Keeping Your Rowing Fast When The Economy Slows
November 11, 2008 by Mike
Filed under Rigging Concepts, Think Different
Downturn . . . Buyouts . . . Recession. Turn on the news and daily we are told in some manner or form that money is going to be tight—really tight. And whether you row by yourself in a single or on a team with 50 other people, rowing is the type of sport where money makes a difference.
I’ve written a two-part post about the mindset you might want to have as our economy struggles (Part 1 & Part 2). A few followup emails asked about specifics things that could be done—steps taken to keep a rower fast as the economy slows. Following are a few suggestions, and links to posts, you can do (and read) that just might help you keep things fast in a tough money time.
Suggestion #1: Know what you have
Knowing what you have is so much more important than knowing what you want. Have and want . . . two critical words when money is tight. Why? Because knowing what you have can make a big difference on getting what you want.
Last month I needed two coxbox microphones to replace two that had just broken at practice. We didn’t have any so I bought them from NK. I needed them in a hurry so I paid for the zip shipping. Just last week I found exactly what I needed—two microphones—in a drawer in the boathouse. I spent money for shipping and my time to get something I needed, when I already had them.
This happens all the time. Have you done an inventory of what you have? Do you know what is kicking around in your boathouse? If you do, you just might save some money, some time, and be just a little bit faster.
Suggestion #2: Store things gently
Straightforward, I see so many programs with some great stuff that just don’t store it properly. They pay the price. Broken oars, lost seats, damaged riggers. Happens all of the time.
Now that the seasons are changing here in the northern hemisphere (half of our readers are in the southern hemisphere!) storage should be in the forefront of your thoughts about your equipment.
Storage is where most damage occurs. Bad storage means lost money and time. That means being slower.
Suggestion #3: Plan your needs, maybe creatively
When money is tight, planning where every dollar, dime and cent goes is critical. Planning is not easy but sure is necessary if you want to keep things going. Here are a two posts that might help you with your planning:
Sit down with pencil or paper, or with a whiteboard, and begin the planning process. One book that might be helpful to be creative in your planning (and one I reread all the time) is The Back of the Napkin
Suggestion #4: Keep what you have going strong
My family prides ourselves in keeping our cars going as long as possible. A car with 200,000 miles is just getting broken in. I feel the same about rowing equipment.
There are things you can do to extend a piece of equipment’s life. From training the athletes to be responsible, to keeping things clean and repaired, a long life should be expected.
You may also want to think about refurbishing a boat, instead of buying a new one. We have done this numerous times with great success. An eight-year old boat that has been refurbished can look, feel, and row like new. If you are interested in this, I suggest contacting Klinger Engineering. They have done wonderful work for us.
Suggestion #5: Prepare for the worse, hope for the best
I don’t know much about economics, but I have an inkling that this economy will be giving us fits for a while. So my mantra these days is hope for the best, but plan for the worse.
For our Spring training trip our original plans have been greatly altered and we have numerous options in place so if things continue in a bad direction we can shift our plans. We hope for Option A, but certainly have Option B, C, D and E on paper, and ready to go.
Hopefully things will get better, but you can take steps now to keep staying fast. If you have suggestions on what you are doing, or considering, please let us know.
