Webinar Highlights from Hamish Kerr & James Sandilands

Each month, Te Korowai hosts a webinar for it’s members. For our most recent one we had James Sandilands and Hamish Kerr on it.

Because it was so good, we wanted to share a few highlights.

Question: What is the basis of your coaching relationship?

Hamish Kerr: It is based on trust.I think there are times when trust gets challenged, but we have the ability to work through those challenges and create strength. Having challenges together has been really important. I know that if Jimmy, tells me I needto do something whether it is a physical cue or a technical cue, I know that it is the right call because there was so much evidence behind the decision making.

Question: What has been the biggest challenge since you started working together as coach and athlete

Hamish Kerr: Probably the biggest one was actually when Jimmy came on board. Jimmy took the reins in November 2023, which was about ten months before the Olympics. We had a lot of work to do in a short period of time. Terry Lomax, my former coach, was pretty amazing at sticking around and making sure that the IP was transferred

James Sandilands: My job wasn’t to turn Hamish into this great high jumper in ten months. It was to work with what we had. He was already a fantastic high jumper. It is about not losing sight of what made Hamish really successful but enabling him to jump really well at the right time of year. We looked at tweaking one or two things that would enhance his performance. Our focus was doing things repeatedly well.

Question: James what is your role as the coach in the mental skill space?

James Sandilands: I think it goes far beyond just that competition itself. We focus a lot on process. We try to keep things simple, to bring it back to basics. There was a moment at the Olympics where I grabbed Hamish and shook him and said, this is the one that counts. You need to clear this height. I didn’t want to make it bigger than it was but it is a heightened moment. He was managing his emotions really well. I was trying to match his emotions. I was trying to stay calm – to focus on what matters in that moment.

Hamish Kerr: During the Olympics, every time I looked over at the stand, Jimmy had this neutral face, just like, job on. This created a lot of confidence and stability for me. It was so important, particularly through the qualifying. There were moments where I was seriously doubting myself, and I had to go over to him and get confidence. I was like, can I do this? And Jimmy was like, yeah, you can do it. And I looked deep in his eyes and I could see that he believed that, and so I believed it.

Question: How do you prepare for those big evets like the Olympics?

James Sandilands: There is a lot of noise around the village but I remember there was a kind of weird sense of calm. We tried to enjoy this moment as much as possible and be really present with it. Our aim was to create a sense of simplicity, there is no denying that you are at the Olympics but we wanted to make it feel like another comp. We came to the realization that we had done the prep and that we need to trust each other and trust the process.

Hamish Kerr: I was happy. I was enjoying myself. I knew I was in really good shape. The evidence was there. We had the training metrics. The pre competitions had gone really well. They provided amazing learning points and opportunities to test ourselves. I had a few hiccups in qualifying, but I had prepared for that. To be able to kind of come back from that was a massive tick for us. It showed that we were on the right track. It gave us confidence going into the final. My headspace was I just want to compete, get out there and enjoy the experience. We had so much fun warming up, throwing around a water bottle and watching Lydia Ko come home.

Question: What leadership qualities do you think are essential for success in high performance sport?

James Sandilands: I think consistency. Keep reflecting and not reacting too quickly. Collect information and respond accordingly.

Hamish Kerr: I think first and foremost, it’s having a plan. Get a framework that you’re sort of building towards. You can refer back to the plan. This is what we talked about. This is what we signed off on. Also it is the ability to listen, the ability to observe and understand – how an athlete is actually perceiving your training plan or how they are taking that plan and bringing energy to it. Continuing to stay relevant is also really important

Question: How do you grow and develop as a coach

James Sandilands: What I’m really enjoying at the moment is it AI. Craig Palmer from HPSNZ helps a lot. There are coaches across a lot of sports that I kind of get privilege of being connected with. Core Knowledge was a great programme to learn and get connected with other coaches.

Question: How do you look after your wellbeing?

James Sandilands: Craig Palmer from HPSNZ is massive for me. I’ll talk to Palms every fortnight. Just having that person is really importantly for me.

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