Tola Performance: Matt Perry Interview

Jason coaches professionals to help and support them throughout their season, working with clients to help them maintain a good headspace and work on their personal development on and off the field.

Photograph by Emily Gordon

Player Interview

Matt Perry – 5 goals (Murus Sanctus La Magdeleine)

Photography by ©www.imagesofpolo.com

Matt Perry has been working with Jason since April 2021

This season it was great working with Matt during his high goal campaign and watching him performing so well with Murus Sanctus. Matt’s great to work with due to his work ethic, attitude, and modesty.

This summer we focused on Matt’s performances on the field rather than any areas off the field. One of the key areas he wanted to develop was his consistency throughout the season. I think the most significant outcome came from him gaining perspective on how he was really playing, rather than how he perceived his performance. To be successful in sport you must have a competitive and self-critical mindset, which Matt has, this has its pros and cons. It helps you to improve to strive for more, but also can leave you feeling a little ‘cooked’ a term we like to use in the polo world. An average performance can feel very bad post game, and this could affect your confidence and playing form. By going over the games and breaking the performance down Matt could often gain more clarity on the game and see why things didn’t go the way he wanted. It also gave us an opportunity to focus in on the things he did well. This allowed him to see he was more consistent than he thought and even on a not so good day he was putting in a big shift on the field, working hard and impacting the game. We talked the day before his games to think about areas he wanted to focus on and to mentally prepare for the game.

Q: When did you start coaching with Jason and why?

A: I started in April 2021 leading into my high goal season with Murus Sanctus La Magdeleine. Jack Richardson had been working with Jason and he recommended him to me, so I wanted to give it a try.

Q: How has it helped you with your performance or life?

A: For me the most significant benefit I got from working with Jason was my ability to have more perspective throughout the season. I felt more focused on my career as a whole and didn’t get as hung up on individual and performances. This helped me to keep my confidence and motivation.

One thing I wanted to work on was my consistency, we spoke about this in sessions and throughout the season I started to gain clarity on the reality of my performances rather than a magnified version of how I saw my performances.

Overall, the coaching allowed me to have a more rounded season and gave me an outlet when things didn’t go as planned; polo can be so up and down I feel this is an important part of being content and consistent in polo.

Q: How can it help others?

A: I guess for the same way it helped me, polo can be very volatile and getting all the help you can is wise. Building a team of people around you that have your back is always going to be a good decision, whether it’s your parents, wife or a coach, all the support you can get helps!

Q: Does ‘Performance coaching’ have a place in polo and why?

A: If you look at how polo has changed over the last 10 years with team trainers and physios, mental support must be the next step for the sport. People didn’t do anything other than stick and ball or play, now players are putting much more into their physical fitness. I know more and more people are getting help with the mental side of the game. People don’t talk about it as much, as it’s not necessary. For example, Personal Trainers you see at games warming teams up and helping, whereas this type of help goes more under the radar and is less tangible.

It has a space in polo, not only with on field performance but also off field work; Jason helps with all aspects of your life which in turns helps you to focus on your polo and career.

Q: Do you think it’s important for people to have this sort of help?

A: I think it very much depends on the person, some focus more on their development than others. If you want to progress you must look at all aspects of your life and performance. If you feel you’re not progressing the way you want to or know you could progress more, it’s worth a try. You don’t need to commit to long periods of time and Jason is willing to chat so I would say have a chat and decide whether you think it’s important.

Contact Jason on tolaperfomance@gmail.com www.tolaperformance.com