With all the armchair coaches out there, who here is confident that they could take over a WC’s training and keep them on top and defend their title?
For me, I would say yes. I feel comfortable in the sport of triathlon that I could train the best. Now in swimming or cycling, I would say no. I still have some to learn. Running, yes, but I might make a few mistakes.
How about if a WC came to you and asked you to coach them, they WANTED you to coach them, would that change your answer if you said no? Do you feel that you could take over and train them well?
…ask Donald Fink this question. If I am not mistaken, he had 3xWorld Champion Spencer Smith come to him and ask him to be his coach. Spencer’s dad used to be his coach at one point and they had great success, so you don’t have to be fast to the the coach of a fast guy
I’m too eccentric and lacking in prestige to demand any respect from a current WC. So, under your criteria, I doubt it could be pulled off with me as a coach. My chances of coaching a close friend, who is not a current or former WC, towards winning a world championship are probably much better.
Training a WC is not about knowledge, it’s more about track record.
No elite athlete will think of someone “Hmmm, he really knows his stuff, he can coach me”, what they’ll think is “hmmm, he’s been successful with a lot of athletes, so he might be able to help me”.
When it comes to coaching, you can know all the stuff you want, if you don’t have RESULTS, you’re nobody.
Ok kids, I got a better response here than I did on letsrun. Bunch of pussys there.
SAC- is that a yes? If Peter Reid or Natasha Badmann came to you for coaching, would you feel comfortabe keeping them on top? What if they came to you and wanted to train for and win Lifetimefitness? Could you take them there?
THat goes for all of you. Would you say no and tell them to find another coach? Take the challenge even if you were not 100% sure you could do it? Sure, no problem, bring em on?
and I mean TOTAL control of the training. They only do what you tell them to do.
It depends on the athlete really… I would have to talk to the athlete and see if it would work. If after talking a lot I felt I couldn’t do a good job, then I would be the first one to say that it wouldn’t work. I don’t need to have a big athlete in my resume if that relationship wasn’t successful.
From your examples, I can see they wouldn’t work. Peter Reid is an athlete that obviously has things worked out, especially after his remarkable comeback. I would be the one learning from him, and I wouldn’t mind that. But then I wouldn’t be his coach, would I? As for Natasha, you think her husband would suddenly be left out of the picture? I don’t think so Of course sometimes I’ll read about this or that athlete and say “I think I could help him/her”. But from that until actually helping him/her goes a long, long way.
i’s ironic this came up today. this is all my 2 cents but i ws hanging out at St. A’s this weekend and roomed with a friend of mine who is a 2 time olympic triathlete and former world number 2-3 ranked ITU tri head. we’re only friends (I DON’T COACH HIM) and i know his coaches or know of them. i was thinking if i could coach him or any of his fellow athletes. the answer: to an extent, yes, BUT most Of the top guys don’t just have one coach but more of a team with a swim specialist and run specialist helping them out. they also have top physio’s, sports psychologists, masseurs and others who when put together get the whole package done. one person may write the schedule but others give input as well. also i believe to coach a top athelte really well the coach has to be hands on a lot of the time and work with few atheltes as the top athletes training schedules require a lot of time, focus and flexibility. i’ve learned a lot about what it takes to be top athletes as he lived with me for four months once as well as i know his past coach. i could go on forever, it’s a lot of time and energy into these guys and girls.
and I mean TOTAL control of the training. They only do what you tell them to do.
OK, then that is different, now we are talking about a robot. I would feel totally comfortable with taking on a “robotic” WC, as they would have no problems doing what I said as far as adopting a lifestyle. They’d just be an automaton reacting to the stresses I suggested they apply to themself.
My beliefs concerning energy’s patterns of manifestation and cyclic nature give me an edge on the next coach, in my opinion, but again, communicating that can be problematic to another human who has been indoctrinated into other schools of thought their whole life. The ideas that pass through me generally come off sounding too “fantastic”, as Slowman once referred to it, for most people to accept them.
Again, do you have an agenda for asking this, or are you just curious?
and I mean TOTAL control of the training. They only do what you tell them to do.
OK, then that is different, now we are talking about a robot. I would feel totally comfortable with taking on a “robotic” WC, as they would have no problems doing what I said as far as adopting a lifestyle. They’d just be an automaton reacting to the stresses I suggested they apply to themself.
My beliefs concerning energy’s patterns of manifestation and cyclic nature give me an edge on the next coach, in my opinion, but again, communicating that can be problematic to another human who has been indoctrinated into other schools of thought their whole life. The ideas that pass through me generally come off sounding too “fantastic”, as Slowman once referred to it, for most people to accept them.
Again, do you have an agenda for asking this, or are you just curious?
