Oly Lift coach

[Sonny Gelinas]

I would like to get some opinions about my coaches style. I always do my research and understand the fundamentals of oly lifting. When I do the lifts myself I can get the weight up and it feels great. Then he corrects me and I have a hard time lifting the weight that I just threw up on my own. So my common sense tells me to keep on doing what I am doing and to not go further with his suggestions. He is paid by my gym to be a coach but has not been lifting for a long time so I question if he really knows what he is doing. What are your opinions? thank you

[Greg Everett]

What you describe is not necessarily indicative of a coach not knowing what he's talking about - anything new/different that you do with lift technique can feel bad/wrong/harder when you're first introduced to it - that can be simply the result of you being comfortable with and habituated to the "wrong" way.

That said, it could also be that he has no idea what he's talking about.

No one's really going to be able to tell you without knowing what you're doing and what he's trying to get you to do.

[Mike Ng]

I'm going to second what Greg said about the right way feeling harder if you're used to doing it the wrong way.

Just thought I'd add that you need to trust your coach and his abilities if you want to get the most out of your training. It seems these days that everyone and their mother is selling themselves as an expert olympic lifting coach and it sounds as if you have your doubts. I would definitely ask around and do some research before taking someones advice to heart. Go to local meets or find some way to connect with "real" lifters in your area and get their opinion on your coaching options.

[Greg Everett]

Originally Posted by Mike Ng

Just thought I'd add that you need to trust your coach and his abilities if you want to get the most out of your training.

This is a great point that bears repeating. If you don't trust your coach, he shouldn't be your coach, because it won't work for either of you. Like Mike said, do a bit of poking around and see if this coach is someone you can trust and you're just not yet comfortable with him, or if he legitimately has no business telling you what to do (both are entirely possible).

[Sonny Gelinas]

Thank you both for your thought's on this matter. Thank you Greg for setting up this great forum and the addition off all the new video's is a big plus. I think my next step is to record some lifts and post them on the forum. Finding a good couch seems to be harder and harder these days. When I have done basic searches for Olympic lifting couches every crossfit gym in the area pops up. Then I find that the coaches hang there hats on level one certification to qualify them to to be a experienced coach. So I am now doing more research on the history of these coaches.

[Greg Everett]

To be fair, being involved with CF does not automatically make you a bad weightlifting coach... BUT if a CF L1 cert is your "qualification", you have no business coaching the lifts to anyone but the most novice of CFers, and even that is arguable.

Have you posted on goheavy.com about finding a coach or checked for USAW clubs in the area?