Brigadier HJS Chimni, member of the 1975 World Cup winning team, comes out with an interesting essay and says ‘S’ is the big problem in Indian hockey. Read his exclusive article for s2h.

Once we over-come the negative aspects of the word ‘S’ that affects the Indian Hockey, we can look forward to other S — that is, a positive ‘S’ Success.

Words starting with ‘S’ are the main source of decline in Indian hockey. This is being discussed in some detail.

Sincerity: First and foremost is the lack of sincerity at all levels, be it the players, coaches or administrators. What is required is 100% commitment from everyone associated with hockey.

Surface: The decline has been evident since the introduction of synthetic surface in 1976. It is a different ball game now but some how we are still playing grass hockey on astro. We have not been able to exploit two most important attributes of the synthetic surface i.e. Surety of surface and speed of travel of the ball

Structure: It relates to infrastructure. There arn’t enough astro turfs in the country to meet the demand of players. As a result we learn and practice our basics on grass but are expected to perform on astro turf. The approach to the two surfaces is entirely different in nature. More academies at sub junior / junior level with astro turf & quality coaches is the answer.

Skills: We lack in the basic skills of stopping , receiving and accurate passing at right speed. As a result of this we easily lose possession of the ball and are forced to react to situations created by opponents to come under pressure.

Stamina: It basically relates to physical fitness. Although our coaches claim that our teams are physically fit, but physical fitness means the ability to reach the appreciated place at the right time and execute the required skill perfectly. This a player should be able to do right from the Ist minute to 70th minute of the game with same efficiency. Lasting 70 minutes just for lasting sake is not the required fitness.

Strategy: We have to adopt different strategy and tactics against different teams. There are teams that play close marking hockey while the others play open hockey. But to us strategy and tactics make little sense. Even if a coach makes a plan for a particular match the players are unable to implement it once the game starts.

Sense: By this we mean hockey sense. Our reading the game is poor, may be due poor IQ. All your anticipation depends on how you read a game. On astrotruff ones’ decision making has to be split –second. Therefore you are either there or not there. There is no room for making a mistake and then covering it up.

Support System: The game is becoming complex with each passing day. There are frequent changes in the rules that need proper study for exploitation. There is an urgent need for a support system that can keep the team physically & mentally fit, injury free, can provide inputs on weaknesses in own team, tactics employed by various teams, video analysis and the like. This feed back will be of immense value to a coach who is hard pressed to produce results.

Synergy: Lack of understanding and co-operation between the midfield and forward line is leading to disjointed/individual attacks with poor results and loss of possession. In turn it puts added pressure on own defense leading to making mistakes and conceding avoidable goals.

Scoring: Our scoring ability as compared to most other teams, may it be conversion of penalty corners or field goals is poor. Main reason for this is our poor anticipation; poor positioning, poor execution of skills and over anxiety to score.

Set Pieces: There is a need for us to perfect our set piece drills. To counter set piece situations, opponents would also adopt set piece static positions. It may be advisable to make the defenders move and force them to change the direction in which they were originally facing. This can be done by passing the ball once to an unmarked player before executing the set piece.

Self Confidence: Lack of confidence in self, breeds doubts in one’s mind and thereby undermines his performance. Once a player is physically and mentally fit, has mastered his skills, can read the game well and has faith in the ability of his team-mates, self confidence will come automatically.

Supervision: Though not directly related with the game, the difference in standard of umpiring at home and abroad has also affected the performance of players when they are surprised by different interpretation of the rules.

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