Finding a Weightlifting Coach

1. Do your research by asking lifters, coaches and reading any information you can find - OTHER THAN WHAT THAT COACH SAYS ABOUT THEMSELVES.
2. If a coach claims to have coached previous great lifters, talk to those lifters directly.  You should be aware why a lifter left a coach to train with someone else.
3. Coaches with character will NOT privately FB message, text or call a lifter affiliated with another team or coach in order to recruit them.  Actually, they will not initiate conversation at all regardless of their intention of recruiting. 
4. When a coach wants to make a suggestion to a lifter's technique or training, they will contact that lifter's coach, not the lifter.
5. Coaches with character will NOT accept an affiliated lifter to their team without first discussing it with the lifter's current coach.
6. Work with a coach before affiliating with his/her team.

I    If you encounter a coach who misrepresents their accomplishments, has a questionable reputation within their weightlifting community, cannot maintain their lifters for long periods of time, or demonstrates #3, #4, or #5, you are taking a risk with not only your long-term weightlifting progress, but your emotional and psychological approach to the sport.  

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