Coaching

 

For pilots needing coaching

The Long Mynd soaring club has a large number of club coaches, who will be happy to offer experienced advice and help to newly qualified hang-glider and paraglider pilots, enabling them to safely bridge the gap from school to club. For more experienced visiting pilots, they can also provide site briefings to help you make the most of unfamiliar flying sites. The club is currently working towards a more focussed coaching approach, which will enable anyone who wants help and advice to direct their request at those coaches who are most experienced and with the right availability to be able to work to to everyones best advantage.

Please note the up to date list of accredited LMSC coaches is on the coaching page.

Coaching done by an LMSC coach under the BHPA coaching scheme is always free. Some coaches also offer additional commercial services, such as guiding.

Why be a coach?

If you feel you would like to put something back into the sport, to help others through situations you may have found yourself in, or if you find yourself helping others but are unsure of what you should be saying or doing, then become a coach. Helping somebody off the hill can create a daunting feeling of responsibility and the coaching course will give you the confidence to do this safely. Attending a course will also help with your own flying and your understanding of the sport.

How to become a club coach

You don’t have to be an experienced or skilled pilot to be a good coach. Often the most effective coaches are those who have just gone through the early flying experiences that are still fresh in the mind. So after flying for several months and with about 20 hours or more airtime, lack of experience need not be a barrier to becoming a coach. Approach one of the existing coaches, and talk through what is involved. Course dates and venues are listed in Skywings.

What do you learn on the coaching course?

The principles of free flying coaching and mentoring are common with many sports and also within work environments. Topics include skills assessment, personal abilities, appropriateness of sites and met conditions, identifying next steps, task planning, and take off, flying and landing skills. The course is largely classroom based, but is practical and allows for interaction between all our flying disciplines.

Becoming an LMSC club coach

Once you have been on the course, you will become a member of the LMSC coaching team, and will find out about how we go about coaching in the club. The main coaching concerns center around newly qualified pilots who are suddenly faced with a busy site, lots of new and unknown faces, and a list of several tasks and skills to develop. The function of the coach is to help these pilots through an challenging few months, and to reach a good level of club flying competence quickly and safely.

Existing club (and senior) coaches are encouraged to redo the course at least once every five years to remain current as a club coach.