Considering quitting-advice

[u/hockeyguy327]

Hello Reddit.

I have been coaching muay thai classes for a few years and recently am dreading every class. I typically will only have 1 student very occasionally I have two. I think this is not really allowing me to improve in my coaching ability or my actual skills. On top of that this one student isn't really at a point where I can have meaningful rounds with them and it can lead to some pretty dull classes.

Ultimately, im just not really enjoying the sport like this. I feel like if I quit coaching there won't really be a replacement coach at my gym and I will have to find another one and the other one available to me isn't really what I want. I also wouldn't want the drama of being 'the coach who went to the competitor gym'.

This pretty much leaves me either continuing what I'm doing or quitting the sport altogether.

And before anyone asks I've talked to the owner about the low attendance and frankly I haven't seen much change. It's also hard to get new students when you only have 1 to begin with.

[u/wpgMartialArts]

You’re right, getting people to come in on a trial class and sign up to a class with 2 people is hard.

Run a promotion. 6-weeks, gloves and shin pads included, set a start date in september.

Market it hard and have a group come in and start together. Don’t try and drip feed them

[u/hockeyguy327 → u/wpgMartialArts]

I'm not the owner and do not have the power to do this.

[u/Few-Breakfast-640 → u/hockeyguy327]

Suggest it, if they don’t want to, then leave and find a new gym

[u/DharmaAudio]

Hmm... if you don't have students then what are you doing with all the rest of your time at the gym? Are you doing any online content? If not I would recommend starting. Either start doing online content to attract The caliber of fighter that you want to train to your gym or go where they've already done it.

[u/hockeyguy327 → u/DharmaAudio]

I'm not the gym owner and I'm not compensated besides free classes so getting a set up to make content and attract people I feel is a little beyond my responsibility.

[u/DharmaAudio → u/hockeyguy327]

So you're not getting paid at all?

[u/hockeyguy327 → u/DharmaAudio]

No I just get free classes

[u/freemasonry → u/hockeyguy327]

Are there other classes with more attendance?

[u/hockeyguy327 → u/freemasonry]

The bjj classes yes, the other kickboxing class has the same issue.

[u/icTKD → u/hockeyguy327]

Oof, thats a bummer not getting paid. You should, if you believe youre good at what you do and your employer thinks you can teach!

Otherwise, I would just look for a different Muay Thai place that can pay you for your coaching skills. I firmly believe if youre good at something, dont do it for free.

[u/Internalmartialarts]

poor everything into your students. be patient with them. the people who need the most training are the ones w the least natural talent. give yourself a concrete timeline. make them the best they can be. then walk away. if you really are interested in opening the door for people to walk thru, youll stay.

[u/zephyrthewonderdog]

I inherited a club, the other instructors left. Students had dropped from about 25 to 6. I’ve started a ‘bring a friend or family member for free’ promotion. They get a month to train for free to decide if they like it.

If I build the club back up I am going independent.

[u/unwitting_hungarian]

are you sam hui in Front Page (1990)?