Men's Hockey World Cup: Leaner, fitter & better

As the umpire blew the final whistle on the India-Belgium game last week, most of the Belgian players placed their hands on the knees, gasping for breath. Some of the Indians, meanwhile, sat on their toes, but barely a couple of seconds later, lifted themselves to walk towards the Belgian players for the post-match customary handshake.

India had dramatically swung the momentum around in the second half to pull off a 2-2 draw after Belgium ran amock in the first. Yet, it was the Red Lions who resembled a runner completely out of gas after a full marathon.

If there was to be an ideal example of how fit this Indian hockey team has become, those couple of frames, those few moments captured it.

"I have never seen such a fit Indian team," head coach Harendra Singh said after the game.

And the man responsible for that is Robin Arkell, the scientific advisor of the Indian men's hockey team who has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to make the Manpreet Singh and PR Sreejesh look fitter than ever before.

Appointed in the role by Hockey India in March last year, the South African has brought about a paradigm shift in regards to the facet of fitness of Indian hockey.

Changing the mindset

The first step in climbing the long 'Fitter Team India' ladder was making the players understand the uncompromising value of fitness in modern hockey.

Various Indian hockey teams in the past focussed primarily on improving its unique craft with the hands on the stick rather than the legs behind it. Skill was the hearty meal, fitness merely an add on.

The proportion was too skewed.

"The players understood how fit they needed to be to play the game now," Arkell tells DNA.

"And if they wanted to succeed in it, they needed to put the work in. So, there was a willingness from the players to buy the process that I wanted to bring in," he adds.

Two wholesale modifications were part of that process: A. Consistency in training and, B. Change in diet.

Regular fitness sessions

Arkell, who has worked with many local rugby and cricket teams back in South Africa, demanded a more regular fitness regimen throughout the year during the national camps, as opposed to a specific period of a month or two kept aside for fitness training.

"I'm not sure how things worked before I arrived, but what I've done is that I've tried to keep things consistent throughout the year," Arkell says.

"So, instead of having a fitness block at the beginning of the year, we've continued to do fitness throughout the year. Regardless of what tournament we've got coming up, we've always done fitness leading into the tournament. That's made a difference," he adds.

An important asterisk to that fitness programme round the Indian hockey clock was to identify the times when players needed to be at their 100 per cent, and times when even 70-80 would do – in tournaments as well as training.

"A lot goes into that planning," Arkell says. "This year, we've had a lot of tournaments. So, it's been challenging in getting the structure right in terms of when we want to peak, both in tournaments and through the week in the camp.

"It's important not to overload or underload the guys. I sit down with the coaches and we spend a lot of time on getting the planning right. I think we've got that correct in terms of peaking for the World Cup," he adds.

GPS -- tracking the players too

That planning revolves around a scientific method of a GPS system that tracks all the players' workload during every match in terms of distance covered and the speed with which it's covered.

Arkell analyses all that data, and then decides where to set the bar before entering into a specific tournament depending on its importance.

"The GPS system is very useful in determining how much we've done, and how much we can still do," he says.

"We understand what the tournament demand is, and we try and push the players beyond that demand during training at certain times of the year. So that when we come to the tournament, we feel a lot more prepared and the players maybe find it slightly easier," Arkell adds.

The South African also had to find the right balance between making the players put in the hard yards on the field and working on their strength in the gym.

"Performing on the field is the most important thing, doesn't matter what you do in the gym," Arkell says.

"We identified that, and made a programme around that so that there's enough time given to stuff that can improve their hockey. We supplement that with the time in the gym, and that's generally
two-three days in the week."

The fitness of every player is gauged by the yo-yo test. However, unlike with the national cricket team, Arkell doesn't use it as the sole parameter in judging fitness, let alone make it interfere in team
selections (pardon the comparison).

"It's a pure guide for me and the coaches to see where the players are, nothing else. Based on that result, we use them to determine what type of running we need to do. I like to use real data, and then base my trainings on that," Arkell says.

Watch what you eat

Systematic planning and regularised training in place, it was time to change what the players eat, and when they eat.

"We identified that the food wasn't quite at the standard it needed to be for the players to be able to perform at this level," Arkell says.

It meant the Sports Authority of India centre in Bengaluru had to flush out from their kitchen anything that had to do with dodgy oil, refined sugar and, well, sweets (see box).

"We changed a few things in the way it was being prepared, the quality of the food. Specifically looking at how much protein they're getting in, how many carbs, what time they're eating. And then we put together a specific plan for each day; what they needed to have for breakfast and dinner. On match days, it differs," Arkell says.

Not right up there yet

The result is there for everyone to see, with the general consensus among former players and experts being that Indian hockey has never seen a fitter team than this.

The soft-spoken Arkell, however, says that the ladder is still a long and patient climb.

"I think we can still get stronger and more powerful. Our mantra is we want to determine the pace of the game; not let the other team do that.

"I don't want to say that we're at the top with the fittest teams. But we have improved to the extent that we can compete with the European teams now," he says.

And like a true background artist, he gives the majority of the credit to the actors in the spotlight.

"There hasn't been any resistance from the boys," Arkell says. "I haven't had many challenges from the players in terms of them not wanting to put in the hard yards. There are times when they want to take it a bit easy. But we push them, and they know exactly why."

DIET: THE DO'S AND DON'TS

Robin Arkell changed the diet of the players upon his arrival at the SAI centre in Bengaluru, and below are things that players must, can and shouldn't have:

• Cut out a lot of the bad oils that are normally used in cooking. Check on items with unnecessary carbs, refined sugars.
   
• Concentrate on consuming pure things like eggs, chicken and mutton. Rice, noodles and chappatis are allowed but with a limited quantity.
   
• Sweets, desserts are a completely no-go zone, specifically during tournaments. Only allowed to have fruits.
   
• Cheat days: Generally every Sunday (day off) during camps.

'THIS INDIAN TEAM LEANER THAN EVER'

• Former Australia striker Glenn Turner believes that this bunch of Indian players is looking leaner than any of the previous ones he has played with or seen before. "I look at the Indian team now, and they look learner than ever before," Turner said. "They look fast, and they look fit. They're running over the top of teams at the end of the game, which is always a good sign."