Holly Hunt has been an active coach and Instructor at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club since 2019 and currently predominantly coaches’ youth development in the 29ers. With 16+ years of sailing under her belt, Holly has competed at state, national and international level in a variety of boats and is currently an active Moth and GP42 sailor.  

In November last year, Holly was announced the 2022 Australian Instructor of the Year. After working in the field with a range of coaches and Instructors, she has identified some key areas of difference between coaches and Instructors with more experience and those beginning their Instructing journey. As such, Holly has outlined the top 5 things, she believes all coaches and Instructors should practice to maximise sailor engagement and participation.  

Confidence 

One of the biggest factors that impacts how participants respond to their coach or Instructor is confidence. When a coach or Instructor is confident in their position it encourages their ability to speak clearly and provide concise instructions. This key attribute ensures briefing and theory sessions remain short and prevents participant disengagement. If you are not confident in your abilities and mumble with lengthy detail, it is harder for sailors, especially youth, to remain focused. This is when young sailors tend to misbehave. The top tip is ‘Act Confident.’ Even if you don’t feel confident if you speak with a loud clear voice and stick to key concepts, your session delivery will be far more successful.  

Individuality 

Every participant is an individual, this means you cannot treat your sailors as one group and expect them all to respond the same way. From the very first session, try to take note of your sailor’s behaviour, how they respond to key instructions, their energy levels, if they require more of a supportive approach or an analytical one. Once you start to identify how each sailor responds, you can tailor your coaching and Instructing style to individually complement each sailor. This allows you to create a more effective connection with your sailors that promotes growth of their skills as well as your own.  

Connection 

Sailors tend to enjoy the session more when they feel a connection to the coach or instructor. If the coach or instructor does not engage on a personal level with the sailor, the sailor tends to disengage and lose focus. This can make coaching and instructing extremely difficult especially when young sailors are involved. From the first session, try to identify something in common with their sailors to encourage connection, enthusiasm, and inclusion. 

Turn Fear into Enjoyment 

When young sailors are scared, they often find comfort in familiarity. By creating the connection early on with your sailors, you can identify what brings them joy. So, the next time the sailor is feeling frightened or out of their comfort zone, relate what they are doing to the thing they love. For example, if a young child loves Star Wars and they begin to feel nervous or scared about sailing in deep water, instead of allowing this fear to develop, liken the task to a star ship going into deep space where they must learn to navigate. This will make the task seem more like a game, switching the fear to excitement.  

Respect each other 

Setting boundaries from the beginning of your session is critical to sailor engagement and respect. By setting respect boundaries and outlining inappropriate behaviour, your sailors know what to expect from the very start. If your sailors misbehave, don’t just instantly tell them off. You must give them the time to identify what they are doing that is rude. If you miss this step, then the child may not register what it is they are doing wrong. Additionally, if you can see your sailors are getting restless, get them to do some intermittent physical activity throughout your session, like running to touch the Pacers on the other side of the lawn or standing up to stretch. This will ensure their energy levels remain at a moderate level and they don’t become agitated or bored. Managing behaviour is a combination of the coach learning when to provide the sailors with a break as well as the child understanding and respecting the boundaries and expectations.