Questionnaire for a masters project

dhicks said:

Hi, I was wondering if anyone would like to be involved in helping me out. The more who do the better...

1) Would the level of contact online be sufficient for your motivation?

2) What problems do you envisage?

3) Do you have sufficient Internet access for this to be appropriate?

4) How often do you access the Internet?

5) How often do you train at the moment?

6) On a scale of 1 - 5 (1 = least, 5 = most agree), do you think an online coaching system would work?

7) Any improvements/additions to the system?

Darren

1 - I think that for most riders, the motivation needs to come from the rider. So, with regard to motivation this system should work ok. Might depend on the rider. Some may rely on the coach's criticism (as in wanting to avoid it) to stick to a training plan. Might not be so effective for this type of rider I suppose.

2 - Coach(s) need to be good and price needs to be right!

3 - You wouldn't find me here at CyclyingForums.com if I didn't, I suspect.

4 - Every day

5 - Aim for 5 days per week, but life keeps getting in the way. Sometimes only manage to get in 3. Probably average 4.

6 - I'd say 4. I think it will depend heavily on the price and coaching quality. If the rider doesn't feel the coaching is good he won't long continue to pay any price. If the price is high (yeah, I know: How high??? I don't know.) there'll be a temptation after a time to think "I'll just keep doing what he's told me so far and save some $$$." Soooo, each coach will need to handle a lot of riders to make the economics work out, but that might be ok. Training plans probably won't really vary that much from rider to rider at any given level of develoment. I think you'd probably get a lot of interest from guys like me (serious, but definitely recreational) at maybe $40-50 a month. Much above that, your pool of customers, I think, will contract pretty quickly. Pro and high Category ams already have coaching through their teams.

7 - Make sure you provide a way to interface with various Heart Rate Monitor and Power Meter software. I know Polar's HRM software provides a way to e-mail training data to a coach already. You're site would need a way of handling that data letting the coach comment on it, analyse it, etc.

Good luck and let us know if your project becomes an actual site!!!

jjjtttggg said:

1 - I think that for most riders, the motivation needs to come from the rider. So, with regard to motivation this system should work ok. Might depend on the rider. Some may rely on the coach's criticism (as in wanting to avoid it) to stick to a training plan. Might not be so effective for this type of rider I suppose.

2 - Coach(s) need to be good and price needs to be right!

3 - You wouldn't find me here at CyclyingForums.com if I didn't, I suspect.

4 - Every day

5 - Aim for 5 days per week, but life keeps getting in the way. Sometimes only manage to get in 3. Probably average 4.

6 - I'd say 4. I think it will depend heavily on the price and coaching quality. If the rider doesn't feel the coaching is good he won't long continue to pay any price. If the price is high (yeah, I know: How high??? I don't know.) there'll be a temptation after a time to think "I'll just keep doing what he's told me so far and save some $$$." Soooo, each coach will need to handle a lot of riders to make the economics work out, but that might be ok. Training plans probably won't really vary that much from rider to rider at any given level of develoment. I think you'd probably get a lot of interest from guys like me (serious, but definitely recreational) at maybe $40-50 a month. Much above that, your pool of customers, I think, will contract pretty quickly. Pro and high Category ams already have coaching through their teams.

7 - Make sure you provide a way to interface with various Heart Rate Monitor and Power Meter software. I know Polar's HRM software provides a way to e-mail training data to a coach already. You're site would need a way of handling that data letting the coach comment on it, analyse it, etc.

Good luck and let us know if your project becomes an actual site!!!

Have you seen our Team Coaching package, which is available via this forum? It's a maximum of US$50/mth/rider and reduces down to as little as US$27/mth/rider for teams of 25 riders (paid in full in advance).

An overview is here at the top of the forum, http://www.cyclingforums.com/announcement.php?f=49

And, of course if you have any further queries don't hesitate to contact the RST coaches, myself, Michael, or Andy.

Ric

jjjtttggg said:

1 - I think that for most riders, the motivation needs to come from the rider. So, with regard to motivation this system should work ok. Might depend on the rider. Some may rely on the coach's criticism (as in wanting to avoid it) to stick to a training plan. Might not be so effective for this type of rider I suppose.

2 - Coach(s) need to be good and price needs to be right!

3 - You wouldn't find me here at CyclyingForums.com if I didn't, I suspect.

4 - Every day

5 - Aim for 5 days per week, but life keeps getting in the way. Sometimes only manage to get in 3. Probably average 4.

6 - I'd say 4. I think it will depend heavily on the price and coaching quality. If the rider doesn't feel the coaching is good he won't long continue to pay any price. If the price is high (yeah, I know: How high??? I don't know.) there'll be a temptation after a time to think "I'll just keep doing what he's told me so far and save some $$$." Soooo, each coach will need to handle a lot of riders to make the economics work out, but that might be ok. Training plans probably won't really vary that much from rider to rider at any given level of develoment. I think you'd probably get a lot of interest from guys like me (serious, but definitely recreational) at maybe $40-50 a month. Much above that, your pool of customers, I think, will contract pretty quickly. Pro and high Category ams already have coaching through their teams.

7 - Make sure you provide a way to interface with various Heart Rate Monitor and Power Meter software. I know Polar's HRM software provides a way to e-mail training data to a coach already. You're site would need a way of handling that data letting the coach comment on it, analyse it, etc.

Good luck and let us know if your project becomes an actual site!!!

Cheers for your insight. Hopefully will have a site up and running mid to late September. I'll post on here with actual dates

I am really curious about the project you are working on, on an IT level.

I have worked in IT for 25 years, and wrote my first program in high school in 1974, so I do know the field.

I know it would be difficult to present everything in a single short message... I am just curious if you are planning on doing anything interesting with the data, or is this limited to exchange of information between a coach and an athlete? The two are different objectives, although they could both be met, depending on time and effort available to spend on the project.

On a smart alec angle... You seem to be asking cyclists whether they would use what you have already designed instead of seeking their input at the requirements definition phase... a little backwards. 😉

dhicks said:

Hi, I was wondering if anyone would like to be involved in helping me out. The more who do the better...

I'm studying for a Masters in Information Systems and and currently undertaking my final year project which involves developing an interactive sports coaching website. This essentially allows a coach to post training plans online and cyclists, after carrying out the training leave feedback in the form of a template similar to that provided by British Cycling (see below for an idea of what is included)
[font=&quot]

[/font] [center]WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN FOR RIDER
[/center]
Name:

Week Commencing:

RHR
Weight (kg)
Sleep (scaled 1-3)
Feel good factor (scale 1-5)
Rest time
Time spent in each Training zone

1) Would the level of contact online be sufficient for your motivation?

2) What problems do you envisage?

3) Do you have sufficient Internet access for this to be appropriate?

4) How often do you access the Internet?

5) How often do you train at the moment?

6) On a scale of 1 - 5 (1 = least, 5 = most agree), do you think an online coaching system would work?

7) Any improvements/additions to the system?

If anyone could spare the time to post back some replies, you would be helping me out incredibly and I'd be immensely grateful. My deadline is looming and I have assessors bearing down on me.....

Many thanks

Darren

1) no
2) face to face contact, and the coach really "knowing" me
3) yes
4) everyday
5) broken wrist now, normally 10-15 hours, 20-25 hours back when
6) 1- for me; 3- for newbies and science geeks; 5- for robots
7) Online coaches rarely ever meet their clients or understand their specific styles. Riding/racing a bike is not just about wattage and heart rates, it is first and foremost about the thrills. As a racer, I see more and more people out there now finding coaches via the internet, getting on the "program", and burning out with the numbers. Coaches/trainers ought to be more than just schedule writers. Most riders need a skills/technique coach, a motivator, a tactician (if racing), and especially a mentor.

dgregory57 said:

I am really curious about the project you are working on, on an IT level.

I have worked in IT for 25 years, and wrote my first program in high school in 1974, so I do know the field.

I know it would be difficult to present everything in a single short message... I am just curious if you are planning on doing anything interesting with the data, or is this limited to exchange of information between a coach and an athlete? The two are different objectives, although they could both be met, depending on time and effort available to spend on the project.

On a smart alec angle... You seem to be asking cyclists whether they would use what you have already designed instead of seeking their input at the requirements definition phase... a little backwards. 😉

The project was basically set by an external client who is a coach for British Cycling. To put what I'm doing in a brief summary: development of a database driven website using HTML, PHP & MySQL (seeing as it's all free). The coach submits training prescriptions for each of the riders which are available to be viewed by each rider subsequent to secure log in. Once completed the rider fills out the online feedabck form, stored to the database. This can then be viewed at any time and an archived log is kept. The coach functions as the administrator and on a weekly basis a forum is set up for comms on the weeks training. All very basic, with the only complication being analysis. At user request, data can be pulled from the database to a spreadsheet and TRIMP calculations, performance charts, etc (whatever my client dictates) are executed, displayed graphically on the site so that the user never sees the spreadsheet. this is proving the hard part as itis taking too long and refresh rate is meant to be sub 3 seconds (connection dependant)

That's it in a nutshell

As for the smart alec comment 🙂. I've had no end of problem from the client's current athletes and I've only managed to elicit feedback from 3.... Not really up to reqs... Sooooo, I decided to beef the number up a bit, but instead of lying, finding a way of getting in touch with other cyclists. And where better than a web forum? And in fairness, this system under development is subject to iterative change so it's no bother. Reqs seem to be forever changing and this is justified in the evaluation.

So, fancy completing the q'naire for me?

Cheers

I am a recreational cyclist, not interested in racing, but I am interested in riding for fun, and completing centuries in a reasonable time someday.

I am 48 years old.

The above is provided, just in case it should eliminate me as a target user.

1) Yes (I have considered a blog for the same purpose, something formal could be useful)

2) I see a potential issue with a differing focus than some riders. I don't know if the same fields would be relevant to riders aimed at different goals. This could well be just my lack of knowledge, and not the data elements.

3) Yes

4) Daily

5) Two days / week on the bike and 3 days / week in the gym (minimum on each, except for winter when indoors is only real option for me)

6) 3 - I would find the accountability helpful, but that could be about it.

7) I think the rider should have access to the same information as the coach (for example, I would like to do my own analysis with Excel) Also, I am objective driven, and some ability to see where I should have been at a specific point would be helpful to motivate me to either try harder if I am behind, or keep it up if I am on track or ahead, but I guess the coach could provide this.

Also, nutritions seems to have been left out of the mix, and this is essential to an overall program.

Good luck on your project!

dhicks said:

My problem is that I need some first hand feedback on opinions of online coaching by riders themselves, chiefly the following questions:

1) Would the level of contact online be sufficient for your motivation?

2) What problems do you envisage?

3) Do you have sufficient Internet access for this to be appropriate?

4) How often do you access the Internet?

5) How often do you train at the moment?

6) On a scale of 1 - 5 (1 = least, 5 = most agree), do you think an online coaching system would work?

7) Any improvements/additions to the system?

If anyone could spare the time to post back some replies, you would be helping me out incredibly and I'd be immensely grateful. My deadline is looming and I have assessors bearing down on me.....

Not that I have much interest in the project, but if you're just looking for numbers....

1) Probably not
2) a) without some personal interaction, it would be hard for me to develop any confidence in the expertise of the coach or the training plan b) I would question how well the coach really understands my goals c) if the webpage just spits out the training plan without any reasoning or justification, then I would probably second guess the validity of the plan. etc.
3) yep
4) everyday
5) 5-7 hrs/wk
6) for low level development - 5, for anything higher - 2
7) This would probably work for a beginner who wants to have a training plan written for them, but that is not really 'coaching.' The value of this would be on par with assembling the responses to a post entitled "Newbie - help! - Please write a training plan for me." (no offense to those that have posted something similar on this forum, the validity of the responses is just suspect)

Note that there are similar tools already setup online. Why not look around and see how others have responded to some of the challenges?

Once again, a big thank you for eveyone who has taken the time to help me out. It is much appreciated. Taking into account the comment made about systems like this already up and running, I have been in contact with a few of these, but for some reason they are very reluctant to divulge any information.... maybe they think I'm trying to compete.....

Thanks again