The Everyday Edge | Fin Smith’s Performance Principles

Fin Smith’s rise may seem rapid, but his values and mindset have been a long time in the making.

In conversation on the ainslie + ainslie Performance People podcast, the Northampton, England and now Lions fly-half revealed a personal performance approach built on framing, feedback and daily progression.

Smith identifies the collapse of Worcester Warriors, the club that nurtured him through its academy, as the most formative moment of his career.

Witnessing the personal impact it had on so many people provided a lesson to take nothing for granted in life. “It flicked the switch,” he says.

Some players only discover this perspective late in their careers, if at all. Smith experienced it at 19.

“Right at the top of my goals every single day is to come in and make the absolute most of every single training session.. and every minute I've got,” he says, “because I’ve seen first hand how it can be snatched away from you.”

After a loss, Smith doesn’t seek out consolation or excuses, he looks for cause and response.

“We always speak about trying to take the emotion and feeling out of it as quickly as we can… then you're able just to review and reflect on the process,” he says.

This structured feedback process also provides a clear focus in challenging periods: “By Monday morning after a loss, you've got something to improve on… you've got a why for that week.”

Smith’s early relationship with rugby bordered on obsessive. He admits he “thought about it the whole time,” reviewing training footage late at night, designing meals for optimal recovery, chasing marginal gains with single-minded focus. Over time, he recognised this approach comes with a psychological cost.

“You can drive yourself a little bit insane doing that,” he says. “You'd make a tiny mistake on the pitch and because rugby was literally everything, it was like the world would come crashing down.”

Recovery now includes socialising, scrolling and mental distance from the game.

“Once I get home and review the day, that's me switched off… so that the next day I've got a little bit of energy left to give.”

Smith is mentored by Jonny Wilkinson, and what he draws from England’s greatest fly-half is not the relentlessness and intensity he used to play with, but a looser approach that Wilkinson now advocates.

“He was very tense… used to really almost get in his own head because he was so desperate to win,” says Smith. “Now he’s gone completely the other end to ‘how relaxed can you be, how much fun can you have doing it.’”

“Jonny talks a lot about how ‘we’ve all been given a talent and actually the best way to get that out is to be relaxed and chilled and feel confident rather than being tense and scared,’” he adds.

Once you’ve experienced winning a title, repeating that feeling becomes your north star.

“It just fuels your why even more,” he says. “When you get that unbelievable feeling of having the Prem trophy in your hands… that’s the carrot that’s dangling.”

The challenge is reverse-engineering the conditions that made it possible in the first place.

In Smith’s case, one key reminder is to refocus on what he wants to do rather than what he doesn’t. “That is such a powerful space to be in,” he says, “because then it’s just a case of ‘what am I going after?’.”

In his breakthrough year, the 23 year-old’s mindset shows an old head on young shoulders, aware of his potential but grounded in the philosophy that great things only happen if you keep doing the little things right.

The ainslie + ainslie Performance People podcast applies insights from elite sport to everyday performance. New episodes every Tuesday.