Running a Tight Practice on the Water and the Erg

How do you structure a rowing practice properly?

Pin down the bones the night before. Boats off the rack at 05:50. Push off 06:00. Twenty minutes of paddle warm-up upriver. Main set across the next thirty-five minutes. Cool-down paddle back. Boats washed, blades stacked, trailer loaded by 07:25. The cox briefing happens on the way down to the dock, not at it. Through the pre-Maadi block at Karapiro the same template runs every morning so athletes know the rhythm without being told.

The Hidden Cost of a Loose Practice

A loose session looks fine in the moment. Stack it across a winter at the boatshed and you end up with crews that have not done a clean cool-down in six weeks, coxswains who improvise every briefing, and a coach who spends the launch ride sorting the lineup that should have been locked the night before.

How Row HQ holds the session together

The session module mirrors the way a Kiwi practice actually unfolds. Coaches set the bones once. Athletes confirm before the lights-out cut-off. Coxswains open their phones on the walk down to the jetty and read the brief. The coach steps onto the launch with the lineup already locked.

The Three Slots in a Kiwi Squad Week

A New Zealand season has a winter-heavy erg block and a summer-heavy water block, with land circuits sitting in between to hold strength through both. Row HQ handles the three side by side so a coach can see the week as one shape rather than three separate plans:

• AM Water Sessions: First-light sessions on the Waikato, the Avon or out at Karapiro with boat allocation, cox-and-crew briefings and launch driver assigned before athletes arrive at the boatshed.
• PM Erg Sessions: After-school RowErg blocks with rower numbers allocated and the prescribed piece written against each athlete. Through a Karapiro winter the erg session carries the aerobic load. See how to get more out of the squad erg data.
• Land and Strength: Circuits and weights blocks scheduled into the same week with floor capacity caps and equipment requirements logged alongside the water and erg work.

Scheduling That Matches the Week

A New Zealand squad timetable is a recurring beast. Roll the same shape forward, edit the exceptions, and stop rebuilding the calendar every Sunday night:

• Set the recurring weekly pattern (AM water Tue-Fri-Sat, PM erg Mon-Wed-Thu, land Fri PM) and let it roll
• Cap each session to the boatshed's actual fleet capacity so eights are not double-booked
• Assign the launch driver, coxswain and assistant coach for every block with one tap
• Lock confirmations by 21:00 the night before so the lineup is final before lights-out
• Filter the view by squad (1st VIII, U17, novices) so each group sees only its own week

How does attendance get marked at the boatshed?

Athletes confirm the night before from their phones. The cox walks down to the jetty with the live attendance sheet open and ticks anyone present as they hand out the cox boxes. The coach sees the final list from the launch before the boats push off. After the session the same tap closes the loop on who actually rowed, so the weekly metres total is right by Friday rather than reconstructed from memory at the end of term.

The Night Before

Athletes log availability through the app or member portal before the 21:00 cut-off. The coach assigns boats, sets cox and stroke for each crew, then publishes the session plan with target rates and the warm-up sequence. Coxswains read it on the walk down the jetty so the brief on the dock is a confirmation rather than a first read. Standard structure for crew planning across a Karapiro build.

On the Water

Boats off the rack at the set time. Warm-up paddle held at the prescribed rate. Main set runs to the clock on the launch. Cool-down timed back from the next squad's push-off so the dock is clear when they arrive. The cox notes any kit issues on the phone in transit back so nothing is lost between the jetty and the boatshed door.

Boats Off, Trailer On

A published wash order keeps the dock moving. Boats washed, blades stacked, riggers checked, trailer loaded for the next regatta if it is a Friday. The session data flows into the admin dashboard so the head coach sees weekly metres, average rate, and which athletes are missing blocks before it becomes a selection-night surprise.

What changes in practice

When a Kiwi programme tightens up the session structure, the wins land in the boatshed before they show up on the results sheet:

The bit of feedback coaches come back with most often is the dock. Boats off on time, brief already read, lineup locked. The launch driver is not still wiring up the radio when the warm-up starts. Read more in our OTRC case study, and try our free erg pace calculator for setting realistic targets through a winter erg block.

Tighter Session, Better Outcome

A session that runs on time produces a usable training record. Run the same shape across a Rowing NZ season and you end up with a clean dataset for selection nights, a calmer boatshed, and a squad that knows what it is doing when it walks through the doors. Give athletes a self-service portal for their own check-in and the coach stops being a switchboard operator.

The blocks compound. A clean warm-up sets up a clean main set. A clean main set sets up a clean cool-down. A clean cool-down sets up the next squad. The boatshed becomes a system rather than a scramble.

Rolling It Out Mid-Season

Switching session management mid-season does not mean breaking the rhythm. The team works alongside you to:

• Build session templates that match the existing AM water / PM erg / weekend pattern
• Import the squad list so cox, stroke and bow seats are pre-populated
• Run a thirty-minute walk-through with the head coach, assistant coaches and senior coxswains
• Sit on the dock for a week of mornings if that is what the boatshed needs to bed it in

Most clubs have the system running across the squad inside a week. Check our pricing plans in NZD, or visit the FAQ for the common questions. You can also get started straight away.