Coaches - How do you find the right fit?

Myles Splitz

Interested to hear people's opinions on this,

Be it looking at joining a club or going down the one to one coaching avenue I am just wondering what people look for and how they suss out the good coaches from the bad ones?

It seems to be a bit of a minefield looking through different places and talking to some over the last few weeks and months.

Is it what they have achieved as an athlete themselves?

I have been talking to some coaches who have great accomplishments themselves (Ireland singlets, great PB's, Significant race wins) who on further inspection seem to just do what works for them and figure it will work for everyone.

Others I have seen tend to be well read on the "scientific approach" and can counter argue the reasons for anything you do but don't really seem to understand the training beyond the theory of it and can't coherently apply the scientific approach to an overall approach. They know the science but don't truly understand it.

The other side of the coin is the marketing guru's who can sell you anything, these tend to be the ones who use novelty achievements to promote their knowledge and sound like they know what they are talking about on the surface of things. These are becoming increasingly prevalent in my recent searches.

Obviously researching who you approach is important but how can you establish all you need to know about someone in a consultation meeting or one or two practice sessions with a club before joining?

I know looking at the testimonials is one way but often people with consistent training can perform decent results in spite of the training/coaching rather than because of it.

Just wondering if anyone had good idea's as to a sort of checklist that could help weed out time wasters and help find the right fit?
Thanks,

Myles

Dubgal72

Good question. Reputation would be a persuasive factor for me. I know of two coaches: decent athletes themselves with a history of running experience but one over races his athletes and the other over trains them.
One thing that struck me about Eddie Hogan - a coach for Donore from the 50s to the 80s and who coached several Olympians in Donore's heyday - was that he wasn't afraid to use new approaches. So somebody who is open minded. Experience counts but is not a deal breaker. Passion and a deep love for running is.
Above all, for me, it's trust but you don't get that without trying I suppose. I was lucky in that the three coaches I've had in my life have fallen into my path: my dad, Eddie and now Coachy Funny that, just realised the three of them have something in common, DH

eldiva

I've had two coaches in my short running career, both would have a different approach towards training and racing. My first coach has competed at the top level himself so that was an encouraging factor to choosing him. At the time he had two good groups, lads training for middle distance and a marathon group which included some of the top lads. We did sessions together and he also fine tuned sessions for different groups. i found the approach great at the start but my group (middle distance group) dwindled over the years and i was left with lads training for qualification times. i moved to my current coach back in February. He takes the scientific approach with training zones and lactate levels, something which I am more than familiar with due to my degree, so this was a big reason i chose him. He'd also competed at the distances I was training for at a high standard so i knew he could relate to my goals. He never over-complicates training session or his terminology. He always says each session should have a purpose and not just a session for the sake of it.
I suppose what I look for are;
What level has he competed at?
What is their group like? Are individuals of a similar ability that I can train with?
What sort of approach do they take?
How do other athletes feel under the coaches guidance?

There are a lot of chancers or "cowboys" who try to bluff their way with individuals new to the sport and have a very limited knowledge. Then there are some who talk a very scientific approach like you mentioned but don't have a true understanding or grasp of it which can become lost in translation.

demfad

The choice of coach may depend as much on the athlete themselves as on the coach. Just to give a few examples.

-A brand new person who may have just an initial health and fitness goal may do fine with the commercial package. In fact the all round nature of the exercises might be a good fit as they may be weak in many areas. Fit for life etc can do a better job but IMO are not as visible and accessable. The important thing for people at this stage is getting started and keeping going and I think the commercial groups do a reasonable job here (as it is in their interest to).

-You may have a runner with reasonable fitness who wants to improve. He/she should look for a club with a good group of runners who occupy the level and next level or two up from where the runner is currently at.
The motivation comes from trying to improve compared to the runners around you. The coach would not need to be a world beater to take him up to the next level, just reasonable and able to churn out consistant good results and keep good big groups at the club. The training may not be individually ideal for the runner, but mileage and commitment should improve to the level of his/her new peers, and the runner will gain a lot of knowledge from them too. A good few clubs should fit that bill so the runner should be able to chose somewhere geographically convenient.

-Now you may have a runner who has a lot more experience and commits greatly to his/her sport. They need a very good coach to move them on.
The level of detective work needed to find such a coach increases a lot now. The more information you can get your hands on the better the detective work will be.
Testimonials from people with the coach help. And from people who have left the coach (Why?) Whats the word in the (smallish) running community?Nowadays schedules are often emailed out. Can you get your hands on these to see a progression over several weeks?
Do the elite runners at his/her club train with him/her or with another coach? Find the runners who have run with other coaches. Improvements?
Does the coach train masters (experienced). What do they say?
Has the coach been an elite performer at your event? This can be good because they have gone through the full spectrum of relevant experience, or bad if there is no individualisation.
Sometimes a coach who has not been elite can be a good sign as their reputation has come from coaching ability alone.

As regards coaching versus sports science I agree with the idea that coaching has led and sports science has been useful in explaining why the coaching has worked from a physiological viewpoint and can be used therefore to refine it. That said a coach who has taken the time to learn the sports science, nutrition etc. can only have added to his knowledge by shining more light on it and that again is a good sign.