Anonymous
02/19/2025 15:14
Subject: Level of feedback from coach
Yikes, unless she super loves it, I'd skip the lessons. I wouldn't sign her up for more lessons unless she is motivated enough to put in a lot of work on her own first.
You could spend buckets of money on fencing, but as you deduced, what is the end goal? Would the cost of private training off-set the scholarship you will receive in the future? Probably not. Save the extra 5k per year and invest it for her. Just keep her in the base classes that her fiends are in.
Your husband may be living vicariously through her on this one. We have crazy moms and dads in soccer whose forehead veins burst every time their kid touches a ball. The kids are 9 and 10 year old BTW. The madness has started w the private lessons.
Also, they coach doesn't sound like a good fit as it goes.
You could spend buckets of money on fencing, but as you deduced, what is the end goal? Would the cost of private training off-set the scholarship you will receive in the future? Probably not. Save the extra 5k per year and invest it for her. Just keep her in the base classes that her fiends are in.
Your husband may be living vicariously through her on this one. We have crazy moms and dads in soccer whose forehead veins burst every time their kid touches a ball. The kids are 9 and 10 year old BTW. The madness has started w the private lessons.
Also, they coach doesn't sound like a good fit as it goes.
Anonymous
02/19/2025 14:57
Subject: Level of feedback from coach
Anonymous wrote:All this is such a scam. I am a former D1 ball player and just coach my kids and their friends who play the sport and have a decent success with it. I don't have energy to do the AAU circus so just coach 3-5 kids on the side for free and have to say that is a decent way of getting your own kids better.
Counting on some rando coach to significantly improve them is hard. I actually know these kids weaknesses and tendencies so I can tailor our training.
It feels the same way to me as well re: scam. But at least in more mainstream sports, I’ve seen much more engagement and planning from coaches. I don’t know what I’m missing here, the club seems busy but it’s about 95% Asian kids so I don’t know if there’s something cultural that I’m missing. DH said that parents were talking about college scholarships as motivation, but looking at the stats online, there are precious few scholarships. Someone correct me if I’m wrong, there also appears to be nothing beyond college in terms of professional opportunities. At 2-3 private lessons a week and classes, I’m looking at a minimum of $15,000/yr to do this and that’s not including equipment and travel. DD is having fun but wondering if it makes more sense to just skip the lessons at least until HS, do 2-3 classes a week, and play other sports to build up fitness and then do these travel competitions starting in HS for college recruitment if that’s what she wants.
Anonymous
02/19/2025 13:49
Subject: Level of feedback from coach
All this is such a scam. I am a former D1 ball player and just coach my kids and their friends who play the sport and have a decent success with it. I don't have energy to do the AAU circus so just coach 3-5 kids on the side for free and have to say that is a decent way of getting your own kids better.
Counting on some rando coach to significantly improve them is hard. I actually know these kids weaknesses and tendencies so I can tailor our training.
Counting on some rando coach to significantly improve them is hard. I actually know these kids weaknesses and tendencies so I can tailor our training.
Anonymous
02/19/2025 12:52
Subject: Level of feedback from coach
Anonymous wrote:You probably won't get much out of these sessions unless you drop thousands of dollars and are looking for a hook into club. As a parent, you'll still be connecting the dots. However, if you have the money and not the time you might see value in that. Personally, I've booked up on sports coaching from conditioning to nutrition. Much cheaper and better for planning.
I’m more familiar with regular sports like swimming, where you can expect feedback from coaches about everything from training, motivation to nutrition. Perhaps this is just a bad club, but currently dropping $450/month for group classes that appear to consist of nothing but some fitness that you can do at home and some “open fencing” where the kids are largely left to themselves and these $100 private lessons where the coach does a few drills and otherwise appears checked out. Is this normal for fencing? I’m hesitant to drop even more money per month on traveling on top of the club expenses if this is a largely self-guided sport. If any fencing parents can chime in, I’d appreciate it.
Anonymous
02/19/2025 09:26
Subject: Re:Level of feedback from coach
My kid gets private lessons in her sport and there is constant feedback. And the only time the coach is on her phone is to take video and then play it back for my daughter to show her something. Zero chance I would stick with your situation.
Anonymous
02/19/2025 09:03
Subject: Level of feedback from coach
Ask to end 5 minutes early for feedback
Anonymous
02/19/2025 09:02
Subject: Level of feedback from coach
You probably won't get much out of these sessions unless you drop thousands of dollars and are looking for a hook into club. As a parent, you'll still be connecting the dots. However, if you have the money and not the time you might see value in that. Personally, I've booked up on sports coaching from conditioning to nutrition. Much cheaper and better for planning.
Anonymous
02/19/2025 08:31
Subject: Level of feedback from coach
Our DD does private lessons for her sport. The coach knows her well so identifies specific things he thinks she needs that are unique to her, gives her constant feedback during lessons (eg don’t lean so far forward, etc.) Most often he has her do a drill, ask her what she thought worked and didn’t, and helps her figure out for herself what would be more effective and they run through it a bunch of times. It is impossible for me to imagine that coach ever being in his phone.
Anonymous
02/19/2025 06:55
Subject: Level of feedback from coach
Phone use during a private lesson is unacceptable but I would not expect feedback beyond just a “Larla is doing well, make sure she’s continue her footwork or whatever in between sessions”
Anonymous
02/18/2025 23:14
Subject: Level of feedback from coach
I coach a different sport, but IMO it is unacceptable for a coach to be on the phone for any portion of a private lesson.
Anonymous
02/18/2025 23:07
Subject: Level of feedback from coach
Anonymous wrote:These coaches that charge $100 for lessons are often quite booked and don't provide a lot of feedback unless you ask for it.
I have experience with this in youth soccer. $75 and $120 lessons... zero feedback or a plan. Just 1 on 1 coaching some drills. Making the kids work and do skills at a high tempo. Thats it. Some coaches charge $100 just to make some sort of comprehensive assessment. The coach will need a baseline of understanding the kid's needs before the coach can make a gameplay. Then, yes, ideally, the coach should watch the kid play a game and provide guidance right after his team coach is finished with the team. But, I wouldn't be surprised if that level of coaching is extra too.
So yes, unless you set an expectation that those items are what you are looking for... they will just do skills sessions. And often they are not even tailored to your athlete.
The $120 coach did a session with my kid. But it was almost the same exact session they did with an athlete 7 years older. Decent work if you can get it, right?
Perhaps I’m in the wrong line of work. There are precious few jobs where you can get $120/hr for what boils down to is some exercising with a kid. What’s wild is that there is no guarantee of any sort of result spending that kind of money.
Anonymous
02/18/2025 23:04
Subject: Level of feedback from coach
Anonymous wrote:What sport?
Fencing. I’m admittedly not well versed but so far it seems to be just a money grab.
Anonymous
02/18/2025 21:55
Subject: Level of feedback from coach
What sport?
Anonymous
02/18/2025 21:48
Subject: Level of feedback from coach
These coaches that charge $100 for lessons are often quite booked and don't provide a lot of feedback unless you ask for it.
I have experience with this in youth soccer. $75 and $120 lessons... zero feedback or a plan. Just 1 on 1 coaching some drills. Making the kids work and do skills at a high tempo. Thats it. Some coaches charge $100 just to make some sort of comprehensive assessment. The coach will need a baseline of understanding the kid's needs before the coach can make a gameplay. Then, yes, ideally, the coach should watch the kid play a game and provide guidance right after his team coach is finished with the team. But, I wouldn't be surprised if that level of coaching is extra too.
So yes, unless you set an expectation that those items are what you are looking for... they will just do skills sessions. And often they are not even tailored to your athlete.
The $120 coach did a session with my kid. But it was almost the same exact session they did with an athlete 7 years older. Decent work if you can get it, right?
I have experience with this in youth soccer. $75 and $120 lessons... zero feedback or a plan. Just 1 on 1 coaching some drills. Making the kids work and do skills at a high tempo. Thats it. Some coaches charge $100 just to make some sort of comprehensive assessment. The coach will need a baseline of understanding the kid's needs before the coach can make a gameplay. Then, yes, ideally, the coach should watch the kid play a game and provide guidance right after his team coach is finished with the team. But, I wouldn't be surprised if that level of coaching is extra too.
So yes, unless you set an expectation that those items are what you are looking for... they will just do skills sessions. And often they are not even tailored to your athlete.
The $120 coach did a session with my kid. But it was almost the same exact session they did with an athlete 7 years older. Decent work if you can get it, right?
Anonymous
02/18/2025 20:28
Subject: Level of feedback from coach
What level of engagement would you expect from a coach that you pay $100 for 40 minute lessons? Current engagement is pretty minimal- almost no feedback, coach is on the phone for 10 minutes of that lesson, and has never even seen the kid compete. DH says it’s because kid is young and as he gets older, there will be more to discuss. I’m of the opinion that for that kind of money you should have some in-depth feedback on skills, progression, and a plan for the future. Otherwise seems like just a money grab.