'India coaches should focus on both strengths & weakneses'

Agencies Posted: Jun 06, 2008 at 1217 hrs
Jalandhar, June 6: Indian coaches ignore strengths and concentrate only on weaknesses of players while they need to identify both the aspects of a team, feels International Hockey Federation's (FIH) Grade 1 coach Shiv Jagdey.

"We have to identify both strength and weaknesses of the team, but in the current system, we ignore strengths and just concentrate on weaknesses only," Jagdey, who is in Jalandhar to conduct a camp for budding players of the state, said.

"The coaches should focus also on training rather than revealing their team's strength and weaknesses to media," he said.

The FIH coach said Indian authorities, running the hockey show, are doing a good job but they should segregate their plans into long term and short term.

"In its short term up, efforts should be made for clinching the title in Commonwealth Games and they extensive preparations should be made for 2016 London Olympics," he said.

The former national coach of Canada's Hockey team said there was nothing wrong with the existing system but there was room for improvement with the use of Match Analysis System.

"Although the Match Analysis System is there in the country, it has not been used in its best prospective and it is must that experts should minutely examine the report of Match Analysis for adequate remedial steps for identified weaknesses of the team," he said.

Jagdey suggested that players should be trained in Asian as well as European style for success at international level.

"We should give coaching of the combination of Asian as well as European style of hokcey to the budding players from very beginning," he said.

"Normally Indian players are trained in Asian style of hockey and when they reach in any international tournament, they find it tough to face the other teams, playing in European style of game," he said adding that in the experimental stage in an international tournament, it was noticed that the combination of Asian as well European style of Hockey was the best way to dominate opponents.

"Asian style of hockey may be successful in domestic tournaments but at International level, it is must for the players to learn minutes of European style of hockey as well," he added.

About the reasons for Indian team's failure to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, Jagdey said "let us forget the past and look forward for betterment. New Committee headed by former Olympian Aslam Sher Khan is capable to revive Indian Hockey and I am sure Indian team will achieve its lost status in International Hockey in the years to come".

On the motivation extended by the Shah Rukh Khan's Chak de..., Jagdey said "players must learn the benefits of playing in the team spirit by the movie".