You are so right.

Bob Kipputh, the famous swim coach of Yale University was not a competitive swimmer.

The present basketball coach of the of the NBA team The Nets was never a competitive basketball player.

I see newbie triathlon coaches all the time many are still full time competitors.

On our first trip to Curacao, John Howard, a great biker and Ironman winner, was our bike coach. He kept dropping the participants. I asked him why. He said that it would increase their desire to become stronger. I told them that they were getting pissed off and wanted instruction not humiliation. It does not matter how good an athlete you are, unless you can communicate and assist your athletes to become more fit and faster you are useless.

DougStern

There are many more like them

When you hire somebody to coach you, do you want somebody to help you get to the next level or do you want a friend?

Me? I want both. When I was in USAF pilot training, I always shut down with the screaming IPs. I responded better to calm instructors. Some prefer the screamers.

And Doug, I lived your point. When I started biking 3 years ago, I'd ride with completely competitive family members and hammer to keep up. No fun--and we're talking riding 15 miles here. I think it needs to be fun before it gets hard. As a newbie on the bike, it took me a long time to equate a bike ride with fun.

And RA, I agree. Martyg is a great coach. And I consider him a friend. So there you have it; it is a good combo to my way of thinking.

By the way I phrased it, it seems that it is mutually exclusive to have either a friend or a good coach. It is not, what I meant is that there's a lot of people that hire the "nice guy", and let that be the deciding factor.

Paulo,

I didn't even know I was quoting you (cut and paste thing)

I've already acknowledged the results you get with your athletes. I'm sure you'd get good results coaching me. And I'm sure you'd be smart enough to know that screaming wouldn't work with me. We'd be friends.

You're a savy guy. Hell, I'm flattered you've responded to a couple of my posts on this thread.

Good luck to you and your friends in Hawaii!