Ep 194 - RJ Smith - Unlocking High Performance: Simplifying Coaching, Building Resilient Teams, and Embracing Critical Thinking
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome back on the podcast. It's been, as we just discussed, five years since the last episode, which is probably too long. And I want to kick us off, mate, with one question. Because in the last podcast, you said, Sir John Whitmore mentioned, just have one question and the second question will come from the answer of that first question. So the question I have for you, with someone who's been in this space for a long time, is is what has changed or what have you come to believe about high performance coaching coach development athlete development that maybe you didn't believe or understand as well early in your career kia ora joe yeah that's a yeah great great first up question um
I'll try and – I'm channeling Taboi Mattson here. I'm thinking Occam's razor, obviously. The simplest answer is the simplest answer. And if I'm going to say one thing, it's simplicity. I've shifted, I'm shifting more and more to the concept of just simplicity. And I'm not sure if you're familiar with some of Richard Young's work out of Dunedin. You know, one of his phases, I flogged it, but I always reference him, is amplification through simplification.
What prompted the shift towards simplicity in high‑performance coaching?
And I think, you know, and I think back to the early days of when we started this high performance coach development journey, you know, back in 2000, 2001, and great to see Don Tricker coming back into the fold, you know. And I think we, because we had a green fields, we felt we needed to fill it. We needed to fill the void. And so maybe we introduced complexity when we didn't need to um maybe we overdid some stuff i don't know maybe that's just the evolution of things whereas it's now um you know an example jay is the writing of reports particularly reviews you know i think a review was judged on how thick you know a report a good review was how thick the report was that no one read and now i've been involved in quite a few reviews just of late and if i can't get it down in two or three pages
I don't reckon I'm doing the job because it's the key points. You're not writing a book. You're trying to identify key points. So my answer is simplicity. Yeah, I think we can at times overcomplicate things which creates that interference for athlete performance because ultimately, I'll go back to Sir John, you mentioned him, performance equals potential minus interference.
And that interference might be us. Who knows? Do you think that's an evolution from a coaching point of view? Because the coaches who are able to create simplicity tend to be the most experienced ones. And I wonder, have they gone through, done a lot of learning, you know, like... friend of both of ours with the watching him coach he has the ability to simplify stuff but it's due to the amount of knowledge that he has that he can simplify is there a danger with simplification that we don't go deep enough in order to be able to simplify does that make sense
Yeah, yeah. I think there's a couple of things you mentioned there, Jay. One is that the lifespan development of a coach, if you like, and I'm working with an organisation at the moment doing a review, very good coach, former international player, very good coach, but now understanding the complexity of being a head coach. going through that mire, if you like, trying to work out that complexity stuff to ultimately come out the other end, understanding what are the – and simple doesn't mean easy, of course. It just means that there are some very clear tenets that you hold to. Yeah, and I think you're right. That's a product of experience, you know, knowledge, skills, experience over time and knowing what's the appropriate –
what's the appropriate thing for a particular situation? And that's that high-level decision-making too, isn't it? That expert coach, if you like, sees something and knows that in the past this has worked. So that's the simplicity of their thinking. It doesn't mean to say that it's any less detailed or any less rigorous. It's just that they're able to do that complexity in their head
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:05–1:45
2
What prompted the shift towards simplicity in high‑performance coaching?
1:45–8:59
3
How does experience enable coaches to simplify without losing depth?
8:59–14:06
4
Why are critical‑thinking and reflective practice essential for continuous improvement?
14:06–21:37
5
What practical methods can coaches use to get honest feedback and reflect on their sessions?
21:37–30:02
6
How can coaches balance developing young athletes with delivering immediate team performance?
30:02–1:00:49
7
What is ‘mattering’ and how does it influence trust and connection in coaching relationships?
1:00:49–1:18:06