Recently, it seems as though there as been a decent push against coaching in the form of stuff like random posts on 2p2. The training sites are then burnt at the stake for not protecting players against coaches that may not develop on all of a student's dreams. Ironically, training sites do the most out of everything out there for coaching.

I'll use myself as an example. I've been making videos since late 2007, among the longest of anyone out there. If I had to guess, I would say that I have make more high stakes (5/10+) videos than anyone else online (I just counted -- there are 35 of those such videos on Leggo and I really, really, doubt someone has more). I've coached a laundry list of individuals and taken many of them up the chain from midstakes to highstakes. I get so much satisfaction from seeing someone work hard and improve. There has yet to be a student who has thought my coaching wasn't worth it -- I say this because I truly pride myself on providing a quality product. The one constant that I almost always hear from prospective students is: "I've seen your videos and I think you explain your thought process the best/among the best out of all the videos I've watched." Let's face it: coaching isn't about how well someone plays poker. That's a REQUIREMENT. The good news is you literally get to watch and determine if someone is good from their videos! (Luckily, I own everyone in my 5/10 videos, examples: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). I have no sympathy for anyone who jumps on a coach, knowing very little about him, and not being confident on his abilities to play poker. If you are unsure, watch their videos and speak to people. Ask them questions in their threads and see if you are getting the responses that will make you feel satisfied!

Once you determine that they have the ability to play winning poker when they choose to, you must now determine if they have the ability to teach winning poker. Many potentially coaches fail point a, but most fail point b. When I saw posts attacking training sites, I slapped my head and said, "Wow, well, training sites give prospective students the closest thing to a test drive of a coaching session there is in the poker world!"

I would say that if a coach makes good or great videos, that's generally enough to assume that you will have a great coaching experience. However, if you really need more certainty, just ask him to give a few references of past or present students. Ask them at what level they started, where they are now, what difference coaching has made, and if the whole thing was worth it. The last bit of clarification you are looking for here is a coach's ability to take someone else's game (which is most likely fundamentally different than his own), and evolve it along it's own path.

I made this post because I coach and I am damn proud of the effort I put into it. So, I think it's a joke when someone takes a torch and lights the fire in the form of a 2p2 thread saying something to the effect of "I know someone who had a bad coaching experience, so coaching in general is a scam."