Mental conditioning critical to India’s sporting success, says Abhinav Bindra
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India’s Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra has emphasized on mental conditioning as a critical aspect to succeed at the highest level. He added that Ultimate Table Tennis provides great platform for Indian paddlers to help them improve their game and maintain composure in high pressure situation.
Abhinav Bindra, who is India's only individual Olympic Gold medalist after his success at 2008 Beijing games and part of the PM-appointed Olympic Task Force, has once again emphasized on the mental aspect of a sports person's career to succeed at the highest level. Abhinav Bindra gave several examples of recent sporting upsets in which he identified mental fortitude as the decisive factor.
"Less than a fortnight ago, Japanese teenager Tomokazu Harimoto stunned the reigning world and Olympic champion Ma Long in the quarterfinals of the ITTF Japan Open. And World No. 27 Marco Cecchinato showed 12-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic the exit door in the quarters of the French Open. These instances indicate that mental strength plays as important a role as practice and physical strength. Even the most successful athletes succumb to pressure, which often leads to an upset," wrote Bindra for Times Of India.
The decorated shooter recalled his fight against epilepsy and further added that Indian sporting culture should imbibe mental conditioning as much as physical conditioning to consistently make a mark at the global sporting stage.
"As a growing sporting nation, we must ensure our athletes achieve excellence across various disciplines. We need to invest in our people, in our youth, in our athletes while focusing on mental conditioning too. I remember how I fought epilepsy for two years before the Rio Olympics. It involved trembling hands and took immense mental and physical conditioning to overcome the problem. It's a long and tedious process, but it's our only path to success," he wrote.
After the recent success of Indian table tennis contingent in Commonwealth Gold Coast Games, Bindra has high hopes from the
"I see UTT as a great platform for Indian paddlers to prove their mettle and rise up the ranks. Competing with and against top international players will not only help improve their game but also teach them how to maintain composure in high-pressure situations. Playing alongside stalwarts like Sharath Kamal, Gnanasekaran Sathiyan, Simon Gauzy and Bernadette Szocs would prove to be a goldmine of opportunity for any youngster to hone their skills," wrote Bindra while talking about the importance of the tournament.
He further emphasized the need to hire experienced coaches who can monitor an athlete’s progress over a period of time.
"Besides mental conditioning, highly experienced performance coaches need to be hired to monitor our athletes' progress. Table Tennis is a sport wherein mastering the technique takes centre stage. It is a rigorous amalgamation of precision, timing and speed. Shooting is a similar sport where one needs to consistently work on small details to ensure optimum results. Our paddlers have done the country proud in the 2018 CWG and have shown great promise in this season's league."
