10-09-2003, 02:57 PM
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#1 | | Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,021
| Enthusiasm of the coach -- effect on fencer?
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your coach's enthusiasm for your personal fencing outomes (events, practice bouts, general progress, etc.)?
Does it matter to you that he express support at all, or are you comfortable with a coach who expresses little emotion -- neither positive nor negative -- as you train and compete? | 
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10-09-2003, 03:35 PM
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#2 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 247
| Assuming 1 is the lowest, perhaps a 3. My coach appreciates moves that work during practice bouts, but he has a tendancy to only pay attention to the people who can deliver independent medals or on one of our teams that are in the position to contend for medals.
Same goes for tournaments. If you win, great. If you're top 6, good. If lower, there's no acknowledgement.
Needless to say, if there was somewhere else for me to be fencing right now, I'd be there. This is one of the reasons that any school I'm considering for masters has to have a solid fencing program. It is also the reason that I keep in touch with my old coach in Germany (from my exchang year last year) via e-mail. Gotta get that feedback somewhere.
I do get frustrated with his coaching style. He rewards results, not hard work, which to me is counterproductive. I also have trouble staying motivated throughout the year. I end up doing much of the coaching for the other epeeists, although I don't really feel I'm qualified to do so.
*Sighs with longing at the thought of being in a club where she could work on developing her own skills...
Gee, that was a bit of a rant. My apologies. | |
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10-09-2003, 04:23 PM
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#3 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: fredonia, NY
Posts: 390
| I feel that the more my coach is invovled and as "pumped" as i am the better i do, and the more fun we both have.
__________________
Fencing will always be a "for love of the game" sport.
I need a good arse kicking to get better, faster!
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10-09-2003, 08:40 PM
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#4 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 1999 Location: Australia - various
Posts: 2,756
| Positive reenforcement. My coach in brisbane is still interested in where I come in comps, and always wants to know who I beat and how. My coach down here feeds on my results, the better results I get the more motivated he is for me to get lessons.
__________________
You may love me but you dont accept me. I dont want your love without your acceptance. | |
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10-09-2003, 08:47 PM
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#5 | | Fencing Expert
Join Date: May 2000 Location: The valley of the -hot- sun, NorCal
Posts: 3,184
| Re: Enthusiasm of the coach -- effect on fencer?
Quote: Originally posted by Victor
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your coach's enthusiasm for your personal fencing outomes (events, practice bouts, general progress, etc.)?
Does it matter to you that he express support at all, or are you comfortable with a coach who expresses little emotion -- neither positive nor negative -- as you train and compete? | I'd give my current coach a 9. I am not one of his best students (far from it), but he does give me regular lessons, listens that what I say, and gives me advice even when I am bouting and he has time to watch.
He rewards hard work and people who show him that they want to improve.
__________________ - Epee is the Louis Vuitton bag of fencing: only the best can get it, and the rest of the masses must content themselves with cheap knockoffs (sabre, foil)
- To not recognize the power of the French grip is to be in denial
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10-10-2003, 08:39 AM
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#6 | | Fencing Expert
Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Mississippi
Posts: 1,364
| As a fencer, having a thoughtful and "emotionally invested" coach was great. For me, 5 -- reduced because of language problems, and because I wasn't into it myself.
As a coach, I can see now how I broke my old coach's heart by not competing enough, or taking the sport seriously (big-time burnout on my part). Effort, made by a student, is nice -- but anybody can 'make an effort.' What justifies the coach's existence, and shows the coach that he/she is doing a good job is results.
I completely understand why some coaches don't want to develop beginners, and desire only to work with advanced fencers. Building up a newcomer is a long, soul-draining empty patch where the coach is installing technique that should've been put there by group drills (in the best of worlds). When the student isn't kicking butt on strip, the coach is getting no feedback and support -- and this is as difficult for the coach as it is for the student. (Then again, if the coach is receiving payment, he/she can't let this be an issue; the coach is getting paid to believe.) The best bet is for newcomers to engage their coaches on a level other than fencing -- as friends, acquaintances, movie lovers, computer users, what-have-you -- until the winning starts. | |
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10-10-2003, 09:21 PM
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#7 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Bay Area, California
Posts: 83
| 10 all the way - it's made a big difference to have an active and currently competitive coach who's passionate about the sport and my success in it. He's at all of the local tournaments, and most of the time he competes. He watches me fence, and the lessons are directly related to actions he sees in real bouts.
It's been night and day compared to the traditional lesson.
-Dan | |
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