Strength of mind

Images courtesy of Taylor Lanning Photography

Kemp, now at Ipswich and Eastbourne, can’t wait for the season to finally get underway after lengthy delay due to the Covid-19 lockdown. He said: “I think it’s a really tough time for everyone, it’s very frustrating. But it is what it is and we need to be patient. To be fair I’ve still be staying fit and eating the right things, I’ve been like that for some time now. But it’s been good to do stuff online with Great Britain. We did a Zoom session the other day with GB psychologist Jeremy Holt and that’s great to do. I think last year was difficult for me mentally. When I had a few bad meetings I got into a bit of a rut and lost confidence. That was a new experience for me to deal with and it’s something that I need to cope with in the future. It’s really good to have so much advice when you need it. I need to have a golfer’s mentality, like forget about the last race if it didn’t go well, like a golfer would forget about the previous hole. It’s easier to talk about than it is to do, but it’s something I can work on and it’s excellent that Great Britain have Jeremy who knows how to approach things like this.”

Kemp broke into the Great Britain senior side with an excellent performance in the comfortable Global Challenge win over Denmark at King’s Lynn last October. The well-spoken youngster wants to keep that progress going. He added: “It’s one step at a time. I think I did OK at King’s Lynn but I need to keep improving. There’s lots to aim for over the next few years. After Tai Woffinden there’s a few younger riders coming through like Robert Lambert, Dan Bewley then an entirely new generation which I’m part of. There will be a lot of competition for places I’m sure. But it’s important just to focus on doing a good job for your clubs and then take that form into the GB team. I want to be part of the test match team permanently, that’s the aim.”