Coaches' Corner

[OverthrowJosh]

Still pinching myself a bit, but the backhand form and fitness coaching have taken off so hard in the past 6 weeks, that I'm now selling out my stake in my software business to my business partner to do the disc golf stuff full-time. Really a dream come true to coach people since sports and training have been such a big part of my life for so long, and I'm already much happier and more fulfilled than doing my old work.

I'm working on getting my website up and trying to streamline the operations of how I'm managing clients so I can bring more on, candidly I already took some peeks at your Patreon setup to get some ideas for subscription models and general operations. Really liked the multi-tier system that gives people of different needs an appropriate option, as well as the community-building stuff and premium content access etc.

Dang! Congrats!

And that's why our Patreon is out in the open. If you want a further peak into the automation let me know, but you probably don't need it with your software background.

 

[Nick481]

Dang! Congrats!

And that's why our Patreon is out in the open. If you want a further peak into the automation let me know, but you probably don't need it with your software background.

I really appreciate that Josh! Will let you know

 

[BenjiHeywood]

"It's the student that makes the coach."

One of my favorite lines. So simple. So right.

You really can't say the wrong thing to a natural athlete and unfortunately there are some people you could never find the "right" thing to say to them.

People will undoubtedly give more credence to my coaching ability if I've got a student that is in top 10 MPO on the DGPT even if taking someone from 250' to 350' was a taller task.

100%. And weirdly, it's great to coach in an individual sport where you can enjoy successes, large and small, on their own terms.

I got a lovely letter from a guy who i helped onto the Great Britain ultimate team (who, realistically, would probably have got there anyway) and it just made me feel bad for how much time i gave him at the expense of the kids who were harder to coach. Sometimes you had to decide which kids were going to improve the team the most, and focus a bit more there, so it's great to work with individuals and have the time to really focus on everyone.

 

[yossarian]

Y[COLOR=var(--text-lighter)]ou never want to write someone off but when you have a 55yr old man that disc golf is the first sport he ever played you get surprised after a year of grinding.[/COLOR]

I resemble that remark! I'm a 55 year old man who's played rec level ultimate for 30 years, but I've never been coached in any sport. Been hooked on disc golf for two years now, and the backhand gains are slowly coming, thanks in part to all the conversations here, so thank you.

I'm tall and fit, but it takes me a lot of study and self reflection and practice to move my technique in the right direction. My son is more in the freak of nature category - after two years of working out with the rowing team at university he's 6'4", 205 pounds, and in one of his first few times playing disc golf he had the audacity to park a mid range on a 300' water carry hole that I'm still scared to attempt. He seems to have effortless power without even thinking about it. I'd give him advice but what's the use, lol.

After lots of YouTube videos, forum posts, and video review I'm very curious to try an in person coach, but they are thin on the ground. I've been thinking about asking one of our stronger club players who has a background in coaching ultimate and has done some disc golf clinics.

 

[OverthrowJosh]

I resemble that remark! I'm a 55 year old man who's played rec level ultimate for 30 years, but I've never been coached in any sport. Been hooked on disc golf for two years now, and the backhand gains are slowly coming, thanks in part to all the conversations here, so thank you.

I'm tall and fit, but it takes me a lot of study and self reflection and practice to move my technique in the right direction. My son is more in the freak of nature category - after two years of working out with the rowing team at university he's 6'4", 205 pounds, and in one of his first few times playing disc golf he had the audacity to park a mid range on a 300' water carry hole that I'm still scared to attempt. He seems to have effortless power without even thinking about it. I'd give him advice but what's the use, lol.

After lots of YouTube videos, forum posts, and video review I'm very curious to try an in person coach, but they are thin on the ground. I've been thinking about asking one of our stronger club players who has a background in coaching ultimate and has done some disc golf clinics.

Yep. I've got a guy similar to yourself. He's very fit and we had to do a lot of rhythm/acceleration work to get him to 58mph max. His son is a D1 athlete and threw 70mph first session with tech disc because he knows how to accelerate.

Where do you live? In person is awesome

 

[yossarian]

Yep. I've got a guy similar to yourself. He's very fit and we had to do a lot of rhythm/acceleration work to get him to 58mph max. His son is a D1 athlete and threw 70mph first session with tech disc because he knows how to accelerate.

Where do you live? In person is awesome

I'm in Vancouver, British Columbia. Started playing in March of 2022. The ultimate background got me to 200' pretty quickly but it's only recently that I've started to reach 300 a little more often, though still not consistently. With my developing understanding I'm now better able to watch our good club players and appreciate what they're doing.

 

[CoachChris]

I have a question for the people who actually have coached in person, and not just casually helped out when people ask (all I have ever done lol).

Have any of you systematically taught kids in around the 11-12 year old range, in a group setting? I really want to start an after school disc golf club at my kids' middle school, and have permission and bought a bunch of discs, but I want to go into this with an actual written out plan!

I want this to be fun for them as the primary goal, but I also want to be able to provide something of a structured path to learning how to throw well.

I have ideas about how to approach it, but if any of you have actually done this, I REALLY want to know how you went about it.

If this wasn't the intention of this thread I'm sorry! I will just leave the post vague for now in case you had another plan for this

Great idea. I'm sure it will be very rewarding. 11-12 year olds are the perfect age to coach. Please keep us informed on how it goes. Make it fun, play made up games, get some frisbees so they can play catch.

 

[CoachChris]

This was very humbly said by you, especially with how successful your YouTube and Patreon coaching business are, and all the great results you have gotten people from what I've seen.

Something that I'm curious to hear about your experiences with online coaching (whether via analysis videos or live remote sessions), is roughly what fraction of individuals seem to be "motor geniuses" that are very good at self-organizing how to execute backhand form improvements (with either simple explanations and/or minor drilling or feel-based cues etc) vs people on the other end of that spectrum, that need extreme brute forcing of drills and still have a hard time with coordinating things or making major improvements translate to live throws.

Coaching and form work are different ends of a wide spectrum. It is nearly impossible to teach general coordination but getting good results for those unfortunate souls can be achieved if they have a good work ethic. If they expect you to solve both issues no amount of brute force can help. When you are handed the upper echelon coordination group, first smile, then evaluate, begin to help them self organize, give constructive feedback and begin coaching.

 

[CoachChris]

Such an underrated movement in athletics and so hard to master, when I watch Wiggins' 360 in slowmo for example,

Nick, don't feel bad, David is mega coordinated and has been doing the 360° since he was 9. He saw someone do it, self organized, and voila' a 15mph flying 360°.

 

[StupendousMan]

Nick, don't feel bad, David is mega coordinated and has been doing the 360° since he was 9. He saw someone do it, self organized, and voila' a 15mph flying 360°.

The first time I tried a 360 I fell on my ass and yeeted it a mile high in the wrong direction. Had some velocity behind it though

 

[Nick481]

Coaching and form work are different ends of a wide spectrum. It is nearly impossible to teach general coordination but getting good results for those unfortunate souls can be achieved if they have a good work ethic. If they expect you to solve both issues no amount of brute force can help. When you are handed the upper echelon coordination group, first smile, then evaluate, begin to help them self organize, give constructive feedback and begin coaching.

That's a great point, have to be realistic with what can be done in the context of the coach-athlete relationship when it's primarily for disc golf form!

 

[Nick481]

The first time I tried a 360 I fell on my ass and yeeted it a mile high in the wrong direction. Had some velocity behind it though

Hahaha. I think that should be the expected outcome if I'm being honest. Like @CoachChris said, the 360 takes insane coordination and I can confidently say there are NFL wide receivers that wouldn't easily learn it, and certainly would not look as good as a guy like Wiggins if they did learn it. Getting those feet to land in the right spot with a fast run-in and the full lower body flip-around action is a miracle of motor skills and extreme repetition.

 

[Brychanus]

I still mess with 360s myself sometimes and speaking on behalf of those who began "anti-athletic," it definitely can teach something to everyone, but you won't see me pulling it out in a round any time soon

 

[Nick481]

I still mess with 360s myself sometimes and speaking on behalf of those who began "anti-athletic," it definitely can teach something to everyone, but you won't see me pulling it out in a round any time soon

No, we have to see it now. Ace It Disc Golf YouTube video title: "Neuroscientist gigachad bombs 360s over card mates in organized tournament play"

 

[Brychanus]

No, we have to see it now. Ace It Disc Golf YouTube video title: "Neuroscientist gigachad bombs 360s over card mates in organized tournament play"

If you allow me a 300' wide fairway and 3-4 shots of whiskey it might happen

 

[StupendousMan]

So looking at both Josh's Patreon rates, and the question in the other thread that got started, thought this would be a good data collection point in terms of helping people establish fair rates and being good advocates for their own pay as coaches.

For people actively coaching disc golf or anything:
What are your rates, who you work with, etc? I'm curious how this compares not just between dg coaches but anything.

For DG I only half "coach" a couple friends for free, and very much in a trial and error form for my own development. I expect in the next year or two I'll likely get going a little more formally, but there's only so much coaching time left in my day. Basically a couple people I know from track coaching getting into it get some backhand help from me.

Track I get an honorarium of about $700/month. This is very high for a coach here, and I know outside of the three full time jobs and two head coaches being paid, all of whom are getting paid for admin work much more than actual coaching, I'm getting the highest honorarium in our province. Our university coaches get $1000 for the entire year. Granted I think they have an easier task but not by that much lol. I lobbied hard for it and it was a significant increase over traditional rates. It's very much my charity project, since it represents about 20 hours a week of my time on average. But I work entirely with developmental athletes so it's a little different than coaching adults with paying jobs, etc. It's very much a passion project though, I think if I were to truly monotize it relative to my abilities I'd become quite miserable and enjoy actually coaching a lot less.

For lifting/strength and conditioning work, my private rate varies depending on what's needed. I charge my track kids a very nominal fee just to incentivise follow through (literally $10/month), but my actual private rate varies from $50/100 per month for a client and what they need. I don't keep many clients here, it is very much just a side project. The main purpose of my CSCS certification was for Athletics coaching this is just something I do for the odd person I know who needs help. From what I know this is still very much on the low end here for people with that designation.

 

[OverthrowJosh]

I'll start I suppose:

Uli was at $400/hr when I started coaching disc golf.

Last I checked Brian Earheart was at $100/hr for virtual stuff but mostly for 30 min increments.

I started at $50/hr and then upped the price to $100/hr a year later because the demand was too high and my schedule was getting too full.

Most touring pros are around $50/session which can be either a form session or course work from what I've seen.

 

[Nick481]

So looking at both Josh's Patreon rates, and the question in the other thread that got started, thought this would be a good data collection point in terms of helping people establish fair rates and being good advocates for their own pay as coaches.

For people actively coaching disc golf or anything:
What are your rates, who you work with, etc? I'm curious how this compares not just between dg coaches but anything.

For DG I only half "coach" a couple friends for free, and very much in a trial and error form for my own development. I expect in the next year or two I'll likely get going a little more formally, but there's only so much coaching time left in my day. Basically a couple people I know from track coaching getting into it get some backhand help from me.

Track I get an honorarium of about $700/month. This is very high for a coach here, and I know outside of the three full time jobs and two head coaches being paid, all of whom are getting paid for admin work much more than actual coaching, I'm getting the highest honorarium in our province. Our university coaches get $1000 for the entire year. Granted I think they have an easier task but not by that much lol. I lobbied hard for it and it was a significant increase over traditional rates. It's very much my charity project, since it represents about 20 hours a week of my time on average. But I work entirely with developmental athletes so it's a little different than coaching adults with paying jobs, etc. It's very much a passion project though, I think if I were to truly monotize it relative to my abilities I'd become quite miserable and enjoy actually coaching a lot less.

For lifting/strength and conditioning work, my private rate varies depending on what's needed. I charge my track kids a very nominal fee just to incentivise follow through (literally $10/month), but my actual private rate varies from $50/100 per month for a client and what they need. I don't keep many clients here, it is very much just a side project. The main purpose of my CSCS certification was for Athletics coaching this is just something I do for the odd person I know who needs help. From what I know this is still very much on the low end here for people with that designation.

Keeping in mind that I'm still increasing rates as my supply begins to thin out, and wanted to cautiously start on the cheaper end rather than the more expensive end:

-My monthly coaching is at $150 per month (very involved back-and-forth correspondence and 2-4 hours of labor per person per month).

-I've done some in-person stuff and that has been $50 per hour.

 

[Clint Easterly]

Hey nice to see you here @OverthrowJosh, and thanks for starting this @Brychanus.

So looking at both Josh's Patreon rates, and the question in the other thread that got started, thought this would be a good data collection point in terms of helping people establish fair rates and being good advocates for their own pay as coaches.

For people actively coaching disc golf or anything:
What are your rates, who you work with, etc? I'm curious how this compares not just between dg coaches but anything.

For DG I only half "coach" a couple friends for free, and very much in a trial and error form for my own development. I expect in the next year or two I'll likely get going a little more formally, but there's only so much coaching time left in my day. Basically a couple people I know from track coaching getting into it get some backhand help from me.

Track I get an honorarium of about $700/month. This is very high for a coach here, and I know outside of the three full time jobs and two head coaches being paid, all of whom are getting paid for admin work much more than actual coaching, I'm getting the highest honorarium in our province. Our university coaches get $1000 for the entire year. Granted I think they have an easier task but not by that much lol. I lobbied hard for it and it was a significant increase over traditional rates. It's very much my charity project, since it represents about 20 hours a week of my time on average. But I work entirely with developmental athletes so it's a little different than coaching adults with paying jobs, etc. It's very much a passion project though, I think if I were to truly monotize it relative to my abilities I'd become quite miserable and enjoy actually coaching a lot less.

For lifting/strength and conditioning work, my private rate varies depending on what's needed. I charge my track kids a very nominal fee just to incentivise follow through (literally $10/month), but my actual private rate varies from $50/100 per month for a client and what they need. I don't keep many clients here, it is very much just a side project. The main purpose of my CSCS certification was for Athletics coaching this is just something I do for the odd person I know who needs help. From what I know this is still very much on the low end here for people with that designation.

Gym wise I offer a "workout program" (that I myself use) free of charge to anyone who wants to do it. I also coach ~5 college athletes hybrid in powerlifting for free and have been for years now.

Remote coaching I offer workout/DG coaching in the discord I share with quite a few coaches free of charge. It's free so it's completely at my leisure but I'm pretty active in there just because I like it and we have some real grinders in there who just need a set of eyes to help. I've debated doing paid remote coaching like Nick/Josh, but I don't have the time/stress to invest currently. I do offer free remote coaching to college athletes including video calls and the such just because I've always believed that helping the next generation develop healthy habits is really important.

I offer in person coaching locally for 60/hour including bringing a tech disc and forwarding all stats/videos of the session. It has been fun and my clients have been pleased! I've coached a bunch of people RANGING from dreadfully uncoordinated to ~1000 rated players.

 

[StupendousMan]

Hey nice to see you here @OverthrowJosh, and thanks for starting this @Brychanus.

Gym wise I offer a "workout program" (that I myself use) free of charge to anyone who wants to do it. I also coach ~5 college athletes hybrid in powerlifting for free and have been for years now.

IPF/USAPL or the 'monolift' feds as I call em lol? (I used to be an IPF type guy up here in Canada, which, at the time was by far the majority of people competing. I'd say we were a bit ahead of the times in the trend shift to raw lifting and ditching equipment. Maybe we were all just cheap asses who didn't want to pay for bench shirts etc). And yes, I know the IPF & USAPL have had some pretty big um.. issues, I'm just thinking of that style of powerlifting and rules enforcement.