Bad Coach?

lorrod said:

What would you all consider to be a "bad" coach? For instance, what would it take for you to actually fire your coach, if you were using a paid-coaching service? Do you feel there is a difference between your coach just being direct with you and being obnoxious.....and if so, is this enough for a firing? Do you look at 3-month improvement.....or take a much longer look, like 12-month improvement.....before deciding whether or not your coach is worth keeping?

I don't have a coach, but every person is different, and what motivates each person is different. In my opinion a coach, teacher, etc. has to be able to understand the differences in what motivates different people.. i.e. Phil Jackson and the Bulls, Lakers, etc.

Have you tried talking to your coach? If so and still aren't satisfied.. it's probably time to move on. Sometimes two people just don't click....whether it's boss/employee, coach/player.

Good Luck

This is interesting because I was talking to a couple of trainers at the gym this past Friday about bad clients. I have been in the fitness industry for over 20 years and fortunately for me I have mostly been involved with high level competitors. At that level they come to you with deep desire to win so it is an ideal client. If you tell them to do something they will do it. If you give them harsh critism they can take it because they know your goal is to help them to win. On the other hand I have helped a few that were not competitors and I have had the frustations of many trainers trying to motivate the unmotivated.

However, I have also seen the arrogance of a few coaches/trainers in the past as you have described. Sometimes they can be unbearable with their arrogance and their self-proclaimed guru status so I can relate to what you are saying.

My answer to you is purely my opinion and I hope you will keep an open mind about this statement.

You need to examine yourself because you can't change your coach, but you can go on and find another coach. Before you do this ask your self these questions and be very honest with yourself.

Is this coach only trying to motivate me to push harder?

Am I making progress or am I not making progress because of the coach or because of myself?

Do I resist or do I comply with the coaches plan?
Meaning have you followed the coaches plan verbatim?

There are a number of things you can ask yourself, but be careful and examine yourself first. If you have done this and feel like you were honest with yourself than I would say it is time to move on and find a different coach.

The trainers that I spoke with (and this is a common complaint from trainers) is the client resists the plan and when the client sees little to no results the trainer gets all the blame. However, this client will never see result no matter the trainer because they are not willing to following the plan. I am not saying this applies to you because I don't know you, but I am only giving you a common perspective from the coach's point of view.

Just keep an open mind about my observations. I am just giving you different perspectives to help guide you to a more clear answer.

The high level competitors that I have delt with I had to be direct. If I lied to them or try to talk softly and take it easy on them they would lose the competition. I have learned to be honest to clients and sometimes honesty can hurt the ego of a client. I have had my ego hurt a number of times with people being honest with me, but it was for my own good because I was behind schedule in my training time line.

Long winded but I hope this was a productive post for you.

Let me take a slightly different approach. Most of us are amateurs trying to improve within the limits of our abilities, time available, etc., we're not cat1 racers trying for a pro contract - with that in mind, we're doing this for fun, and we should feel positive about the coach. Even if he/she is an excellent coach, if you're doubting the relationship (i.e. it isn't making you happy), I would say get another coach. As my coach keeps reminding me, "this is supposed to be fun" and if it isn't, something is wrong. Once you get past the personal aspect, I would say it takes a season to find out if the coach's advice is working, 3 months is probably too short (and which 3 months? if its before the racing season, you can't judge whether it is working, and if it is already in the racing season, the problem may have been your winter prep work - see the problem?) To me, the fact that you're asking the question is a bad sign...

My coaches always make me feel better about what I am doing not worse, even when they are trying to push me.

If a coach has you doing everything slower than you would during a race it means they are a bad coach because from a physiological point of view you need to be training a lot quicker than race pace so your body can get used to going at speeds

Future-pro said:

If a coach has you doing everything slower than you would during a race it means they are a bad coach because from a physiological point of view you need to be training a lot quicker than race pace so your body can get used to going at speeds

i'm not sure i understand what you've written? It's unlikely you would ever train faster than a -- if we are talking about road racing -- if you tend to train alone. In a group, the dynamics are different, such that air drag is vastly reduced when riding on a wheel and therefore people ride faster. I do the majority of my training alone and am always slower than a road race (apart from brief efforts), yet i don't have a problem keeping up in a road race (or being off the front).

Even though my power output in training can be higher than in a road race or a TT it's a fairly small percentage of my time compared to other training that i do. This is because intensity is inversely proportional to duration (i.e., ride long = lower power, ride short = higher power).

ric

lorrod said:

What would you all consider to be a "bad" coach? For instance, what would it take for you to actually fire your coach, if you were using a paid-coaching service? Do you feel there is a difference between your coach just being direct with you and being obnoxious.....and if so, is this enough for a firing? Do you look at 3-month improvement.....or take a much longer look, like 12-month improvement.....before deciding whether or not your coach is worth keeping?

It may depend on what you mean and how frequently it occurs when talking about obnoxiousness. did it happen just the once? (perhaps s/he had a bad day) or does it happen everytime you speak with the coach?

has there been a change in the way that the coach has spoken with you over time (e.g., have they just started getting "direct" with you, or has it always been this way?). If it is the latter, then presumably you were aware of this when you joined them? If it was the former then you need to approach your coach to ascertain why the change has occured (perhaps the coach is having a personal issue - which, although they should try to keep separate from business maybe spilling over a little, or perhaps you are ignoring everything your coach has said, which maybe frustrating for them - although they should communicate that to you).

whatever the situation it's important to discuss these issues with them and see what they have to say. you can then decide what to do based on that.

as regards improvement, did you and your coach discuss goals (short, medium and long term) are you working towards these, have you met them, how are you assessing your changes in fitness?

finally, it's important that when you take on a coach you have some form of discussion with them (in person, over the phone, via email, etc) to see if you 'gel' with them (and them with you). Just like in any aspect of life not everyone gels with everyone, so no one coach is suitable for everyone (which is why there is three of us at RST as we all have different personalities).

Ric

A bad coach would have some of the following characteristics.

1. Not paying close attention to what you're telling them about how you're feeling after each training session.

2. Not willing to modify the plan depending on your feedback

3. Not paying enough attention to bike fit. It's absolutely critical, especially in preventing injuries.

A good coach should be very inquisitive, always asking questions of you, demanding feedback, and spending the time with you.