I am in the market for my first coach in nearly a decade, and I am finding that I honestly don’t think I ever had a coach that i really clicked with. For all of you coached athletes, what is it about your coach that makes them work for you?
Is it their coaching style, is it communication and their understanding of your abilities? Is it the theories behind their training? Is it just how well you get along with the coach?
What should I be asking about?
I am in the market for my first coach in nearly a decade, and I am finding that I honestly don’t think I ever had a coach that i really clicked with. For all of you coached athletes, what is it about your coach that makes them work for you?
Is it their coaching style, is it communication and their understanding of your abilities? Is it the theories behind their training? Is it just how well you get along with the coach?
What should I be asking about?
A list of references that you can call?
From a coaching prospective, I would suggest you be up front with how much communication you want from coach. There are coaches out there that limit to 1 call/email/text a week, and make you pay for more. There are some coaches (like myself), that don’t limit communication. There are coaches that do workouts with athletes (assuming local), for instance I provide for all my local athletes 2 chances to do a coached swim/group ride each week. It’s really what you want out of it and then see if the coache works for you. Be weary of a coach that doesn’t want to talk philosophy or atleast what kind of plan they like to work under. Enjoy the search, hope you find what your looking for.
I am in the market for my first coach in nearly a decade, and I am finding that I honestly don’t think I ever had a coach that i really clicked with. For all of you coached athletes, what is it about your coach that makes them work for you?
Is it their coaching style, is it communication and their understanding of your abilities? Is it the theories behind their training? Is it just how well you get along with the coach?
What should I be asking about?
Make sure you get a FREE trucker hat in the deal.
Why are you looking for a coach? If you’ve been training for a decade and are just now seeking that external input to your growth as an athlete, there’s obviously some specific things that pushed you toward this path. Make a list of those things and make sure the potential coaches are aware of them and are able to fill them.
I’ve interviewed probably 8-10 coaches and almost always could get an idea pretty quickly if it was a good fit. Personally, I needed a well educated coach who could think critically and communciate the ‘why’ for what he wanted me to do. There’s a surprising number who couldn’t do that. I also ask about their theories to training, fueling, balance, etc., for which they need to have clear and specific answers for.
If a coach is more concerned about the limitations of communication and just providing a workout plan, then I know they won’t work. I’m hiring a coach to be partner and to be vested in my results.