A boat is one body or it’s eight people fighting each other. Call-and-response builds rhythm.

Equipment needed: A boat with a coxswain seat, or an erg group with one designated caller.

Setup: Coxswain in the stern. Rowers ready.

How to run it:

  1. Coxswain calls “ready, row” to start.
  2. Every five strokes, coxswain calls “catch!” on the catch of the next stroke.
  3. Rowers respond with one syllable on that catch — “yes” or “go.”
  4. Build to 10 strokes between calls. The boat finds its rhythm.

What to look for: Everyone catches at the same moment when the call lands. If a rower is early or late, they hear the gap in the response.

Variation: Add a power-ten call — “power ten in two, that’s one… two…” then the boat hits ten harder strokes together.