I'd like to select a coach from those available here on Chess.com. I assume, like with any activity, being a strong player does not make one a good coach necessarily. Similarly, the ability to write a good bio means little. Does anyone have recommendations on what to look for to narrow the options and make a final choice? Thanks for responding.
As a coach I realize that there are a lot of coaches on chess.com and not all of them are for everyone. If you are unsure of a coach see if they have a free meetup, or lesson that you can make sure that coach is the coach for you. I am big on making each lesson personalized for all the differences in each student I have. I believe a good coach has flexibility, and puts in the work to find the weaknesses and the study plan right for each individual student, not some titled player analyzing your games with no specific topic or tips to learn from. I don't know if you are still looking for a coach, and if you still need one I am here, and if I am not the right coach for you I am sure I can recommend someone else! Have a great day! I hope you find the right coach for you!
Where does this stupid idea that people need to be xx rating to need a coach come from? It's like saying wait until you can play guitar/tennis/piano well enough to get some lessons. How many of these responses are from people with direct experience of coaches when they were beginners? If a coach just told you to do some puzzles and opening principles, get another coach who will actually try and help you. A good coach or teacher will actually try and help you. Speaking from experience here, and not just offering an opinion.
Comes from experience, I don't understand how you could consider something a stupid idea when you don't understand yourself since you're only 900 elo. Below 1200 elo there is almost always a serious mistake/poor positional trade/decision or simple blunder within 10, maximum 15 moves of the game. If you were to play me in a game for example I could completely not pay attention and play natural moves and probably just be crushing you by move 10-15. We're only trying to make OP use his money and time wisely. Speaking from experience here, not just offering an opinion.
Different people get stuck on different ratings. What seems to be simple to you may not be simple for someone else.
A coach is able to show you the things you’ve been missing, and give your practice so you can apply them to your games.
I would advise the OP to compare costs between different coaches and see if any of them have reviews/ trial lessons. But it is largely like making a leap of faith- you will have to try it out and see.
I would say the best thing for the OP to go to some coaches profile. There, he would find his students comments about his coaching, till he find someone with similar rating. Then he message him whether he improved a lot and whether it is worth paying (I don’t trust those comments in coaches profile very much, so that’s why I said to ask the student directly). Not like I have experienced getting coached or something like that though. I just think this might be worth trying, but not like I want to use the OP as an experimental subject to this. So I guess you could say this is an option.