Cost for a coach

[mjb266]

Okay, I may get an earfull for this one. I was checking out a link to coaching services at Herriott sports in Seattle and can't believe their coaching rates. I did the Training Peaks thing for a while but just couldn't justify the $100/month expense given what I got in return. Now people are charging $500 or $1000/month for coaching. I could see this if I weighed 500 lbs and wanted to get to 185 again...or if I was getting some good prescription meds like Ferrari gives out...anyone have insight on this.


What's a good rate? What do you get in return? Should you live close to the coach? How often should communication occur, in what format...

[Chris]

In my best mechanic in Vacation voice 'How much you got?'

[Too Tall]

At the risk of starting an all hands meeting ;) I can comment on the communication thing. Before I take new clients they interview me and we talk about that specifically. My pat line is something like this "I put no limits on communication, if either of us gets to be a PITA than we should say so and find a happy balance". My contract does have specific limits on communication to protect client and coach and for the last 10 yrs. I've never had a client who abused our informal agreement. Heck if we can't be civil what's the use????

[J.Greene]

I've got a friend who was a nationally ranked tennis player and now a PHD in Sports Psycology. He is amazed at how little coaches charge in Cycling.

JG

[92degrees]

I'm only really familiar with Cycle-Smart. They offer several levels of pricing depending on how much contact you wish to have...daily? quarterly? It makes a big difference. I see that JBV Coaching is set up in a similar way.

[J.Greene]

TT or others,

When is the best time of the season to begin using a coach? 12-15 weeks before the racing season starts? For a person starting out with a coach how much interaction and possible reevaluation of the plan would you prefer with the athlete? In my shoes going from a slow Cat 4, to wanting to be able to compete in the masters 35+ over time.

JG

[92degrees]

I wanted to be in better form for cross season and started with coaching in Feb of this year. If I had wanted to focus on road a little more seriously rather than just using road racing as workouts, then they were suggesting I start shortly after cross season ended last year. I opted for monthly contact. Every three months is a pretty long time to wait to have your coach review your files, and weekly is both expensive and not something I'm sure I could take full advantage of. If I have a question or concern I never hesitate to contact my coach even if it's not time for a conversation and I've never ever gotten any sense that it was a problem or unwelcome.

[Ti Designs]

In starting up a coaching business of my own I've been fighting with this issue. I was brought into coaching by John Allis who after racing wanted to give something back to the sport. So, I've coached the Harvard team without pay for the last 8 years. But this is where we need to define coaching, most coaches have contact via phone or e-mail, but few coaches ride with their clients. On the other hand, I have new riders every fall and need to turn them into racers by spring. I can't simply hand them a training schedule, there's bike fit and form and technique... Looking back, I know that very few people could afford the amount of time I've put into some of my riders, which could explain their rapid rise in the sport (check out GMSR stage 2, women's Pro/1/2 race - it's Anna's 1st season).

Personal trainers charge anywhere from $50 to $150 per hour to watch their clients work out (much of which isn't needed past the first few weeks). Finding personal trainers is easy, try finding good cyclists who are also good teachers! In looking at the next step in my buisness I've realized that there may be 10 people who can really coach on the bike, who are willing to get up stupid early to work around client's schedules, who will take the time to figure out how they do things on the bike so they can explain it. With looking at the expenses of the buisness and cost of insurance, I've come to the conclusion that $100/hour on the bike is minimum. I don't want to only be coaching the rich, so my emphasis is to do all the set-up and technique work in a couple of rides plus some time on the trainer, then get riders into coached group rides which are less expensive per person.

[Too Tall]

TT or others,

When is the best time of the season to begin using a coach? 12-15 weeks before the racing season starts? For a person starting out with a coach how much interaction and possible reevaluation of the plan would you prefer with the athlete? In my shoes going from a slow Cat 4, to wanting to be able to compete in the masters 35+ over time.

JG
Depends on your abilites and goals. I've had the pleasure of having one yr. to prepare some riders for major ultra events and I've reluctantly coached someone only 3 months before their "A" event....not something I really wanted to do. I think that the winter season is perhaps the most important time to have a coach in your corner...if you pressed me for an answer.

[gregclimbs]

here is what I know about my coaching services...

we do flat rate pricing. we used to have a tiered method, but I never liked telling people that we could or couldn't talk more or less. so now, just a across the board flat fee and anyone can contact any time.

we do unlimited contact, except when the coach is unavailable for another meeting etc. :) most find that email is sufficient for a lot of the conversations but a weekly phone call is standard as well.

we work with both local and long distance clients. and with a powermeter, both scenarios work out well. the info in a power files is exceptionally useful and makes the long distance option viable.

we now only work with power based coaching and if a client doesn't yet own a meter yet, we can help the aquire one.

as to how long to start working with someone, we prefer to start working together about now, the end of the season. as this gives us an opportunity to get a feel for the athlete in the off season when details are less important. we get a feel for how the athlete does specific workouts, choses to communicate and how well they keep track of their information.

I hope that helps...

g