Prakash Padukone’s statement resonates deep within every Indian’s heart.
“Players also need to take some responsibility. All these years we could say that there were not enough facilities or encouragement, but … generally across all sports, the top 30-40 players who had a chance of getting the medal, they have been given whatever they wanted. Even when there were some unreasonable demands, they have been met. … One thing is very clear, we need to focus on mind training.”
We have placed 4th in 5 events, if you take boxing into account it will be 7 events. Some will argue that they are 4th in the world as the Olympics are for the best. Agreed they are 4th best in the world but what does it count for? Not only for the country but for them as well. Medalists in India are revered.
Gone are the days when athletes would complain about no facilities (yes we still lack grassroot development when in comparison to China, USA, Japan, GBR, Korea etc..basically all
those countries topping the table), we still have operational and bureaucratic hurdles.
But you have reached the highest level and what matters there is your own resilience, your own mentality. Monster Mentality a word often used in a lot of sports.
Sports psychology is very important and strangely a subject that has not been given enough attention in India. A lot of our athletes lost because they couldn’t handle the pressure, the archers almost shivering in the bronze match, Lakshya Sen, Chirag Shetty making errors on the net, one bad shot by Arjun Babuta (some of you have already forgotten him).
Mental strength is as important as the physical one.
“Our favourites are always under pressure. We have foreign coaches, trainers, physios, and it’s high time we have mental coaches throughout the 4 years of training.
(One of the craziest mental coaching is done by the Korean archery team- Google it, damn fun to read but to endure is almost inhuman)
However, as much as we need the staff to train our players, I personally think the players need to own up as well.
#IndiaAtOlympics #LakshyaSen #Olympics #PrakashPadukone
