Should I follow up with this coach?

Ori13_TTV

Hey guys, a bit of a different kind of question here:

Im attempting to make arrangements with a coach that Ive worked with in the past. I was happy with his skill as a coach and player, and its very difficult to find a worthy coach in this price range (hes charging $65). sometimes its better to have no coach than a bad coach in my opinion but also a good coach can really take your career to the next level. I dont want to spend too much on a coach because I am trying to balance learning with making money so i can grow my bankroll to the point where i can better justify spending more on a coach. (currently making about $13/hr, i think a good coach can help me get that up to 15 or 16 /hr)

anyway, to the question, this coach is someone i was very happy with in the past, but a little bit of email communication and it seems to be proving difficult to communicate with him which is kind of reading to me as disinterest on his part. the last email i sent him included information about where I am as a player, and in the email working towards payment details and arranging the first coaching session. He said in a previous email that he would be available after august 10th, im not sure if that meant he could do our first session on/after august 10th or 11th or maybe he meant thats when he will be more available to arrange the details of our coaching agreement better. its been several days since our last communication with unanswered questions and august 10th is coming up pretty quick. Communication hasnt been this difficult with him last time i hired him as a coach 2 years ago, which is why im leaning toward this being a sign of disinterest or indifference. maybe hes making about as much from playing as he is charging for coaching and that could be why he's not incentivized to be so proactive with communication as i feel a coach should be.

If it works out, i think it will definitely be a good deal to have access his knowledge and skills for the price he listed and will certainly improve my winrate enough to cover the cost of coaching, but is the communication issue a big enough red flag that I should disengage from attempting to make an agreement with him or should I follow up with him and ask if he missed my last email or something like that?

EDIT: just to be completely clear, this is NOT anybody from here.

TheGameKat

It could be disinterest. Honestly I'd have fairly low enthusiasm for coaching at that price, simply because for every contact hour I tend to put in an additional three, but everyone works differently.

That said, we are living in strange times. Without knowing if this coach has kids at home or self-isolating parents that require support, it's probably better to ask for clarity than make assumptions.

Ori13_TTV

Thanks for the input kat. And yeah i agree, i think he typically plays 200NL online and may have moved up to 500NL so he is likely not making too much less on the poker table than what he is charging for coaching.

I think youre right about not being too assumptive also. I will follow up with him, but im a little uncertain about what degree of tact i should use. If i should just be straight up and tell him the communication difficulties are concerning to me or if i should simply ask him if he perhaps missed my last email or has been busy

TheGameKat

I think how you handle issues like this reflects personal style as much as anything. My inclination would be to fire off an email on the 11th asking if he's keen to resume your arrangement.

Ori13_TTV

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TheGameKat wrote: »

I think how you handle issues like this reflects personal style as much as anything. My inclination would be to fire off an email on the 11th asking if he's keen to resume your arrangement.

Yeah i thought about that approach too and am leaning towards that. The last thing I want to do is send somebody money in advance and end up and having difficulty getting them to hold up on their end of the bargain

Thanks again for the input

TheGameKat

Welcome