Community Discussions
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How long did it take before you caught a submission on your coach the first time?
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So just a fun question for everyone - how many years of training did it take before you got a legit tap from your coach?
I just got my first after 5 years of training. Admittedly he was trying something stupid and I pounced on his error, but it was a legit tap! Still no chance I could catch him if he was being serious, but I still feel good that I was able to take advantage of his mistake for the first time.
Anyone else?
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How long did it take before you caught a submission on your coach the first time?
You've caught your coach?
I haven't
How did your team find your coach?
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I think there are more teams wanting coaches than there are available coaches. Is that your perception too? And with that in mind, how are teams who want coaches finding them?
Does your team settle for whoever wants to coach? Has your team ever done a more active search?
And I'm curious, would some sort of directory of coaches be a helpful thing to have?
My current team found me via a random Twitter post, but I'm an odd case who wasn't local. How did your team find your coach?
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Tangential but a lot more teams would have coaches if they paid them a reasonable amount of money for the time it takes.
The Most Influential thing Your Coach Taught You
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I feel like fencing can teach you a lot about yourself, others, and the world, and coaches can have a big part in that.
So I was curious to know what is something your coach told you or taught you that had a big impact on who you are today?
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When I choked during an important Olympic qualification event I thought my coach was going to yell at me or being really disappointed. Instead he comforted me and said “there is so much more to you then being a fencer. Fencing is something you do, not who you are.” And I honestly think about that a lot as I transition out of being a fencer and into other things. I take it as a reminder that I have inherent value and things about myself that make me worthy that aren’t tied to “winning” or external success.
Is it me or my coach?
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I am a former PT and I have been with my coach for 4 years. In my capital city in Australia my coach is the most renowned and educated coach and nutritionist in the industry (masters, PhDs) so everyone who is serious about competing or lifestyle training is part of his business.
He doesn't do one on one training for his clients but his employees do. Previously I have seen him for skin folds etc but not a session. I also train at his gym about once a week but I have a main gym closer to home for the other 4 days.
My coach told me recently we will not be doing bulk/cut cycles anymore but a body recomp. Fine, I like the extra calories. But he expects 60 mins of cardio at 140bpm everyday. The first 2 months were manageable but I'm starting to lose motivation for the first time in 10 years. The 5 days per week hypertrophy training is great it's just the cardio I'm finding hard to work around.
I have asked my coach if we can change strategy but he's the type of person/coach who only replies when necessary.
I am unsure if my results are slow or not happening at all. Another thing my coach won't address. I send weekly check ins with no feedback so I don't know if it's working. I'm not left with many options if I leave my coach and I don't want to be programming my own workouts I left the industry 2 years ago.
Is it me not being receptive to advice or is my coach being unreasonable?
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This pains my heart.
I don’t care if he is the most well known coach in the world. He’s not coaching you, sending check ins, but not receiving a response. Think about that, so you deserve that service? Does anyone? How does that make you feel?
5 years ago I was coaching bikini girls. I just graduated college and had success in my own bodybuilding shows so they thought I was an “expert.” I was hardly known and was far from a master/PHD. But I cared, they ended up placing very wells. BECAUSE I CARED.
Find someone who cares, there’s 1000s of coaches out there. I promise you there is someone out there that cares.
Personally I think you should tell us who your coach is so we can all avoid that shit. Help clean up the industry.
How do you choose your coach?
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My company added me to a coaching program on a platform that offers many coaches. How do I choose one? I feel a bit lost because they are all certified executive coaches, highly successful entrepreneurs with thousands of hours of coaching. However, when I check their LinkedIn profiles, I see that they seem to be overplaying it a lot (for instance, they are independent coaches, so they say they are entrepreneurs). I want to improve my leadership.
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I had leadership coaching provided by my employer and interviewed with 3 coaches from a company suggested by my boss.
I ended up picking the one where I felt I could be the most honest and vulnerable while still feeling safe. I wanted to make sure I could commit to the process. During her interview I felt she asked questions that really made me introspective.
Hope this helps!
Introduce your coach!
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With the dynasty deep dive out showcasing the depth of the mode and some of the ways to build out your coach, I thought now was as good a time as any to share our coaching ideas. I plan on running two coaches in the same offline dynasty to get a full experience.
Coach 1: Daniel Harmon, DC at Northern Illinois. Harmon was a SS for my National Championship run at Ole Miss in my '06 Dynasty. He's a 2 time Thorpe winner and served as Defensive Captain during his senior year. Harmon is a scheme-driven coordinator, specializing in 4-2-5, with a knack for getting the most out of lower rated recruits on account of his ability to showcase his technique. Harmon aspires to be a CEO-type head coach and lead his Alma Mater to their first playoff era championship.
Coach 2: Benjamin Akinona, OC at Arizona State. Akinona was my first big-time QB from earlier in my '06 dynasty. He comes from SoCal and has strong ties to high school programs around the area, giving him a leg up in recruiting. While he may not have ever been considered an elite talent, Akinona did earn himself the nickname "Scramble King" for his ability to pick up 5 yards almost on a whim. Akinona plans on bringing a Spread Option playbook to ASU to help reignite them, with aspirations of becoming an Offensive Guru and Program Builder, jumping in to OC wherever his talents are needed.
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Proud to introduce the world to Fatt’e Braddah, HC at Hawaii. My friend and I doing a promotion/relegation dynasty and starting in Mountain West with hopes of one day making our way into our new Pac12. Bottom two teams go down and top 2 go up. Every major conference is paired with a lower. Coach Braddah is looking to build a program of locally sourced talent and keep all the mainland howlis from poaching our talent. Coach is going to be fat, as fat as they will make him. Just wish I could rename my assistant coaches too.
How to tell if your coach is actually invested in you
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I've been training just over a year (3 stripe white) at the same gym which is still relatively new, about 2 years open. Coach seems on the generally shy and slightly socially awkward side so overall a difficult read. It's hard to tell if it's just shyness/awkwardness or if they're generally disinterested. In other sports I've always had clear cut feedback and coaches that made it very clear that they were invested in me but bjj is so different from other traditonal sports. Are there any things you'd say show that a coach is truly invested? Overall they're a great coach and good with explanations on techniques but I find getting solid feedback when it comes to overall game a little difficult. I feel that I've been there long enough and training 4 to 5 days a week that I'm past the "well they might drop off" phase to reason away why I feel like they aren't particularly invested. I have another tournament coming up and may just be projecting some insecurities here but I've felt this way for a while. What do you look for in your coaches to make you feel valued? Here and there they've said little things that make me feel like they do care but more on a retention level than personal. Any advice is appreciated.
Top Comment: Jesús fucking Christ he’s promoted you 3 times, ask him for advice for the tournament if you’re worried. He probably has a hundred other students. Are you looking for a coach or a dad lol
Would you beat your coach if you had the chance?
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I have been training with my close friend at this mma gym for 11 months to be exact. My friend is always challenging our head coach to grappling matches and has gotten fairly close to him because of that. My friend has asked me why I don’t challenge our coach to grappling matches as well and I told him I’m actually afraid I’ll get the opportunity to make him tap and I really don’t know whether I should go through with it or not because I feel respect towards him. I’ve trained at a jiu jutsu academy for 5 months prior so I’ve always been in a little bit of an advantage whenever I grapple with my friend. Our coach has also acknowledged that “him,i believe can take me down” when my friend brought me in, in a conversation. Im not saying that I can, because i really don’t know, but my question really is whether I should give it my all for a tap when I grapple with my coach or if I should take it easy? I’m sorry for the long read
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If anyone asked one of my students that they had better answer, "Absolutely yes, one thousand percent."
What's your coach for novices like?
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Our coach rants, throws f bombs, murmurs under their breath. Not all the time but I would say it is a dominant coaching style.
I don't look forward to practice, and afterwards I usually feel frustrated about practice or confused by a rant to the entire team. To be fair, I am also frustrated with myself because practice tires me out physically and I guess emotionally, and my coach said we shouldn't be tired after practice. My new attitude is to treat practices like mini boot camp, hustle, accept the rants, and leave. Lol.
This is the first time I have dealt with this coaching personality/style. Is this just what canoe club is like? Maybe my coach is just coaching the way they are used to being coached.
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Sounds like a dick to me. If you have different options move on, life’s too short to put up with people like that. Depends on the politics involved with your club and other potential coaching options though - maybe there is a valid reason to struggle through this depending on your situation.