I had some problems with my lifts stalling and knew form could be the culprit, so I looked at the Starting Strength Coach registry and emailed a few coaches. John was incredibly responsive, and really cool about it when I mentioned at one point it was looking like I couldn't come (despite having spent a lot of his time via emails). He helped me with questions I had regarding setting up for the session, and during the session was very helpful. He ran me through the Starting Strength standard squat setup (SSSSS) and got my damn back horizontal. He knew that I could keep getting my grip tighter, and this by itself fixed almost every issue I had, from wrist pain to bar rolling forward.
He was very flexible, and was happy to review all 5 lifts briefly to get me in the right direction, even though I only signed up for the Squat and Powerclean. I'd of course want a coach to tell me to stop being an idiot if I was sabotaging my own progress by doing so, but I get the vibe John was happy throwing a few minutes into the lifts to basically give me a checklist of what I was doing wrong. He was personable, which I enjoyed, and had me squatting right (at least compared to where I was before) by the end of the session. I wasn't doing anything else right, but at least I had the cues to fix them later. It's worth noting I have the motor skills of a drunk rock, if you're a little more athletic you may find yourself learning faster.
I would've liked to have a couple more sessions with him to drive form home, but I'm a broke student and even if I wasn't he's a country away. I highly recommend if you're not a broke student who's a country away to get some coaching from John!
