I wouldn't proclaim one to be a total waste of money, but again that depends what you value, and who's learning. By analogy, would you trust yourself to teach yourself guitar, a new sport, or weight lifting? Sure, you could get competent on your own, but having (good) tuition would likely get you to a good level quicker. As with a lot of skills however, some people are doomed to be at a poor level (arguably like First Person Approacher without any ecstasy).


It arguably depends on the coaches, and content. Sure you could probably learn these things on your own, but they do generally accelerate your progress somewhat. Unfortunately, many coaches out there just aren't that competent (or have high expectations for their clients; discarding social outcasts or hard cases, like James Tusk generally does).

Z