Benefits of Coaching
 Deciding to work with a coach is an investment
of both time and money and understandably you want to be sure
it’s
an investment that will pay big dividends. But no two cyclist
are the same and the benefits you will experience from working
with a good personal coach will depend on you, your experience
and your personality. Help with some of the following are likely:
Goal setting
Some riders are very clear about their goals and they only want help achieving
them. For others the task of identifying SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Realistic, Time-bound) goals is more difficult. What is certain is that for
all riders the opportunity to talk over the possible directions and targets
for short, medium and long-term objectives can lead not only to better goals
but to more focus and ownership for targets and hence greater motivation.
Tailored training plans
The problem with standardised training plans or predefined plans from a book
is that they by definition assume a certain level of experience or fitness.
They cannot possibly take into account your strengths and weaknesses, your
sporting background or the unique nuances of your goals. By working with
a personal coach you can have total confidence that a training plan will
match your needs and that every ounce of expended energy will be worthwhile.
Focus
It’s all too easy to lose sight of the important aspects of training
when preparing for a tough challenge. It’s so easy to get one aspect
of training or preparation blown out of proportion or to forget that another
should be taking priority. Good training is training that stays focused on
the right things at the right time and a coach can bring the objective view
point, from someone who completely understands what you are trying to achieve.
Motivation
There’s no doubt about it – training to achieve a personal challenge
is a tough business. It requires dedication and sacrifices. How do you find
the motivation to leave the comfort of your sofa and get out there for some
hard training, especially if you’re already tired and you simply don’t
feel like it? For many people this is the single biggest benefit of having
a coach. Someone else is waiting to hear how you got on in your training – you’ve
agreed with them that this training is what needs to be done – for many
a coach provides just the ‘kick up the backside’ they need!
Confidence and self-belief
We all know of people who have achieved amazing things – but the starting
point for anyone to achieve anything must be that they BELIEVE they can. I
will openly admit that I never believed that training would work for me. I
was an ordinary cyclist with no great ability and I simply didn’t believe
it would be worth training. Several years later I know with confidence what
improvements good training can bring – and it is my role as a coach to
give you that confidence too. |
