You are all good at some things, and suck at others.

Well, I suck at writing. I guess for some this makes be a terrible cheating person. :)

Still waiting for the attacks from the Tax folks. :)

I have some snake oil to sell also.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I agree.

The question originally posed seems to have gotten lost in the discussion. The question is not, "is a coach a waste of money" but rather referring to the value of an online coaching relationship.

Many athletes who are coached virtually have never met or talked to their coach live.

I stopped coaching online because I prefer to see my clients face-to-face. I train a lot of newer triathletes, and there are lots of things they need to work on that can't be done easily in an email.

Also, the personal touch is great for motivation, compliance, and understanding the psychology behind the athlete you're coaching. Tri coaching isn't all X's and O's, there's a tremendous human element to getting the best performances from your folks.

And working with small groups and offering shorter 1:1 visits makes it much more cost-effective for my clients.

Works pretty well for me as I have the 2nd best tri program in the US for my health club company -- out of 120 clubs. And I am the only coach at my club vs. about 3-4 for #1.

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"Whether you believe you can or you can't, you are right."

I agree as well, and you are correct, the original question has been lost in the discussion.

I fail to see how anyone can be adequately coached in our sport unless they are in a coached and controlled swim program. That has to be done in person with a coach watching you, there is simply no other way to do it correctly.

Running is not really skills based, so you could send someone a workout and get back metrics and make a call as to what to do next.

Biking is the same way, and if the client has a power meter, it is even better.

Swimming has to be done in person. It is mostly skill based. Most of the gain a beginner or intermediate gets from swim training is technique improvement. You can't coach that virtually. Even with a GoPro and a weekly video upload I don't see how it could work (well). You need a real time "Gibb's head slap" to get better.

Personally I would enroll in Master's Swim (which is what I do) and then simply follow on line plans for everything else, and truthfully, I don't even follow the plans much anymore. A power meter and a good book (by a Slowtwitch poster) makes it even easier to do it yourself.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

I put some thought into this a few weeks ago, for races since 2009, I think looking at one's usat ranking at a given race from year to year is a pretty good tool to see if you did better one year vs another. It includes adjustments for who shows up and weather and so forth. It's the best way I think, not a perfect way.