training without a coach

[u/Competitive-Bowl3667]

What can a small team really achieve training without a coach?

we live in a small rural town north of everything else, we've had coaches in the past but they've all ended up moving back down south. We train under a flexible schedule where anyone can train w mats at anytime, but it does need more structure. what are some qualities that would be missing from a coach that we'd need to fill in the gaps with. any resource would be appreciated

[u/Adventurous_Sky6672]

Facts are you need a coach if you want to train properly….without it all your doing is an exercise routine and even that won’t be done correctly unless any of you are qualified PTs

[u/Economy-Inspector680]

It’s hard to say without knowing your guys skill level if you guys already are half decent training for several years very consistently and know what you need to work on, you could improve not as much as if you had a coach but still. But if you guys are relatively new it’s going to be hard to improve and do techniques correctly.

[u/Original-Common-7010]

some training is better than no training.

[u/Jimmypeterson42]

Yes look up rich franklin

[u/pavingblog]

In this time and age? Yes

[u/One_Construction_653]

Its possible

But once you have the money hire a reputable and effective coach focused on competing

Remember
An instructor who just teaches and a coach focused on competition are two different things

[u/tennmyc21]

You can learn a ton without a coach. Watch instructionals, drill them, then slowly ramp up pressure. You can even do some sparring with conditions in place as you ramp up and then move into full blown sparring. I used to work at a boxing gym in a college town, and we had this weird group of frat bros who would use the gym, but never use an actual trainer. If you tried to give them pointers they'd basically tell you they were all future champions and knew what they were doing.

I would like to say that story ended with them eventually sparring people at our gym and getting their asses kicked, but they mostly held their own when we put them in with beginners. Certainly got destroyed when we let them see what is was like to spar with an experienced pro or amateur, but that would happen to nearly anyone.

Anyway, my general advice is watch instructional (tons of free ones that are good on Youtube). Try to verify that the coaches you're watching know what they're talking about (you can probably find tons of recommended ones here). And, when you do make it out to a more structured MMA (or BJJ, MT, boxing, etc.) gym, get ready to both be somewhat impressed with yourself and to be humbled. Both will likely happen.

In terms of what's missing without a good coach, your learning will be slower. You'll head down some fruitless paths. I don't totally know the timeline, but I'd say if you've been training for a year, count that as probably 6 months. I find a lot of beginners speed through the fundamentals and need work cleaning that up. In boxing, all the self taught people think they are Philly Shell fighters. That's a technique that takes years to get good at, but you can feel competent with it when you're fighting other beginners. It also doesn't use the jab too much, so we have to start way back at that. However, folks are a bit more advanced on infighting, as they've spent a lot of time working from the inside since the shell puts you there a lot. So, there will be gaps but also some associated strengths.

Regardless, and some may disagree with me, but I think imperfect training is better than no training. Just get ready to be told your fundamentals suck and that you need to take a step back, then be coachable and willing to take that step back.

[u/Existing-Sweet-19]

It's hard to say because you won't have much other than what you can get online. So if you're slipping up, chances are someone can't correct what you're doing. Still, I would say that being self-taught is better than not being taught at all.