Self-Taught vs. Coach-Taught Athletes

I am the best expert when it comes to my rowing, or am I?

Why do some rowers have the mindset that they’re their own best expert?

And ultimately, what’s the difference between being self-taught vs. coach-taught when it comes to learning the finer art of indoor rowing?

As we all know there is a wealth of information out there. Places like YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest… with all the information readily available, a little experimentation can often lead to any athlete being able to grab a DIY indoor rowing workout plan and get started. But for any rower to truly maximize their potential, outside help can be an invaluable resource.

How can the help of a rowing coach change the way a self taught rower approaches the sport?

Rowing form and technique generally requires outside input — a rowing-specific coach can help with this. The other main factor is efficiency. The more efficient a rower, the faster the rower for the same effort.

A coach can also offer different training approaches that can help increase fitness. Having an outside eye looking at your form is important for efficiency as well as injury prevention. A coach or outside advice can also help an athlete to avoid overtraining or help optimize training to see the best results.

Besides improving forms and efficiency, what other intangibles does a rowing coach provide?

There are some rowers who like the accountability that a coach can bring. A coach will be looking at the workout, so the athlete will try to execute even better.

Last year I went through some really hard professional trials that came with some very high emotional stress. Stress will always affect training. A coach is also a great sounding board when little complaints come up. There are plenty of times where an athlete doesn’t know if it’s something that’s okay to push through, or when it’s time to hold back. More often than not, rowers will err on the side of doing too much instead of pausing for rest. One of the most important roles of a coach is to rein an athlete in and prevent them from internal imploding.

Would you say self taught rowers are missing an important component in their training?

There are a few rowers out there without coaches who are still very successful, but even they have sought advice and gained wisdom from many others.

An outside perspective is vital in challenging what you think is best, and helps you know why you are doing what you are doing. I would challenge any self-taught rowers to try a coach or mentor and see how much they will improve!

Is the self taught approach okay for a casual rower just trying to stay in shape?

Even a casual rower can benefit from outside help. At Dark Horse our rowing plans are built not only to help athletes improve their rowing but to also join a community and to meet others and hear advice from those who are more experienced.

The advice could range from just how to stay healthy to how to achieve your next goal. Engaging with others will help the casual rower to continue with their healthy habits as well.

Want to see what this looks like? Come join The Crew (our all-access athlete programming with daily Drill WOD) and experience it first hand!

How to shift to being more open to outside perspectives?

Something we talk about A LOT at Dark Horse is the idea of “a growth mindset”. When we realize that others have missing pieces to the success puzzle, and it doesn’t all rest with us, we then seek out that needed growth. The main reason a learning from as many sources as possible, is so invaluable is the why. When you know the why behind your training it’ll be more efficient and effective at achieving the desired result.

In answer to the original question then, do you know yourself better than any coach? In some ways yes, but as you know from us by know we always look to challenge the norm and push others around us to be the best possible version of themselves. That’s what makes us Dark Horse and that’s the power of the why when it comes to being part of this amazing community of athletes and coaches that spread the word of Dark Horse on a daily basis.

Yours in training, education and knowing the why.
Coach John

Photo by OC Gonzalez on Unsplash