Good coach

[archer_thom]

This may be slightly controversial, but this is a genuine question.

The thread "your coach" made it clear that a good coach is very important, even vital for any archer wanting to reach a top level of shooting. However the same thread showed that such coaches are very rare. Furthermore, while some coaches work well with some archers, other archers find that the same person is too focused on orthodoxy to be able to help them.

Therefore, how can you tell whether a coach is good and will work for you? Also, how can I, with several somewhat defective bits, find a coach who can work with what I have in order to get the best out of my archery?

[mk1]

Originally Posted by archer_thom

Therefore, how can you tell whether a coach is good and will work for you? Also, how can I, with several somewhat defective bits, find a coach who can work with what I have in order to get the best out of my archery?

err... Schweizer Bogenschützen Verband - Ass. Suisse de Tir à l'Arc - Ass. Svizzera di Tiro con l'Arco

Ask archers who appear to be doing well who has helped them, and go as far up the ladder as you can to ask.

Also make it clear what you want to achive and how much time you can commit and how much effort you can make.

[King Custard]

Trial and error?

just musing on it...
maybe thats how some less capable coaches manage to scrape a living from it long enough to mature to become very capable coaches...or not.

Personally I'd look for the verbal recommendations of those that have parted with money- taken in the advice-improved- and see it as money well spent, and would spend more with the same guy/gal.

I'd look to see what qualification he/she had in terms of 'who they had coached- and to what level'

This approach isn't of course foolproof.
Nor would it be wise to expect immediate improvement from a new and/or only partially corrected form component.

You've asked the question on every wannabe's lips!

PM for a coach I've recently heard only excellent reports about.( though not used myself- yet)

[spavo]

Consider this

Does one person know everything?

why not look at a few people some coachs / experienced archers / people you know in life they have a story to tell.

They have particular areas of interest which they focus on and you could possibly take and use yourself that, I personally would ask only two people about my shooting form but only 1 person when it comes down to a tunning issue that i can resolve myself. On weight training I ask an ex Mr universe Contestant who is also good on nutrition.

all these people make one extremely good coach

[bkupris]

Originally Posted by sp220

What I used to look for in a coach is very different to what I would now look for in a coach.

When starting archery, I didn't need to look for a coach, as one was just present anyway, but looking back I'd say what I needed (and was provided) was confidence and support. Someone there to not only put the basics in there, but also to put in encouragement and to say when I was doing well etc to give the necessary boost to want to carry on doing well.

NOW I would look for a coach who does the exact opposite. I need someone to say what is wrong, someone to criticise, and then inform me of a method to work things into being as they should be. This of course means that there is a prequisite that they are skilled enough as a coach to see exactly what is wrong, regardless of how minor, and also that they are knowledgible enough to know how I must work to get it right.

sp220

I find this very interesting. When did you reach the turning point from needing support and encouragement to wanting/needing criticism or to be told what exactly is wrong and how to fix it?

[not dead yet]

i would be interested to know how much or how little archery mum spent when she booked time with john dudley.

i.e. what does john dudley charge

[kato]

I can strongly recommend ASW1973
no BS
analytical
clear precise instructions
faultless logic
apparently he can shoot a bit as well :-)

[Erika]

Not sure if this is helpful...

My friend Hannah decided last year that she would like to become nationally competitive and make the Australian team. I started working with her in November/December last year. She was shooting 1280-1300. By the end of January she shot 1350 in competition.

We train together 6 days a week. She always shoots on my right so I can see what she is doing. We have a video camera with us all the time so that we can tape bits and play back to see or show some aspect of technique.

We have footage of both her and myself (in halter neck top) so that we can do comparisons of muscle usage. I can't teach her how to do anything except shoot how I shoot. You can see the changes over time on the videos and on any given day you can pick minor differences that we are trying to eliminate.

I tell her how I think something works and she tells me how she thinks she's doing it and then we have to work through each and every movement to try and catch where the problem of the day lies. Somethings we leave as okay, because we can't see any reason why it can't work both ways.

On top of that, having to explain how a good shot works to her frequently makes me think more about it and then improve on how I would do it. We attend physio together as well so that we can best help each other in maintenance and injury prevention/treatment.

Jim Park is my technical coach... but he is more the 'boss guy..has the info' and when I want an opinion on something, I ask him and Marcus. Jim calls on a regular basis and drops by about once a week to see how I'm doing and if I'm doing something wrong he'll let me know. I've done quite well with that style of coaching as well.

[bkupris]

Thanks sp220 and Erika for that info

[archery_mum]

This is my opinion only:

Find a coach you like. You don't need them to be your best friend but there must be a connection. Coaching is a two way communication and if you feel there is going to be an issue communicating then walk away and find someone else.

Trust - do you trust the advice the coach is giving you? What is the basis for that trust? Perhaps its based on a proven track record or you may have seen them working with someone else and they showed improvement.

Qualifications - if you are starting out or if you are a junior then you maybe best looking for a GNAS qualified coach. If you have more experience then look for a good coach irrespective of whether or not they are qualified on paper. As we all know from different areas of our lives, just because someone has a certificate doesn't mean they are any good at the job. (You would normally look for recommendations from friends when looking for a plumber or builder)

Availability - are you able to see the coach when needed, either the coach should be local or you need the resources to travel to your coach when required. There is no point entering into a relationship with a coach if you have to drop them after one or two sessions. On the other side, has the coach got sufficient time for you!

Application - are you prepared to do what your coach tells you and trust them to give you the results you striving to achieve? If you think you know best before you start and go in with a closed mind then you may as well spend your money on a new set of arrows and practice yourself.

Are there any good coaches in the UK - yes of course there are some very good coaches. But what is a good coach for me may not be for you.

John Dudley - IMHO one of the best Compound Coaches out there. And in answer to an earlier post he charges £500 a day for individual coaching. However as many of you know he has now relocated back to the USA with his partner and was not going to take on any more individual students in the UK for now. I know John wants to revive his residential school but the last time he mentioned it there was a 2 year waiting list.