The importance of physical fitness and bench strength
By Islahuddin
LAST week I talked about the need for hockey administrators and the lovers of the game in the subcontinent to indulge in a bit of introspection rather than finding the fault outside and blaming one game or the other for the decline in the fortunes of their respective national teams in the international arena. This I had done in the context of a statement carried by the national media that had originated across the border in India, coming as it did from a respected name in Indian hockey. This past week I was a little surprised when some boxers coming from India were quoted by the media as saying just about the same thing. As it looks from here, there is some kind of opinion building up in India against the excessive coverage of cricket.
As far as I am concerned, I would like to repeat what I said the last week; the fault lies within, not outside, and recognising our own shortcomings would be the first natural step towards setting things right in the long run. If we try to pass on the buck and blame one thing or the other for our downfall, there can be little hope of a revival.
On his part Leslie Walter Claudius, the former Indian captain and versatile right-half who won three gold medals and a silver medal at Olympics Games between 1948 and 1960, also blamed in his statement the introduction of astroturf and increasing global competitions as reasons for India’s fall from grace. “Since the birth of astroturf, all European countries have started playing hockey. Besides, in our days there was only the Olympics. Nowadays, see how many tournaments they play,” Claudius, who is now 79 years of age, is believed to have said.
This is amazing, isn’t it? How can one blame the expansion of the game for the poor state of Indian hockey? Does India want to rule the game without having to play the Europeans? Even if that is the intention, Australia will still be there. What will they do about that? As for the number of tournaments, the Indians are not the only ones taking part in them.
You see, the point is simple: the Europeans came from behind and have excelled in the game. There can be no doubt about that, and there should be no denial of the basic fact either.
When it comes to the rise in the number of competitions, there are two aspects to it. One, Asian sides lack the kind of physical fitness that has become a key component of modern hockey almost as important as the skill itself. Two, Asian sides do not have the bench strength to rotate their resources and provide relief to their main players. This, in turn, forces them to field the same set of players regardless of the stature of the competition they are taking part in. The Europeans, on the other hand, use most of these competitions to give exposure to their junior strings, which helps them increase their bench strength, giving the selectors and the managers to not just practise rotational policies, but also provide enough breathing space to their star players during matches. Together, all this means eleven fresh, fit and fighting players on the field throughout the match in key events like the World Cup, the Olympics, the Champions Trophy and so on.
The point, as you can see, is once again quite simple: we have to improve the physical fitness of our players, and enlarge the activity at the grassroots level so that we may improve the bench strength in the years ahead. This is what we need to do if we really want to have a respectable place in world hockey. If we continue to blame the others for having left us behind, we are not going to go anywhere ahead. If we curse the Europeans now without doing anything practical, we will soon be cursing the Africans for the same reason. I insist that the fault lies within, not without.
LAST week I talked about the need for hockey administrators and the lovers of the game in the subcontinent to indulge in a bit of introspection rather than finding the fault outside and blaming one game or the other for the decline in the fortunes of their respective national teams in the international arena. This I had done in the context of a statement carried by the national media that had originated across the border in India, coming as it did from a respected name in Indian hockey. This past week I was a little surprised when some boxers coming from India were quoted by the media as saying just about the same thing. As it looks from here, there is some kind of opinion building up in India against the excessive coverage of cricket.
When it comes to the rise in the number of competitions, there are two aspects to it. One, Asian sides lack the kind of physical fitness that has become a key component of modern hockey almost as important as the skill itself. Two, Asian sides do not have the bench strength to rotate their resources and provide relief to their main players. This, in turn, forces them to field the same set of players regardless of the stature of the competition they are taking part in. The Europeans, on the other hand, use most of these competitions to give exposure to their junior strings, which helps them increase their bench strength, giving the selectors and the managers to not just practise rotational policies, but also provide enough breathing space to their star players during matches. Together, all this means eleven fresh, fit and fighting players on the field throughout the match in key events like the World Cup, the Olympics, the Champions Trophy and so on.
