Hi there. In this education post, I would like to highlight similarities between tutoring and fitness coaches.
Topics
- Background
- Importance Of Showing Up & Making An Effort
- Right Fit Between Client & Tutor/Coach
Background
Before I get into the main part of the post, I would like to share some details about me. I'm a math and stats based guy who has done some math tutoring here and there, did a few teaching assistant roles at undergraduate and graduate levels math/stats. I have done a short stint with Kumon and currently do some work with a Mathnasium.
On the fitness side, I have done about 2 years of fitness kickboxing in the Toronto area. I have done about 3 private pad training sessions at the fitness kickboxing place. I do see similarities between tutoring and fitness coaches. It is mostly about the people.
Importance Of Showing Up & Making An Effort
When it comes to services from tutoring and fitness coaches it is a bit of an interactive team or partnership effort. It is not like as if you pay the money for the services and it is all on the tutor or fitness coach to help the client. The student/client still has to show up and make an effort during the private session. Regardless of how good the tutor or coach is, the client still has to put in the work. The other case is true where the tutor/coach has to show up and put in an effort for the client. It works both ways as progress & possibly success is dependent on both parties.
Preparation also helps when it comes to making an effort. In private tutoring, it is helpful if the student provides a list of topics to be covered before the private session. That way the tutor can prepare for the session and review topics. If no list is provided, the tutor can still prepare but would have to guess what topics would be covered. I had this situation once and it sucks when you guess the wrong things in prep and forget concepts the student wants to cover. For the fitness coaching side of things, I would not know if there is prep work from the client side. The coach in theory could devise a plan for the private coaching session.
Right Fit Between Client & Tutor/Coach
Finding the right fit is important when it comes to services. A tutor or fitness coach could be knowledgable, smart, athletic, etc but could be not so good with connecting with some or most people. There is also the case where the tutor/coach could be nice but not knowledgable. Factors in selecting right fit include personality, teaching/training methods, level of expertise, price, location and availability.
As a former math tutor, it is not a good feeling for the tutor to work with a difficult student. Difficult could mean either as someone who needs catching with their math/algebra skills and speed or it could be a student client with a bad attitude towards people or math itself. There is dilemma of wanting to cut ties with someone or stick with it for the money. The other way is there from the student side. A student may want to cut ties with someone if the tutor does not live up to their standards and will find someone else. This type of situation can be messy.
A good pairing of a student and tutor or client and fitness coach can lead to a win-win case. Tutors and coaches would have a steady income stream with a regular customer(s). Students and clients can learn and improve in an enjoyable manner.
