‘One pep talk won’t give you winning mentality’

MUMBAI: Cricket is a game played in the head as much as in the field and often the toughest task for a coach is to convince a side whose self-esteem has been shattered by successive defeats that they can compete with the best side in the world.

During the World Cup, players will sometimes struggle to answer the questions that their mind will throw up. And that is often why many teams end up hiring sports psychologists to help the individual players get rid of their self-doubt so that the team, as a whole, can foster what is known as a winning mentality.

India coach Greg Chappell says he will be happy if West Indian Rudi Webster joins the team in the Caribbean.

“I hope Rudi joins the team at some stage during the World Cup. But that is not in our control. I would have enjoyed if Rudi was involved with us, in the last four months particularly.  He can work one-on-one with players which I cannot work on. But our support staff has managed to provide the team what Rudi or Sandy Gordon would provide to the team. But most of the skills come with experience. This is where Ian Frazer’s role in very important for the team. What Rudi Webster would do is sit with the players and ask them what was your thinking process when you were in the middle and what you should have done.”

But the Indian coach thinks eventually it is the players who will have to pull it off on the field not the psychologist. “Ninety eight percent of what happens in the World Cup will come from the players. The contribution of a psychologist is one or two per cent. He would say what would have been. But the onus is on the players. They have to deliver on the ground.”

And to deliver on the ground they need to be in the right frame of mind. But what really is a winning mentality? Former All-England champion and national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand believes that the winning mentality isn’t something that you can foster with just one pep talk.

“It’s not an attitude that can achieve in just one day. The attitude, in many ways, is the culmination of the many hours of practice that you have put in the nets. It is like getting what you sow,” said Gopichand. “Everything you do, has to be done with a goal in mind. One pep talk before a match, one inspirational speech isn’t going to give you the winning mentality.”

So then what will?

“Well, perhaps the most important thing to achieve the said feeling is to be relaxed. You tend to concentrate better on the tasks at hand and that’s the best way to get into the zone. On the other hand, you need to have faith; faith in your captain; faith in your coach. Without that the team will suffer.”

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova said she learned to play ‘in the now’. You can never get the last, lost point back, she said, and the point in front of the next one is meaningless.

Former England player John Emburey believes that in cricket, the trick is to get your key players to perform.

“Cricket is all about individual brilliance in a team environment. If you can get 6 of your key players to perform, then the others in the team will be inspired too. Get the best to commit themselves completely and the rest will follow,” said Emburey. “If Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid perform, I don’t see any team capable of beating them. But the trick is getting them to perform.”

“England has turned their ODI game around in a few days by winning the Commonwealth Bank series in Australia. But that doesn’t mean they have a winning attitude. It will, however, mean that they will go into the World Cup high on confidence and give themselves the best chance possible,” he further added.

It’s ironical that the side with one of the best records over the last year, Australia, are suddenly looking shaky. Emburey reckons that South Africa are currently riding high on a wave of success.  “Losing matches is not easy when you belong to an Australian team that has swept all before them. But now that they have, Australia needs to refocus. They need to try and find out why they lost. Injury has played a big part and it also shows that without Ponting, this side can be vulnerable. Which is why I think the key to the winning mentality is the performance of your key players.”

Michael Ferreira is a four-time world billiards champion who belonged to an era where taking part and being a good sport was often considered to be more important than winning. “That feeling belongs to a gentler era. Sport, these days, is all about winning. And to win, you have to do two things. Firstly, desire it more than anything else. You have to want it. Secondly, you should be prepared to do all it takes to achieve your goal. You have to have a tunnel vision and block out all other distractions,” he said.

As if to illustrate his point, Ferreira quoted former coach of the NFL team Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi, who once said: “Winning is not everything, it is the only thing!”

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