What makes a good triathlon coach

Douglas Schwartz, coach at Multi-Sport Partners, asks his athletes to imagine balls made of three materials: marble, rubber, and glass. You see where this is going: The most precious one is the glass ball.

Each athlete needs to figure out what in their life is made of glass and how not to drop it. Glass equals family for you?

Schwartz suggests a way to make your training more efficient so you can spend more time with family: On your next road trip, have your significant other drop you off 30 minutes away from home and run the rest of the way. Find more triathlon tips and strategies from her and other experts in the field at trieverything. It doesn't matter whether you are looking for a high level of service and reputation or just a training plan to follow on your own schedule, there is a coach available to help you succeed.

Her first Olympic experience was as a personal cycling coach at the Sydney Olympic Games. Thousands of athletes have had successful training and racing experiences using Gale's pre-built, easy-to-follow training plans. For more information, click here.

Let Gale and Active Trainer help you succeed. Must-Have Traits of the Right Coach. Find a Triathlon Clinic Near You. Search for a Triathlon Group to Train With.

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All rights reserved. Go Premium. Need Help? Learn More Customer Login. By Gale Bernhardt For Active. Share this article. Are you sure you want to delete this family member? It's extremely unlikely that as a triathlon coach you will rent office space but it's still very important to create a space that is professional and conducive to motivation and productivity. How that looks for you as an individual will depend on how you like to work but here are some ideas from a few professional coaches using the Training Tilt platform and shared their home office setups with us.

Before you can attract new coaching clients you need peoples trust and respect. The best way to do that as a coach is to earn it by becoming an authority in your field. It's not enough to just be an expert, you have to prove it to your potential customers and you have to do that before they hire you. Here are some tips on becoming and authority not just an expert in your field.

Hopefully, we've given you at least a few ideas to help you get well on your way to becoming a triathlon coach. Along with our blogs, we offer one on one advice to all our coaches who use our platform. Our goal is to help as many coaches as possible build successful coaching business through technology and business and marketing advice.

Become a Triathlon Coach Do it for the right reasons Start small Find a mentor Learn as much as you can Get certified Don't forget about business Create a professional working environment Build your authority, not just expertise. How to become a triathlon coach Triathlon coaching as a profession is relatively new. Do it for the right reasons The first key to success is your motivation for becoming a coach.

Don't go all-in, to begin with You'll often hear advice that to be successful at something you need to go "all in". Find a mentor a coach for a coach Find a coach who is experienced and skilled and ask them for help.

Go back to school You don't literally need to go back to school but you do need to learn. Get certified Much of what the great triathlon coaches have learned comes from on the job experience and in some circles, there is a tendency to dismiss the value of more structured and formal education. Don't forget about the business side of coaching Although not particularly appealing for many budding triathlon coaches, in reality, business and marketing is a crucial part of becoming a triathlon coach.

We offer an email mini course to help coaches with marketing and technology in their businesses. Create a professional working environment It's extremely unlikely that as a triathlon coach you will rent office space but it's still very important to create a space that is professional and conducive to motivation and productivity.

Build your authority, not just your expertise Before you can attract new coaching clients you need peoples trust and respect. Training Tilt Works with. Frequently Asked Questions How do I get started? It's easy, just click the "Get Started" or "Free Trial" button at the top of the page, choose a plan, click the sign up button and fill in the form.

It's a fully automated process, as soon as you have signed up your new Training Tilt site will be ready for you. Are there any long term contracts? You can meet the coach in person if local, or interview them on the phone or Skype.

The process should take a couple of weeks of checking references and interviewing several different coaching options. To help you in your search for the right professional, I have put together a list compiled from some of my current athletes, myself and peers on 10 things to look for in a good coach. Look for a coach who has experience and who has been working with athletes that you admire, like and have seen succeed.

Make sure that the coach has the right skills set to help you achieve your goals. Your coach should have a proven track record working with athletes of all abilities — and especially someone like you! There are three levels of coaching certification within USAT, with Level 3 being the highest and relatively rare. I would recommend checking out www. They also have a coach directory of USAT certified coaches.

TrainingPeaks also offers a helpful coach directory with thousands of potential coaches. TrainingPeaks offers an easy way to get matched with the right coach for your needs with their Coach Match Program. All coaches must be TrainingPeaks accredited plus have a certification from a National Governing Body, so you can take the guesswork out of researching potential coaches backgrounds and instead be placed with your ideal coach.

The coach should absolutely have an open-door policy. The coach should be accessible. You should be able to ask questions via email and get responses that are not only timely but also detailed enough to answer your questions. Emails should be returned within a business day. Is this person accessible to each athlete? Is this coach positive and a great role model and mentor in the sport?

Make sure you ask for referrals and ask their current athletes how the coach interacts with them. Some coaches are hands off — they send schedules and then are done. Some are VERY involved on a daily basis.