Why don't more athletes coach themselves?

The reason why you have a coach is that at very least you have a pair of "outside" eyes.

The critical input and additional ideas/solutions to address deficiencies in your training will hopefully minimize injury, improve performance, and reduce the amount of time to see advances in said performances.

I know for me personally, it's pretty straightforward when concentrating on a single race. It's confusing as hell concentrating on multiple races at multiple distances

Meb Keflezighi ??

Because it is very difficult to balance the two basic tasks, which are:

Be driven to achieve a vision of your future self that is much better than your current self

Be honest about your current ability so that you do the workouts that get you to that future vision in the correct manner- which is very slowly.

So- you have to be almost insanely hungry for work and success, and remarkably patient, at the same time. A good coach helps you do that.

Why don't more coaches become athletes?

They suggest that doctors don't treat themselves

They suggest that lawyers don't represent themselves

doctorj wrote:

Meb Keflezighi ??

Steve Ovett claims he was coaching himself. Rod Dixon was basically coaching himself too. Kip Keino.

doctorj wrote:

Meb Keflezighi ??

is coached by Bob Larsen

Jimmy21 wrote:

I know for me personally, it's pretty straightforward when concentrating on a single race. It's confusing as hell concentrating on multiple races at multiple distances

What is the difference between a single race vs multiple races at multiple distances? Why does this cause you so must confusion? I don't understand what the difference is.

Names that come to mind that were self coached for the majority of their careers-Buddy Edelen,Ron Daws,Frank Shorter,Tom Fleming,Joan Samulson,Jeff Galloway,Bob Deines,Dick Beardsly,Bob Fitts,Herb Lorenz,Ron Hill,John Landy,Ted Corbitt,Hugh Sweeny,Amby Burfoot,Fred Best,Tom Osler,Jan Yerkes,Mike Spino and on and on. Different levels here but all successful.

doctorj wrote:

Meb Keflezighi ??

He does have a long-term coach. His name is Bob Larsen.

To my knowledge, there is a few self-coached runners, including Geoffrey Mutai, who won New York in 2011 and demolished the course record.

They try, God doesn't like it, He smites them, you never hear of them.

Yuki Kamauuchi

Sage Canaday

Kirlian Jornet

Well 2 ultra runners don't but Canaday did run Boston etc self trained, there are a couple of others.

As for why?

because its easier than reading books and trying to figure things out, some couches do 2 week blocks ... like Renato Canova I think so there is the problem of having to plan that out too, some athletes are like "mehhh"

*see Ryan Hall

I think the vast majority of runners coach themselves, and pros are the exception. In HS and even college you may not have a decent coach, and you may not have access to that coach outside your competitive season. I personally know no adult (post-collegiate) runners who have a coach.

almost right wrote:

I think the vast majority of runners coach themselves, and pros are the exception. In HS and even college you may not have a decent coach, and you may not have access to that coach outside your competitive season. I personally know no adult (post-collegiate) runners who have a coach.

True. But given the chance almost every single post-collegiate athlete would jump at the chance to have a coach. Why do you think that ALTIS in Arizona is doing so well?

Rene Reider moved from the UK (was coaching 2012 Olympic Team) to the Netherlands (coaches the Dutch National Team) and Christian Taylor followed him.

The Santa Monica Track Team is based on this model and just look at the success it enjoyed from it's inception in the early 70s through the 80s and up till the late 90s. They are currently working hard to build this culture/tradition again.

The fact is, coaches, good coaches, can and do make a significant and meaningful impact to the success of an athlete/team.

The issue in the United States is that most of the good/passionate/available coaches are NCAA coaches (that is not to say that there are not WORLD-CLASS high school or middle school coaches - when would they have time to train the athletes, do these coaches even advertise their services).

Given the "rules" and their commitments to their respective institutions they can not commit to the "newly-minted graduate" athletes who want their guidance.

I know you may counter with online training is an option. BUT, let's be honest if you are a coach or if you are an athlete, there is a level of nuance that is lost in online-training due to the medium.

Several years ago on the Track and Field News Forum this issue came up regarding the massive drop-off in athletes post-collegiate who still run. The issue and same rules apply.

I don't disagree that it's great to have a good coach. Through HS and my DII world, I saw very little of it, though, and I've seen plenty of people get along on their own with various degrees of success.

almost right wrote:

I don't disagree that it's great to have a good coach. Through HS and my DII world, I saw very little of it, though, and I've seen plenty of people get along on their own with various degrees of success.

I am sincerely sorry you had poor coaching through high school and DII. Unfortunately, there is little, if any motivation, to coach at the high-school level beyond those that truly love the sport AND want to give back.

Think about this, to be a high-school XC/Track coach you need to be able to commit 3-4 afternoons a week plus weekends (if you make it to sectionals/regional). This is then coupled with a criminal background check, CPR/First Aid - AED cert. Additionally, you have to deal with unmotivated teenagers, difficult/unavailable parents, and an adversarial coaching environment. Finally, you are liable for any and all issues to do with the program for a grand total of $1,500 for the season.

This week I saw a posting for a high-school Track Coach at a sports academy for $10-12 and hour. My local MacDonald's pays $11 an hour. Flipping burgers pays as much, if not more, than being responsible for the health and well-being of children.

Are you going to sign up for that?!

At the DII level, your program is at the whim of the AD and budget. The AD decides who they hire and if they will support the program. Many DII coaching positions are part-time. Just looking at the postings this week in DII for track jobs salaries are as low as $19,000 (this is BELOW the US Poverty-level - about $23,000 is the threshold) to about $40,000. Mind you, the $19,000 job is in a major US city. Rent alone will be more than 3/4 of this "salary".

cerutty wrote:

Names that come to mind that were self coached for the majority of their careers-Buddy Edelen,Ron Daws,Frank Shorter,Tom Fleming,Joan Samulson,Jeff Galloway,Bob Deines,Dick Beardsly,Bob Fitts,Herb Lorenz,Ron Hill,John Landy,Ted Corbitt,Hugh Sweeny,Amby Burfoot,Fred Best,Tom Osler,Jan Yerkes,Mike Spino and on and on. Different levels here but all successful.

Shorter, Galloway, Jack Bacheler were coached by Jimmy Carnes at FTC.

btw... did Shorter ever gat a gold from 1976 when Cierpinski cheated?