Confused about coaches selection

Question
My daughter is very tall and slim, she has a 7:10 2k erg score from last year
and I am sure she will break that easily this year.  Her coach says her
technique isn't perfected and that she doesn't move a boat well, so he puts
her in the lowest boat possible and doesn't give her an opportunity to seat
race.  She is getting very worried he will yank her scholarship because he
thinks she isn't a good rower.  He is new coach and the coach from last year
thought she was a good rower?  How does she deal with this.  Thank you

Answer
Hi Jaynee: This is a tough situation for your daughter.  When I rowed, I experienced a similar situation when my coach moved me over from port to starboard side.  I never got accustomed to the switch, developed bad form, and frankly rowed horribly in a boat that often finished in last place.  I really felt I was in great physical shape (and the coach knew it), but the switch destroyed my confidence and the coach made the comment to my teammates, "Al is uncoachable."

However, the coach did little to help me correct my major flaw, which was leaning out of the boat during the drive phase of my stroke.  After the college rowing season, I rowed for a club in the summer.  I did a lot of sculling, which did wonders for my technique.  When the club coach told me I was going to row starboard for the club 8, I was again dreading the idea.  After the first workout, the coach told me my leaning was horrible.  But he suggested a subtle change that corrected my leaning.  Well, to make a long story short, I rowed for a crew that made it to the finals of the Men's national championship, the Royal Canadian Henley, and beat a crew composed of some members of the Olympic rowing team that summer -- all from starboard side.

Your daughter must have potential if she can pull a 7:10 erg.  That's an excellent time.  But of course, erg performance does not always translate to moving the boat.  Being in a third-tier boat is extra frustrating because most of the rowers have their own problems and will only exaccerbate your daughter's technical issues since the boat doesn't set well or people periodically do things like catch crabs.

Is the coach telling her what her flaws are: shooting the tail? late or early at the catch? bad bladework?  He needs to convey to her what her technical issues are and how to correct.  If he's not, then your daughter probably needs to get a "second opinion."  Maybe she can join another rowing club and get some on-water time with another coach observing her.  Or maybe she can ask her coach from last year to observe her during a hard workout and get some feedback.  If that's not feasible, she needs to have a one-on-one with her current coach and get some idea how she can remedy the coach's concerns. If the coach can't do that for her, he's not a very compentent coach.

I hope it works out for her.

Regards/AP