You Be the Judge

BY BILL MANNING

In rowing, unlike in game sports, we coaches contribute nothing during the actual competition. Substitutions, time-outs, play-calling—rowers are not pawns in a game played by opposing coaches. Rowing coaches can’t even shout useful encouragement, since rowers are too far away usually to hear. Once they shove from the dock to race, it’s all up to our athletes. Consequently, it’s up to us to prepare our rowers to make their own decisions on the water. Initiative and judgment must be learned.

By recognizing and creating decision-making opportunities, we help our athletes learn to make their own decisions. These choices may be small and seemingly inconsequential, but they shift the focus from us to the athletes, which results in increased ownership. Rowers become more invested, because when it’s their decision rather than one made by an authority figure, they’re more inclined to take responsibility for the outcome. If you want to see better results on an erg test, let them pick the day and time. Choosing the path rather than merely following instructions increases engagement and motivation. 

The more frequently athletes make decisions, the more comfortable they become taking the initiative. Deprive them of opportunities to decide for themselves and they learn to decide nothing for themselves. The added beauty is that with more decisions made, more experience is acquired, judgment improves, and your athletes make better choices. Problem-solving is a skill that’s developed like any other—with practice.  Rowers learn by doing; in this case, the “doing” is deciding for themselves.

When giving athletes opportunities to make decisions, start small with a situation where there’s no truly bad option. Frame the decision as a choice between two alternatives (“Should we do this or that today?”). As they grow more accustomed to choosing, they’ll be better able to select the optimal course of action when the options are less defined and more numerous  (“What should we do today?”).

An incremental approach builds confidence, self-reliance, autonomy, and critical-thinking skills. All the while, you must show a tolerance for failure. If you intervene constantly, your athletes will never feel empowered, nor will they learn. To prevent major failure, maintain appropriate guardrails so your rowers can’t deviate too far from what you think is best or necessary.

Ideally, you should debrief your athletes after any big decision. “How ready to race were you after doing the warm-up you selected?” The consequences may seem evident, but don’t assume young athletes perceive them. They can learn best from regrettable choices when guided to do so.

Obviously, not all decisions should be left up to athletes.  Often, they can’t see the big picture coaches must see, and even the most mature and experienced rowers often want to be told what to do in stressful situations. When making a decision that impacts your athletes, educate them by explaining why you did what you did.

Explaining the factors and reasons that went into the decision enables your rowers to learn from your experience and not just their own. In the words of TrueSport, an educational website dedicated to changing the culture of youth sports: “Teaching them how to decide is more valuable than teaching them what to decide.” 

One of the best gifts you can give your athletes is teaching them not to need you so much.                                                   Bill manning

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