Via web video, coaches provide athletes with frame-by-frame tips

A while back, we featured MyCricketCoach, which provides long distance cricket training by web. While there are benefits to picking a niche, a different website allows athletes and coaches of all sports to give and get online coaching. The online community at Upmygame helps athletes gain advice from professional coaches and other users. At sign-up, participants are asked to specify whether they’re an ‘athlete’ or a ‘coach’, although both parties can give and receive advice. Critiquing takes place via short videos uploaded by athletes, containing footage of them practising their chosen sport—anything from football to yoga. Frame-by-frame playback allows for precise commentary in the form of diagrams and text. Bringing an authentic coaching experience to the web, any coach with a mic on their computer can also upload a recording of their advice. Although the site places an emphasis on its ability to help athletes improve, it also acts as a money-making platform for coaches who wish to charge for their insight. Whereas all of MyCricketCoach’s advice came from one coach, Upmygame acts as a broker for advice, turning it into a P2P marketplace—an Etsy for coaching, if you like. Now that services can be sold online as easily as products, what gaps can you benefit from bridging? (Related: Sell what you say — Hair salon offers Skype consultations.)