Here are 5 tips that every triathlon coach should live buy in order to have success.
1) Race. If you're not racing, or not staying in triathlon shape, then your triathlon coaching career is not going to be fruitful. Athletes need to be able to see you at events, and also recognize that you know your stuff and practice what you preach. Remember - you can write of race expenses from your taxes if you're doing business at races.
2) Network. There are a bevy of triathlon industry experts, athletes, race directors, authors, and other coaches who would love to help you help your athletes, since it helps your triathlon coaching career but also helps these other individuals in their business. Don't "hole up" and ignore the triathlon industry. Take part in conversations, events, forums, magazines, conferences, seminars and as many other possible networking opportunities you can for your triathlon coaching career.
3) Be Open Minded. Stay on top of the latest research in sports science, and always be ready to change your approach if it is found to be inferior to a new training method. Don't bad mouth other training protocols, although it is fine to respectfully disagree. Always be listening, watching and learning, and your triathlon coaching career will blossom.
4) Follow the Golden Rule. Treat your athletes the same way that you would want to be treated by your coach. If they're injured, help walk them through ways that can help them heal faster. If they're overweight, help them develop better nutrition habits. If they're depressed about a race, help them develop a plan to have a better experience the next time. Don't just write them a plan. Remember their other needs.
5) Use triathlon coaching software to automate the coaching process and allow you to gather as much information as possible from your athletes in a quick and efficient way. TrainingPeaks is one great example of triathlon training software that works very well, and will significantly help your triathlon coaching career efficiency.
If you want more triathlon coaching career tips just like this, along with an exclusive Coach Member forum and monthly "Business of Coaching" calls with Ben Greenfield, author of "How To Become A Triathlon Coach", and Kerry Sullivan, creator of "The Triathlon Summit", then check out the Rock Star
Triathlete Academy, at http://www.rockstartriathlete.com/coaches
