Rupinder Pal Singh laughs about being busier in his post-hockey playing days than he was as a player. The travel hasn’t reduced, family commitments have surged while he also often dons a coaching hat.
The latest was in Bengaluru in the last week of December, where India’s top dragflicker until his post Tokyo Olympics retirement was called to take a five-day dragflicking camp for the national senior women’s team, which is gearing up for the FIH Olympic Qualifiers in Ranchi from January 13 with an aim to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Rupinder, a member of the India team that won the Tokyo Olympics bronze, was involved in another short camp with the senior women dragflickers ahead of the Asian Games. He has also spent some time with the junior women’s team. In the Bengaluru camp last week, he worked with young Deepika, seasoned flicker Gurjit Kaur and a couple of junior girls.
“The more I’m spending time with them, the more details we are getting into,” Rupinder said over phone from Chandigarh.
Yet more than the details, it is the basics that need maximum brushing up in a skill of hockey that is extremely technical and individual and remains a gaping hole in the women’s team.
“At times, while getting to and playing at the highest level, we tend to overlook and forget about the basic details. So, it’s largely about repeating, revisiting and revising that. And then it comes down to building on their individual performances,” said Rupinder, who was considered among the world’s best dragflickers.
There’s a lot that needs building on when it comes to penalty corner (PC) conversation by the women’s team. It tends to let them down in big tournaments. Case in point was their 4-0 defeat to China in the semi-final of the Asian Games, where they failed to convert their PCs (India had three in the third quarter alone). In the 2022 Women’s World Cup where they failed to make the quarter-finals, India converted only five of their 46 PCs.
More worrying is the lack of options. Gurjit, for long the primary dragflicker, has lost her place. Deepika, 19, has stepped into that role but is still young. India’s Dutch coach Janneke Schopman has experimented with Deep Grace Ekka, Salima Tete and Monika without too much success.
In the Bengaluru camp, Rupinder focussed on better synchronisation between the person who injects and the one who traps and flicks the ball, while also training to tackle the first rusher. “The time between delivering and picking the ball has to be shortened,” he said. “We can also find different ways to go around the first rusher.”
Proactive thinking
More than the technical fine-tuning, it’s the mental aspect that Rupinder feels the greater need to highlight in these sessions. To improve as a dragflicker one must constantly think like one during, after, and even before the match. Self-analysis is key for a dragflicker.
“How you prepare before the game is crucial. If my match is in the evening, I can’t go straight into it. You have to watch some videos of your opponents and their defensive tactics, and find weaknesses. That way, automatically, your confidence will build. And you will also start thinking more proactively — that this is how I can beat them,” he said.
“Since this is such an individual skill, if you’re not mentally prepared and tough, it will be difficult. Especially if you have a patch where your PCs don’t go in. The challenge then is to forget about all those past attempts and stay in the present moment and be on the ball the next PC.”
Specialised sessions
Rupinder emphasised on a long-term programme involving more sessions solely for dragflicking within the national team’s training schedule. Finding the balance between workload management and PC training is imperative, he said.
“During my short camps, we try and do PC sessions every day in their daily schedule, which is busy anyway. It means generally in a week, you only get 1-2 sessions dedicated to dragflicking. It will be great if they can continue what we have been doing so that the rhythm isn’t lost and the results can keep getting better,” he said.
Grooming dragflickersy
The other area is working on the production line, which, at the moment, Schopman’s team is grappling with. There aren’t enough quality dragflickers at junior level, which in turn reflects in the senior setup. Developing dragflicking talent must start early, according to Rupinder, who last month had another week’s camp working with junior and senior boys and girls in Odisha.
“If we can build a programme like this in 4-5 states, imagine the pool of dragflickers we can build and work towards in the longer run,” he said.
“If you try and develop the skill once you get into the national setup, it’s too late. The earlier you pick it up the better. It can get easier to change techniques too if something isn’t right. If after a particular age you start something new, your body may not accept the change.”
Rupinder though hopes change is in the offing for the Indian women team’s dragflicking fortunes. “The girls are working hard and I’m sure they will benefit from the camps. The more they keep doing it, the better they will get.”
