Army Crew

The Varsity team continued to lose against the JV team because the eight members of the Varsity team were not able to synchronize their rowing. As explained in the article, one small movement that was not in unison could actually slow the shell down even if all rowers were putting forth their best effort. The article mentioned the research project in which the most experienced and successful coaches felt the most important elements of a victorious crew are mental aspects. Trust seems to be a very important quality that the Varsity team is lacking. All the members expressed that they felt they were carrying the team and that the other rowers were not pulling their weight. The case study points out that to be successful you have to trust each of your team members are doing what they need to do and if they do have a bad stroke, they will know how to correct it. If each member is making adjustments to try and make up for something they think another rower is doing, they are just fighting each other in the water. The behavioral norms were not laid out correctly, there is no group cohesion in the Varsity team, and no clear leader was identified all of which effected how well the team rowed together. In terms of Tuckman’s five-stage model of group development mentioned in the text book the Varsity team never made it out of the “storming” stage. Agreement and consensus was never reached and no clear roles were determined which would have been a sign of the “norming” stage. They changed their slogan many times which indicates that the “performing” stage was never reached.

I think in the beginning of the season there was too much focus on individual performance. Yes it is important to have great physical performers but that is only one variable of the equation. Each rower was competing against his own teammates for a spot on the Varsity team. Instead of transitioning into working together as a team they continued to compete against each other. In the article “Make Your Good Team Great” it covers three steps that can guide the team in the right direction: introduce and socialize, manage emotions, and celebrate success. I think these would have been very useful in this case. For example, Coach P. should have stepped in when he realized the Varsity