Has anyone attended this course, and if so, what were your impressions? Oly lifting has now become my favorite hobby (5 years in) and this looks like an interesting course.

If you need it for coaching, then go and do it, if not, why bother.

I actually would like to start coaching at my local affiliate, which is why I asked for opinions. Specifically on content, atmosphere, the exam etc.

The course I took had a mixture of experienced lifters who needed to be certified to coach, intermediate lifters who hoped to coach, and the usual clueless person that should not even be there. Everybody passed.

Content wise it was about half and half between classroom sessions and lectures including the final exam. The course will probably not improve your technique but it will cover the official USAW way to teach the snatch and clean & jerk progression, with which you are completely free to disagree. It also covers OL rules and meet logistics (warm up, counting attemps, etc).

If you would like to start coaching and the cert is required, take it and be done with it.