bowside” if calling out each movement, which can also be a useful exercise with novices |
Getting the boat out / taking the boat in
When taking boats out and taking boats in, it is often convenient or necessary to adjust the height at which the boat is being held to avoid any obstacles that may be present. It may also be necessary to have different sides at different heights, especially in narrow bays.
| Call | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Waists on 2… 1… 2 | The whole crew should, on the second “2”, position the boat such that they are holding the saxboard at their waists with arms straight | |
| Shoulders on 2… 1… 2 | The whole crew should, on the second “2”, position the boat such that the saxboard is on their shoulders. This has the additional complexity that each crew member should be opposite their rigger | |
| Heads on 2… 1… 2 | The whole crew should, on the second “2”, position the boat such that it is above their heads with arms locked out, holding the saxboard (or metal rods across the shell, if they are present) | |
| Rolling in on 2… 1… 2 | The whole crew should, on the second “2”, roll the boat down from heads into the water, taking care to push the shell out so it doesn’t hit the raft | |
| Clear! | Used to indicate that the boat has fully left the bay and so the crew can rotate the boat freely without worrying about hitting it on bay entrance |
Note that most of these calls can be prefixed with “lifting to” when the boat is being lifted up to begin with. As an example, when taking the boat out, you will often use “lifting to heads on 2… 1… 2”. Some clubs instead lift to waists and then roll to heads on 3 where their crews are not strong enough to swing to heads in one movement.
Additionally, after the boat has been returned to its rack, it should be wiped down. As the blades also need to be collected, I tend to pick a random pair and get them to get the blades, and the rest of the crew grab cloths to wipe the shell (or the hose and soap if the boat’s getting a deep clean).
Launching
Launching is probably among the easiest things to do. The only thing to be aware of is the position of other crews on the water when pushing off, as you don’t want to push off directly into another crew or directly into another crew’s way.
| Call | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Numbering off from bow when ready | Instruct each member of the crew to call out their number when they are ready and have heard the seat behind them call theirs. The idea is that if the cox hears stroke say “stroke”, they know that the rest of the crew is ready as well. | |
| Cox and lifejacket | To be called after stroke has confirmed they’re ready when numbering off. Acts as a mental reminder for both you and the rest of the crew to check you have a lifejacket on | |
| Pushing off on 2… 1… 2 | When you say “2” a second time, the whole crew should push away from the raft, and then the side whose blades were on the raft should use them to push off the edge | |
| Numbering off from stroke when ready | The same as its “from bow” relative, but used when coxing a bowloader. |