Coach Tools and Lineup Software
Build lineups visually. Drag athletes into seats. Save your V8+, 2V8+, and 4+ combinations. Stop juggling spreadsheets on the dock.
What do the Row HQ coach tools do?
The coach tools combine practice availability, lineup builder, attendance, and 2k erg scores in one place. A coach checks who is confirmed for the next practice, builds the V8+ or 2V8+ against current ergometer data and seat-racing history, publishes the lineup to the squad, and the system pushes notifications to athletes and parents - no chasing replies through GroupMe, Remind, and team email threads.
Tools That Make Coaching Easier
Spend less time on admin and more time on the water with your athletes. Convert a 2k split with our free erg pace calculator, check what a coxswain does, or see how the platform handles a real program in production.
Visual Lineup Builder
Drag athletes into shell positions - bow, stroke, and every seat shown visually for V8+, 2V8+, and 4+.
Saved Lineups
Save varsity, JV, and novice combinations that work and recall them next practice or for HOCR entries.
Athlete Profiles
Side preference, experience level, 2k erg score, and attendance record from the athlete portal visible during selection.
Instant Notifications
Athletes get notified through the athlete portal as soon as you publish the lineup - no more "what shell am I in?" before launch.
Safety Access
Emergency contacts, parent phone numbers, and medical notes accessible from the dock when you need them.
Build Lineups in Seconds
The visual lineup builder shows you exactly who's available and lets you drag athletes into seats. It's designed for the way coaches actually think about boats - varsity 8, JV 8, novice 8, and small boats. Works for both daily practices and race-day regatta entries like HOCR and IRA seat racing.
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Color-Coded Availability
Green = confirmed, amber = tentative, grayed = unavailable
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Side Preference Indicators
See who pulls port, starboard, or sculls at a glance
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Quick Swap
Swap athletes between seats with a single action - perfect for seat racing
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Erg Score Integration
Latest 2k ergometer scores visible per athlete to inform selection
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Shell Compatibility
System shows which shells match your lineup size, linked to the boat reservation system
Example: Varsity Coxed Four
Cox
Sarah Thompson
Stroke
James Mitchell
Seat 3
Emma Wilson
Seat 2
David Chen
Bow
Lisa Roberts
What Coaches Say
Saved per week on lineup planning
Reduction in last-minute lineup changes
Selection history preserved for the season
"I used to spend Sunday evenings piecing together lineups for the week. Now I can set up a whole week of practices in 15 minutes - and seat-race results sync straight back into the next selection."
Related reading
- Lineup selection tips for head coaches
- Running practices that don't leak hours
- Making sense of 2k ergometer metrics
- What is an ergometer? Erg explained
- What is catching a crab and how to drill it out
- Free 2k erg pace calculator
Questions? Check the FAQ, read what other programs say, or view pricing. We follow CCPA and standard US privacy expectations for athlete and parent data.
Rowing coach software FAQs
How coaches use Row HQ for lineup selection, varsity tracking, and practice planning.
Rowing coach software replaces the spreadsheet-and-GroupMe combo most programs still use to pick lineups. The Row HQ coach toolkit gives a head coach four things in one place: live attendance from the latest practices, a drag-and-drop lineup builder for putting shells together, a one-click way to push the lineup out as a notification, and a saved history of every lineup so the coach can see what worked over time. The result is less time chasing who is available and more time on the water with the squad.
The lineup builder shows the V8+ (or 2V8+, or 4+) as a visual shell outline with seats, plus a side panel listing every athlete who said they are available for the practice. The coach drags a name into a seat, drops it where they want it, and the system handles the rest - notifying the athlete, blocking conflicts (the same athlete in two shells), and reserving the matching shell in the boathouse system. Reorganizing a stroke seat after seeing the warm-up is two taps. There is no spreadsheet rebuild and no message-the-coxswain cycle.
Yes. Every lineup you build is saved with a label, a date, and a practice reference. Coaches build template lineups ("Saturday V8+", "Sunday novice 4+") and reuse them as the starting point for the next outing, tweaking only the seats that need changing. The full history shows which lineup raced where, which won, and which got rerigged after a poor outing - useful at end-of-season for AD reviews and the program's annual report. Old lineups can be cloned to start a new one with the same backbone, saving the coach an extra five minutes per practice.
Yes. As soon as the coach saves a lineup, every assigned athlete gets a notification telling them which seat they are in, which shell, what time the practice starts, and where to meet. The coxswain gets the same notification plus a link to the full lineup sheet. Athletes who were not assigned do not get a notification at all (avoiding the sting of a "no, not you" message). Coaches can preview the notification before publishing, so a half-built lineup does not get sent out by accident.
Yes - this is the main reason coaches stop using spreadsheets. The lineup builder reads the attendance data from the last few practices automatically, so when the coach opens it on Friday they already see who has been training, how often, and what type (water vs erg). Athletes who have not shown up for two weeks stand out immediately. Erg scores from practice results are pulled in too, so the coach can sort by 2k time when picking lineups for HOCR or IRA. No more cross-referencing the GroupMe poll against the PR spreadsheet.
Try the lineup builder
Less time on admin, more time coaching your program