GC applicability for coaching business

[Alex Simmons]

Warning - long post. If you are not a coach, then probably not much in this for you.

I'm trying to get a handle on the usability of GC from the perspective of a coaching business and I'd like to get somefeedback from anyone here that uses GC as their main analytics platform, and for whom coaching is their primary source of income. Since coaching is how I pay my bills, systems and software that stuff me about is of little appeal.

In this context I am not interested in views of part-time hobby coaches, self-coached athletes etc but rather people who coach for their living (paid by their clients, not by an employer) and rely on GC as part of their suite of supporting software/systems.

As a coaching business there are multiple aspects to software/system needs, and very little integration between them. File sharing, managing client communications via various channels, business management, marketing, sales, invoices/accounts receivables, data analytics, client calendar planning and needs assessment, preparation and provision of training plans/programs, client compliance and performance review and so on. Some things obviously outside this realm, such as ongoing coach education and development activity and logs, coaching accreditation requirements (relevant licencing, working with children compliance check, first aid certification, log books, insurance etc).

I have systems for each, some obviously off the shelf like WKO, some customised such as our client communications system, some self developed with some limited integration to the others, some crude/disorganised.

There are some high priority requirements:

• stability. Software that crashes regularly is of no interest to me
  
• performance.  Software or systems that do not operate with sufficient speed wastes my time.
  
• efficiency with workflow. The idea is to make many of the basic coaching processes easier to do, not harder or more time consuming. I've ended up building several of my own tools as a result, as I'm sure others have.
  
• integration. Where possible, software that integrates various key functional elements is attractive. and this is a massive weak point in current offerings IMO.
  
• desktop v online. web based is nice 'n' all however internet is not always available when you travel (and not always at home) and being unable to work on a local computer platform would drive me stir crazy
  
• support. is it a professional business level of support or one guy in a metaphorical garage?
  

Analytics:

WKO+ managed my basic analytic needs quite well, and a few extra features might have been nice but I suppose my experience and own tools made up for lack of analytics features. It was boring but super stable and just worked across two computers without complaint. Its days are numbered of course with introduction of WKO4. I made the upgrade (and indeed was a beta tester for it) however WKO4 is not meeting some basic functional business needs, in particular stability and efficiency with workflow and so it's time to re evaluate the options. WKO4 may well still be my best option and changing platforms when you are coach is no a small deal but I am open to see what other's experiences are. I've evaluated Training Peaks and it's lacking significantly such that the asking price is an order of magnitude too high.

I had similar problems some years ago when I was evaluating GC. It was never stable for me and so it only ever became an occasional use platform, usually for doing a specific functions from time to time. But it has undergone a significant revamp since then.

So coaches - how does GC stack up in this coaching business context?

Workflow and usability?

Stability?

Client file sync?

Integration with client communication / management platforms?

Support?

If not GC, why not?

[Hamish Ferguson]

I see WKO4 and WKO3 and GC as training data analysis software. Totally separate to my coaching business. I use TrainingPeaks which is slowly adding more functionality to my Coaching needs. It integrates with most apps and software I use like WKO4 and am experimenting with lke XERT. I am frequently approached by other Coaching Platforms to try their product but see no real differences and as you mention the costs of changing to a new platform. 

So coaches - how does GC stack up in this coaching business context?

I look at my own data out of interest and because I am learning to use R for my sport science work. But not for coaching as everything syncs seamlessly with my 20-25 clients between TPeaks and WKO4. 

Workflow and usability?

Stability?

Client file sync?

As mentioned above this is the stumbling block for me. I can sync on GC with my athlete account on TPeaks. I have a premium athlete account that lets me do this in GC and XERT. In WKO4 I can auto sync with all clients. TPeaks also now shows notifications for each ride and each comment made as well as email notifications. Email notifications are for premium accounts but the web based notifications are for all accounts. There is now a Home page that summarises a lot of details. Am finding this quite handy. 

Integration with client communication / management platforms?

I don't think this is the aim of GC, or WKO4. 

Support?

As this is freeware I assume this page is the place for support. 

Hamish

[Alex Simmons]

Thanks Hamish

Perhaps there are not many coaches actually using GC, at least none here willing to chat about it.

[Mark Liversedge]

On Monday, 13 June 2016 03:22:13 UTC+1, Alex Simmons wrote:

Perhaps there are not many coaches actually using GC, at least none here willing to chat about it.

We have a number of coaches using GC to analyse and track performance.

There are a few popular services for coaches and generally they are web-based. We try and integrate with them rather than replace them. 

One of the newer ones we haven't yet integrated with is "Today's Plan" which may fit your needs (we will integrate with it in the next 3 months or so). See: https://www.todaysplan.com.au/coaching-tools/

Mark 

[Hamish Ferguson]

Main advantage for me using WKO4 as a coach is the ability to sync all my coaching clients (inc non premium) in one go. On the downside it syncs them all and this can take a while as WKO4 goes back over the last 30 days just in case any files have been edited. Still prefer using WKO3 for flicking between riders and setting up charts and editing files (cleaning up power spikes). With the ability to create charts there has led to a lot of new ideas. Mostly redundant and pointless when most people have a limited understanding of power meters and what a watt is. 

The ability to sync with one click is the real winner for me. 

Having been a beta tester for WKO4 I found some suggestions were listened to and others weren't. Most annoying thing I find in WKO4 is every time I plug my Garmin in it automatically tries to download when I use Garmin Connect to sync with TPeaks, my personal Strava, my coaching Strava and within then from TPeaks to WKO4, WKO3, GC and XERT. Sort of playing the field and all have strengths and weakness's. 

Hamish 

[massarob.info]

My 0.2 €

So coaches - how does GC stack up in this coaching business context?

ATM and since 2-3 years it's THE software I'm using. Previously WKO3 and ST

Workflow and usability?

the customization side is BIG (and a plus) but time consuming, a trial and error process is required too to filter what you really need (charts, panels)

Stability?

ups and downs but this is almost due to the version in use, some developer versions are annoying, others VERY stable (last one for example). No big problems with non dev releases. I use GC mainly on a powerful desktop, sometimes on a laptop and the main bottleneck is the hardware not much GC itself.

Client file sync?

weekly (not daily, not at the moment...) drag&drop from archive via email, googledrive drop via my website simple interface. Some years ago I used Bittorrent_sync as a simple way to sync folders between me and my clients, it was easy but often not optimal in band use (especially if I'm away/travelling and the only connection is via limited traffic 3G/4G)

Integration with client communication / management platforms?

email, Skype, Telegram. Personally I don't think there's a need to integrate GC (or any data analyzer sw) with a communication one. Simple and flexible, IMHO, in what other software to use. Some years ago Skype was one of the main comunication program, now people/clients prefer others (e.g. WhatsApp, Telegram). It's not an online platform so it's fine as it is.

Support?

mainly this board. In some forums there are specific threads about GC.

[Alex Simmons]

On Monday, June 13, 2016 at 7:43:31 PM UTC+10, Hamish Ferguson wrote:

Main advantage for me using WKO4 as a coach is the ability to sync all my coaching clients (inc non premium) in one go. On the downside it syncs them all and this can take a while as WKO4 goes back over the last 30 days just in case any files have been edited. Still prefer using WKO3 for flicking between riders and setting up charts and editing files (cleaning up power spikes). With the ability to create charts there has led to a lot of new ideas. Mostly redundant and pointless when most people have a limited understanding of power meters and what a watt is. 

I agree with this observation, in particular the last sentence. All this new found charting power seems to have done is unleash a torrent of charting noise, and now the skill set is working out if there are any gems that provide actual insight. Like you, I think it is mostly navel gazing nonsense. Hopefully there will be a chart quality filter that emerges.

 

The ability to sync with one click is the real winner for me. 

Yeah, sync been a big fat fail for me unfortunately. It just hangs.

 

Having been a beta tester for WKO4 I found some suggestions were listened to and others weren't. Most annoying thing I find in WKO4 is every time I plug my Garmin in it automatically tries to download when I use Garmin Connect to sync with TPeaks, my personal Strava, my coaching Strava and within then from TPeaks to WKO4, WKO3, GC and XERT. Sort of playing the field and all have strengths and weakness's. 

From a personal download POV, I wish it would select the same athlete as last time when it asks to save the Powercontrol file I just downloaded instead of forcing me to scroll all my historical athletes list to select my own name each time.

[Alex Simmons]

Thanks for commenting!

[Antonio Sanguigni]

Il giorno lunedì 13 giugno 2016 16:42:08 UTC+2, massarob.info ha scritto:

My 0.2 €

 

[CUT}

Client file sync?

weekly (not daily, not at the moment...) drag&drop from archive via email, googledrive drop via my website simple interface. Some years ago I used Bittorrent_sync as a simple way to sync folders between me and my clients, it was easy but often not optimal in band use (especially if I'm away/travelling and the only connection is via limited traffic 3G/4G) 

What about using ownCloud on your own server or vps ? ownCloud clients are multiaccounts, so you can open an account for each customer of yours and having all inside it, synch automatically. 

Antonio

[Alex Simmons]

Thanks. Never heard of ownCloud before. Will have a look.